Design Icons: London Design Week 2024 featuring cabana

ON OUR RADAR | ART & CULTURE | WORLD OF CABANA

Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour will play host to many of the design world's leading talents and tastemakers next week (11-15 March), including Cabana founder and Editor-in-Chief, Martina Mondadori, and artist, Ashley Hicks. Discover Cabana's picks of the programme, chosen by our editors.

BY CABANA EDITORS | ART & CULTURE | 1 MARCH 2024

Interior by Flora Soames, who will join London Design Week 2024 on Wednesday 13 March

Cabana's Martina Mondadori and Ashley Hicks will join an impressive roster of leading designers and exciting new talents at London Design Week 2024 (11-15 March), a festival of creative excellence bringing together designers, manufacturers and artisans, representing some 600 brands. Attendees include prestige textile houses and renowned designers, including Rose Uniacke, showcasing in-situ for Design Week only. 

The carefully-curated programme of more than 100 events and workshops features conversations with Cabana favorites, including US decorator, Bunny Williams, and textile designer, Flora Soames, and practical masterclasses on traditional crafts including gilding and candle painting. The programme will also honour the lives and legacies of inspirational figures in design and fashion, including Elizabeth Hoare, the granddaughter of gothic revival architect George Gilbert Scott, who played a pivotal role in the story of 150-year old fabric and wallpaper house, Watts 1874.

Martina and Ashley will host a talk, Design Icons, on Thursday 14 March, focused on the life and legacy of David Hicks, the legendary English designer whose vibrant, color-saturated interiors became the acme of jet-set chic in 60s and 70s London, and Renzo Mongiardino, the Italian set designer whose operatic interiors have had a profound influence on Cabana Magazine. The hour-long talk will focus on both icons' influential styles, and will include a book signing of David Hicks in Colour.

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Design Icons with Cabana | Thursday 14 March, DCCH | Book Tickets here

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"I'm delighted to be joining London Design Week 2024, Design Centre is always a real destination for me," says Martina Mondadori. "I've always loved going through all the textiles and wallpapers, and discovering new patterns and brands."

Claire German, CEO of Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, said the creative site has "extraordinary vitality" at this time of year. "Sharing knowledge, making connections and sparking conversation is part of our DNA, and London Design Week 2024 is no exception! It will be brimming with creativity, ideas and inspiration."

Visitors can expect a celebration of the new season, German said, along with an abundance of new patterns, palettes and textures from the most influential names in design. "The programme has more than 100 curated events; it's anchored by our Conversations in Design talks, and we’re thrilled that Martina and Ashley are on the main stage – it promises to be utterly fascinating," she added.

What to See at London Design Week 2024

Fashioning Interiors: Sanderson x Giles Deacon

Following the much-lauded launch of Sanderson's collaboration with couture designer and illustrator, Giles Deacon, the fashion favorite - renowned for deftly mixing fashion, fine art and theatre - will address London Design Week 2024. In a conversation with Sanderson's design creative director, Claire Vallis, Deacon will share his inspirations and deliver insights into creative collaborations.

Monday 11 March, 11.30am-12.30pm, First Floor, Design Centre East 

Winding, Warping & Weaving: Inside Gainsborough

One of Britain’s last remaining weaving houses, Gainsborough - first established in 1903 - holds one of the UK’s leading textile archives. An insightful presentation, by Gainsborough's managing director, Neil Thomas, will take you behind the scenes of weaving, from the manufacturing process, to the design process of weaving on historic looms, and the final applications of these luxurious fabrics.

Monday 11 March, 12.30-1.30pm, George Spencer Designs, Third Floor, Design Centre East

Thorp of London - A Collection Screen Printed in Norfolk

Pierre Frey have acquired a traditional screen printing workshop in Norfolk, allowing for highly customisable patterns across a palette of 460 colors. The brand will present a collection of 360 prints and explain how this this unique acquisition came about. 

Tuesday 12 March, 10.30am, Pierre Frey, First Floor, Design Centre East

A Brief History of Wallcovering

An insightful presentation from Iksel’s assistant art director, Jean de la Thibauderie, sharing a brief history of the origins of wallcovering and its development and influence from the 16th century to the present day.

Tuesday 12 March, 12.30pm, Iksel Decorative Arts, Ground Floor, South Dome 

By Design: Spaces for Living with Bunny Williams, Paolo Moschino and Philip Vergeylen

With a wealth of knowledge and experience spanning illustrious careers in design, three international tastemakers will explore the joy of curating spaces for inspired living. Expert insider secrets and tips for your own home decorating. 

Tuesday 12 March, 3-4pm, First Floor, Design Centre East

The Radical Spirit of Morris & Co

Iconic British brand, Morris & Co, will share insights into the towering creative talents whose work has come to distinguish the heritage brand over the decades. Lead designer Jessica Clayworth will explore how Morris & Co is celebrating the artists behind the most iconic designs in the brand's new Bedford Park collection.

Wednesday 13 March, 1pm Morris & Co, First Floor, South Dome

The Meaning of Home with Flora Soames and Kathryn Ireland

Leading designers, Flora Soames and Kathryn Ireland, will reflect on the concept of home, exploring the people, places and objects that have shaped their approach to designing comfortable, homely spaces in varied settings, from English country houses to villas in the south of Frances and Los Angeles. Both designers will sign their books after the talk: One Day Box: A Life-Changing Love of Home by Flora Soames and A Life in Design: Celebrating 30 Years of Interiors by Kathryn Ireland.

Wednesday 13 March, 3-4pm, First Floor, Design Centre East

Zoffany will discuss damasks and a return to tradition on Thursday 14 March

A Return to Tradition with Zoffany

Zoffany’s Peter Gomez discusses damasks - a design language that has remained intact throughout history, reflecting true classicism - and how the brand uses traditional processes to create the intricate detailing of a vertical moiré for the wall.

Thursday 14 March, 1pm, Zoffany, First Floor, South Dome

Design Icons with Martina Mondadori and Ashley Hicks

Discover the masterful decorators whose inimitable style continues to inform and inspire generations of designers. Ashley Hicks will share unique insights into the life and legacy of his father, David Hicks, while Martina Mondadori will discuss the influence on Cabana of Italian architect Renzo Mongiardino. The talk will be followed by an exclusive book signing of two titles dedicated to the late great David Hicks: David Hicks: A Life of Design (Rizzoli) and ‘David Hicks in Colour’ (Cabana).

Thursday 14 March, 11.30am-12.30pm, First Floor, Design Centre East

Interior project by Rose Uniacke, one of London Design Week's 'house guests'

The Joy of Nature: Inside & Out

Join designers Stephanie Barba Mendoza and Clare Gaskin as they explore how nature provides balance and freshness to interior schemes, creating indoor-outdoor spaces that please the eye and feed the soul.

Friday 15 March, 11.30-12.30, First Floor, Design Centre East

Meet the House Guests: Rose Uniacke

Discover a carefully curated selection of brands in Chelsea Design Centre's Design Avenue, all of which are in-situ during London Design Week 2024 only. Adding an extra layer of creativity to the show, these 'house guests', including Italian silversmiths Buccellati and Pimlico Road-based designer and antique dealer, Rose Uniacke, will share the inside track on their newest launches and design initiatives.

Friday 15 March, 3-3.45pm, Concierge Desk, Ground Floor, Design Avenue

London Design Week 2024 runs from 11-15 March at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour | Discover the full programme and book tickets here