It’s a design desert out there. Stores have ditched their usual stock to make way for gifty bits, Milan Design Week is miles off and everything is inexplicably covered in bows.
Let us, then, look forward to a fresh year of headline acts – the launches, collabs, openings and exhibitions sure to bring cheer to any interiors lover.
Here are ten to mark in your calendars now.
Woven’s ‘Tela’ rug in Light Grey
Woven
Los Angeles rug brand Woven is a favourite of Kelly Wearstler and frequently spotted in the homes of Hollywood royalty (think Jennifer Aniston and Gwyneth) but it has little presence this side of the pond.
That’s all set to change in February when the family-owned business, which began life as an antique wholesaler in 1979, sets up shop on the Pimlico Road.
Expect London’s interior designers to seize on its muted graphics, from checkerboards to Art Deco geometrics, in liveable tonal shades. woven.is
Oxford Street IKEA finally opens
The façade is currently wrapped in a signature Frakta bag
PA
Much of north London was left quietly bereft by the closure of IKEA Tottenham eighteen months ago, and faced with pilgrimages to Wembley or Greenwich to ease meatball withdrawals.
The opening of Drumsheds on the old site has buoyed some spirits, but now attention has shifted to the Oxford Street store set to open in autumn 2024.
Delays have been blamed on the tricky conversion of the Grade II-listed building (the former home of Topshop’s flagship) of which IKEA will occupy some 82,000 square feet.
New year launches for the retailer include the DAJLIEN home workout collection and the third drop of its Nytillverkad anniversary series. ikea.com
The Design Museum pays tribute to Enzo Mari
Enzo Mari’s 16 Animali, 1959
Design Museum
Major exhibitions on Barbie and Tim Burton will draw the crowds to the Design Museum next year, but first up is an Enzo Mari retrospective in a similar mold to 2021’s spotlight on Charlotte Perriand.
Best known for his now-ubiquitous ‘Uno, La Mela’ apple print, the prolific Italian was a designer of everything from sturdy furniture to children’s games, and a tireless advocate of new social ideas.
His 1974 manual Autoprogettazione?, which contained instructions for customisable DIY furniture, made the case that ordinary people could be empowered by design.
Aram celebrates its 60th birthday
Covent Garden’s Aram Store will celebrate its 60th birthday
Ellen Christina Hancock
Covent Garden’s much-loved Aram Store will be celebrating its 60th anniversary next year.
To mark the occasion, the design retailer is planning a special exhibition curated by Max Radford in its new-look gallery space in May.
Few details have been announced (and an exclusive limited-edition piece released for the anniversary is yet to be revealed) but Radford will have plenty of heritage to draw on.
The late Zeev Aram is widely credited with bringing heavyweights like Marcel Breuer, Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier to the London market. aram.co.uk
Aman launches a furniture collection
The Dvaya Bench is part of the Foundations collection
Aman Interiors
The European design world goes into hibernation mode over winter, but most have half an eye on what’s happening at Design Miami in early December.
Among the most exciting announcements this year was the launch of Aman Interiors, a retail offering from the hotel brand with the same air of rarefied zen.
Migumi, a collaboration with architect Kengo Kuma, is available in limited numbers (top) and from early next year fans will be able to buy from the Foundations Collection, made by artisans across the globe. More collabs are sure to follow. aman.com
Merchant & Found find a home in Soho
Launched five years ago, online vintage emporium Merchant & Found has become a go-to for renovators in pursuit of 20th century pieces with an industrial twist, from Fifties stacking chairs to glorious banks of old haberdashery drawers.
But founder Paul Middlemiss is no plucky Instagram dealer – in a former life he was the buying director of The Conran Shop and Pedlars.
That commercial grounding should serve him well as they gear up to launch a 4,000 square foot ‘supermarket’ in the heart of Soho next year. merchantandfound.com
Rixo follows up riotous flagship
Cúpla Studio’s design for the Rixo flagship in Chelsea
Megan Taylor
Retail fitouts can be a joyless endeavour, but relative newcomer Cúpla Studio caused quite the kerfuffle when it unveiled its anything-but design for fashion label Rixo’s King’s Road flagship (above) last year, complete with palm-flanked circular bar and De Gournay bridal suite.
It’s little wonder, then, that the studio has been enlisted to work its magic on a new Marylebone store (especially as Cúpla’s Gemma McCloskey is the twin of Rixo co-founder Orlagh).
This time a concept store that will house one of each Rixo piece, it’s pegged to open in mid-February. cuplastudio.co.uk
Henry Holland announces workshops
Henry Holland will be revealing his techniques in a new workshop series
Soho Home
Fashion designer-turned-ceramicist Henry Holland is three years into his practice and ready to spill some secrets. From January, Holland will host hand-building workshops, walking would-be potters through his take on the Japanese nerikomi stacking technique.
As well as monthly workshops, the east London studio will host panel discussions on building a successful business, and offbeat life drawing sessions in which attendees will sketch directly onto a Henry Holland Studio dinner plate. henryhollandstudio.com
The Six Senses brand lands in the UK
It could be argued that London is hardly short of starry hotels, but well-heeled travellers would point to a few glaring omissions. One such box will be ticked next year when the Six Senses chain opens its first UK hotel on the old Whiteleys shopping centre site in Bayswater.
The 110-room hotel, just one element of a £3 billion redevelopment of Queensway, will be decked out in typically minimalist style by New York-based group AvroKO.
Renderings released so far suggest airy, plant-filled restaurants, lobbies and lounges, all behind the original Grade II-listed façade. sixsenses.com
Layered teams up with Tekla Severin
Teklan Severin, aka Teklan, has collaborated with Layered
Handout
Stockholm-based Tekla Severin, aka Teklan, has a multi-hyphenate career that spans colour consultation, interior architecture, art direction and exhibition design.
In practice, she’s a go-to collaborator for brands who value precise colour instincts, like Pani Jurek, Ogeborg and Very Simple Kitchen.
Now she’s teaming up with Layered to launch a trio of hand-tufted wool rugs and mohair blankets, all with her signature ‘warm on warm’ colour combinations.
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