Cities of design
Autumn 2021 marks the return of face to face festivals,
as we celebrate the joy of talking to real people and
once again having a real platform to share our creativity.
As Europe’s cities jostle to claim the title of Design Capital or City of Cool, we kick off with Milan. This year’s much anticipated Salone del Mobile, has been renamed the ‘Supersalone’. Although smaller in scale, visitors have remarked that it didn’t diminish the event’s pent-up energy. As trend forecaster Gudy Herder summarised, ‘fluidity, flexibility, playfulness and going greener’, were the key pickups.
With every capital delighting in hosting its own festival, it seems we’re keen to embrace creativity in every sense as we connect in Copenhagen and Paris, Berlin and London this month. After 18 months of distanced and online communications, the public are hungry for innovation and design. It’s time to get to know the designers, the craftsmen, the passionate people behind the brand, something that’s so much easier to convey in person.
As open and inclusive as ever, we’ve seen creativity spill out into our communities. Yinka Ilora unleashed a riot of colour and pattern to the streets of London, as part of his ‘Bring London Together’ artworks. Whereas Parisian exhibitors set up their displays in some of the capital’s most exclusive addresses.
Perhaps those most affected by Covid are the next generation of designers. Their education disrupted, with restrictions on placements and limited networking that’s so vital in their early careers. The Lost Graduation show at Milan gave recent new designers chance to share their work with a wider audience. And Green Grads, an exhibition from 30 designers from the lost classes of 2020/21 focuses on sustainable ideas for the future during London Design Week.
We’re currently working on a new version of our trend report and look forward to sharing it soon.
If you like to receive our biannual trends report,
please email carole@nikandcarole.co.uk
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