Ldf 2021 Highlights

The highlight of our calendar, London Design Festival grants us the opportunity to catch up with industry friends, discover new design inspirations, and open the doors to Tala Studios to showcase our latest products.

As part of London Design Festival and Shoreditch Design Triangle, and together with our friends at Vitra, Farrow & Ball and Grace & Thorn, we reimagined our showroom space to create the Tala Pleasure Garden – an ode to the classic British gardens of the 18th Century.

Team Tala also travelled north, south, east and west to see each design district to discover the latest in design, architecture, furniture and fashion.

Below are our highlights from a wonderful week.

Joe Armitage and ESPASSO – Symbiosis

We were proud to see our former Design Director, Joe Armitage, launch his first LDF exhibition with Brazilian design house, ESPASSO. Showcasing the Armitage lamp collection, a series of mid-century style pieces mixing modern design with sustainable materials, this exhibition was our highlight of the Brompton Design District.

Planted

The main draw at the King’s Cross Design District and based next to Granary Square and the Thomas Heatherwick-designed Coal Drops Yard, Planted showcases “leading sustainable design brands who place nature at their core”. We dropped by to see our friends Naturalmat, who were displaying a selection of our new portable lamp as bedside tables, as well as a host of inspiring brands and start-ups looking to shake things up in the sustainable design category.

BÉTON BRUT AND M.A.H – 50 VYNER

Just a stones throw from our own studio sits ’50 Vyner’ – a new 5500 square foot premises showcasing the work of M.A.H. and Béton Brut. The space is a playground of curated furniture, lighting and art – a playful union of material and form, vintage and contemporary.

Upstairs for Thinking

It’s always inspiring to see the work of up-and-coming designers, and this was a great example. Kingston School of Art presented recent Product & Furniture Design graduate work, displaying innovative new designs and a variety of projects driven by research and critical thinking.

Design at the Forefront of Change – Global Design Forum

How are designers enablers of change? How can design influence and create more impact? These were the question of the day at the V&A, Global Design Forum discussion ‘Design at the forefront of change.’

Guest speakers Pali Palavathanan, Joseph Henry and Samar Maakaroun joined host Alice Fisher to discuss how their designs and interactions are influencing and challenging social and environmental issues and pushing the agenda to create change.

Technicolour – Kvadrat and Peter Saville

Showcased at the Kvadrat showroom, ‘Technicolour’ is a collaboration with Art Director Peter Saville. Harnessing Saville’s eye for colour compositions, Technicolour comprises upholstery, three rugs and two curtains. The upholstery and rugs are meticulously crafted from the finest wool – which is naturally coarse – and reference, through seemingly haphazard colours and rich tactility, the character of stock-marked fleeces.

Thank you to everyone who came to see our studio during London Design Festival 2021. Until next year…