Trendstop: Key Trends from the London Design Festival 2015 show

Each year, the UK’s capital is transformed into a buzzing hub for all things design, drawing crowds of industry professionals, practitioners and retailers to a huge array of different venues across the city. The 2015 edition of the London Design Festival took place from the 19-27 September, consisting of over 400 events and exhibitions hosted by hundreds of partner organisations and international brands from all aspects of the design spectrum. As one of the world’s leading lifestyle and design events, the festival celebrates London’s signature creativity with the very latest in design innovation, from furniture and homeware to objects and interiors. The Trendstop team was at hand to report on all the action as it happened, and have distilled their expert analysis into three essential London Design Festival trends for our blog readers to discover.

Organic Inspirations

 
Designers are influenced by the natural world, appropriating organic-inspired materials into the home. Highlights include a living green kitchen work space, which sees lush plants grow out of a gap in a polished marble surface, as well as authentic stone slabs with textured surfaces to draw attention to the earthy feel. Elsewhere, furniture is carved into interesting shapes using solid tree stumps.

Modern Retro Tech

Combining influences both old and new, tech-based products offer a modern way to utilize retro designs. Bouroullec’s collaboration with Samsung inspired a series of flat televisions with 80’s-look silhouettes and knitted back panels, while Punkt created a series of seemingly simple, retro-look cell phones as a nostalgic alternative to today’s deluge of smartphones. Additionally, Clyde Space’s innovative micro satellites were fitted with the kind of chunky computer chips used in early computers.

Minimal Monochrome

Products are made to reflect an appealingly clean, contemporary aesthetic, pared back to their purest essence with minimal designs and monochrome tones. Shelving units are filled with only the bare essentials, as homeware and decorations experiment with contrast colors to their environment. Stark patterns lend a statement touch, from simple stripes and gridding to tribal-inspired aesthetics.


Trendstop.com is one of the world's leading trend forecasting agencies for fashion and creative professionals, renowned for its insightful trend analysis and forecasts. Clients include H&M, Primark, Forever21, Zalando, Geox, Evisu, Hugo Boss, L'Oreal and MTV.