Doing London Design Festival

London’s biggest celebration of contemporary design returns for its 20th anniversary edition, with an exciting line-up of exhibitions, installations, talks and events happening across the city. Navigating the nine-day design extravaganza can be a daunting task, so here are our must-see highlights.

Start at the V&A, the festival’s official hub, where you’ll find an extraordinary collection of specially commissioned installations and displays by international contemporary designers. Of all the LDF projects on display here, our favourite is The Lebanese House: Saving a home, saving a city, an evolving installation by Annabel Karim Kassar exploring the reconstruction of Beirut after the 2020 explosion.
This year there are 12 official Design Districts, each one boasting its own unique personality and jam-packed programme of events, just a short walking distance from each other.

Head to the Mayfair Design District for LDF cocktails at sketch, a swoon-worthy scent collaboration at the Jo Malone Townhouse and a solo exhibition of work by the architect, sculptor and artist Max Clendinning at Sadie Coles HQ. Over in Shoreditch, you’ll find a wealth of product launches, a graduate showcase and a solo show by mixed media artist Karen Nicol.

Trek west for Yinka Ilori’s new solo show at the Design Museum, featuring a range of works in his trademark colourful style. While in the area, be sure to check out Sony Design’s INTO SIGHT, one of the festival’s two landmark projects.

The other landmark project, Swivel, is also worth seeing. Conceived by the Rotterdam-based designer Sabine Marcelis, and located in St Giles Square, it comprises ten unique seats made from a selection of stones and marbles sourced from Europe, the Middle East and Brazil. Marcelis hopes it will encourage people to stop, stare and experience the space afresh.

In Greenwich you’ll find Henge, the London Design Festival commission made of 150-million-year-old Jurassic limestone and marble. Conceived as a circular gathering space, it invites people to engage with it through performance, music and poetry. A short walk away is Design London (21-24 September), featuring the very best emerging and established design brands, as well as a curated selection of pavilions, installations and events.

If you’re in the King’s Cross area, make a beeline for the solo show of works by Alice Straker at Wolf & Badger and a launch presentation by Tom Dixon.