Decorex International Celebrates Another Successful Year

Decorex International celebrated another year as the Capital’s leading design destination as it returned to the prestigious grounds of Syon Park for its 41st edition.

The four-day showcase was attended by high-profile interior designers and trade visitors from a whole range of sectors, including furniture, lighting, textiles and interiors.

Lounge by Beata Heuma

The show’s over 400 exhibitors included some of the industry’s best-known names, from Brand Van Egmond, Beaumont & Fletcher and Innermost to Nicholas Haslam, Heathfield & Co and Phillip Jeffries. Decorex also welcomed around 50 first-time exhibitors, with Officine Gullo, Sahrai, Blackbird London, Fisk, Ori bespoke and
Memoir Essence Interiors among them.

The show’s central theme for 2018 was ‘Blank Canvas’ – an invitation for its participants to explore how an empty space can be the ideal starting point for a beautiful new beginning. Upon arrival, visitors could enjoy the result of this creative challenge, with four installations by different designers in response to a single brief.

Henry Prideaux, Simone Suss, Scott Maddux and Jo leGleud of Maddux Collective and Brian Woulfe each created a space that told the story behind their development as designers. The first vignette drew upon Prideaux’s senior year at Harrow School, using the colours, uniform and architecture of the school. Next, Studio Suss created a space that captured Simone Suss’ passion for music, art and fashion and Maddux Collective, who met on the dancefloor of a nightclub, used this first encounter as inspiration for their installation. Finally, Brian Woulfe curated a scene that provides a snapshot of his early years navigating the jungle of interior design.

Entrance Installation by Designed by Woulfe

Inside, the exceptional design continued with The Botanical Bar by Lambart & Browne. With the expression ‘bon viveur’ as the starting point for the concept, the bar featured an elegant, refined, colonial style with luxurious lighting, lavish furniture and striking decorative screens. Similarly, House & Garden’s VIP Lounge was another highlight, with an Egyptian-inspired scheme by the magazine’s Interior Designer of the Year, Beata Heuman.

Studio Suss

The acclaimed Future Heritage exhibition, curated by design critic and curator Corrine Julius, also returned this year. The showcase included new work from James Shaw, an experimental product and furniture designer, who created new plastic pieces made by a hand-operated gun extruding recycled plastic. Both Tord Boontje and Marcin Rusak displayed works that also explored the use of materials.

The former created a series of object that blend glass and metal welding, while the latter used solid metal to continue exploring the permanence of materials. Francesco Feltrin exhibited works that use ‘Dip Casting’ a new way of casting ceramics and textile artist Domenica Landin took inspiration from the invisible patterns of the wind.

Pipét Design’s CraftWork

Also, on display was the work of glassblower, Jochen Holz, who created a series of organic, free-flowing neon glass pieces, and multi-disciplinary studio, Glithero, which showed a series of botanical tiles inspired by hand-drawn images of weeds and hand-turned vases using foraged seaweed. Kaori Tatebayashi crafted ceramic works referencing the flowers growing around Syon Park and Rebecca De Quin exhibited patinated wall panels with detachable vessels. Also, in the line-up were Studio Ayaskan, who showed a UV-activated liquid clock, Katrin Spranger, who evolved her Aquatopia collection, Karlyn Sutherland, who created a series of fused, wall-mounted glass installations and Niela Kalra who produced textiles in response to Sutherland’s work.

Jewellery designer Marlene McKibbin and textile designer Alison White worked as a duo for the first time specifically for the show, creating a collection of LED table lamps. Finally, Royal College of Art graduate, Jie Wu, completed the list with a series of miniature boxes made of wood and resin.

Continuing this exploration of craftsmanship, Lincrusta, Pigmentti, Artisan Collective and Shalini Misra in partnership with Asprey, hosted this year’s ‘In the Making’ feature areas. In these spaces the companies revealed how their designs are made, finished and decorated, using artisans to showcase materials and design processes.

Pinch stand

New for 2018 was CraftWork, a series of eight stands showcasing exceptional craft design businesses that are still in their infancy. Featuring makers from varying disciplines, the companies present included, David Pringle Studio, RHMB, Zuzana Lalikova, Iluka London, Kevin Stamper Furniture, Anna Glover, Louis Jobst and NOVOCASTRIAN.