First Look: London Design Festival 2026

A defining moment for UK design and a cornerstone of the global cultural calendar, London Design Festival returns from 12–20 September with a city-wide programme of Landmark Installations, Special Projects, the Global Design Forum, a Partner Programme and much more. For its 24th edition, the Festival continues to champion emerging and established talent, fostering collaboration, innovation and international exchange across the global design community.

The Festival is proud to announce the Mayor of London as Principal Supporter for 2026. This London Design Festival continues to be supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, with Bloomberg Connects serving as the Festival’s official digital guide. The free digital guide will feature content exclusive to Connects, including expert commentary, video highlights and curated routes across the city.

This year brings together global exchange, craft revival and future facing technologies, with many projects exploring how cultural heritage, material innovation and digital thinking can coexist. Exploring ideas that span East and West, past and future, and the physical and digital worlds, the Festival continues to position London not just as a showcase of design innovation, but as a platform for global conversations. The annual London Design Medals also return, celebrating the achievements of leading figures and emerging talent across the design industry.

“London Design Festival 2026 is proving to be an exceptional year with a vibrant array of international installations and projects, new design districts, and an expanding Global Design Forum following the success of Global Design Forum Istanbul in May. London retains its allure as a global design capital engaging with expanding audiences, partners across the economy, and a high profile made by the layers of design stories that the Festival is home too.” - Ben Evans, London Design Festival Director and Co-Founder.

The Pangolin Shield, by Studio Saar and Atelier One, supported by Secure

Inspired by the pangolin, the world's most trafficked mammal, whose scales protect its body from head to tail, this installation explores colonial legacies, power, ecological exploitation and the movement of people and species across borders. Located on the Strand, the project is designed by Studio Saar in collaboration with structural engineers Atelier One.

The pavilion consists of a bamboo grid shell covered with traditional Indian police shields made from 'lathis', and woven rain shields or ‘knups’ traditionally used by farmers in north-eastern India. Layered atop the structure like scales, the various shields are reassembled as a protective canopy, playing with light and shade whilst providing collective shelter. By removing the police shields from their context of confrontation and state authority and bringing them in a functional symbiosis with the knups, the installation aims to disarm emblems of aggression to encourage rest and dialogue, empathy and community.

Located on a pedestrianised street in the West End, the structure turns to face the bust of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, situated outside the country's High Commission. By establishing this spatial axis, the pavilion encourages reflection on colonial legacies, power, ecological exploitation, and the movement of people and beings across borders.

MADE will be unveiling a collaboration with the Barbican, launching an interiors collection that brings one of Britain’s most iconic architectural estates into the heart of the contemporary home. Drawing on archival research, original layouts and the pioneering work of designer Miriam Howitt, the 23-piece collection transforms architectural references into a range of furniture, lighting, textiles and accessories.

To celebrate, they will create an immersive installation in the iconic institution which delves into the archives of Barbican interiors and the design inspiration behind the collection.

This exhibition looks to bring together Chinese and international artisans and designers to explore how traditional craftsmanship can be reimagined for contemporary life. Curated by Su Dan, Deputy Director of the Chinese Traditional Culture Museum (CTCM) and Professor at the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, alongside Yang Lan, Chairperson of Sun Media Group, it celebrates the enduring value of craft through a global lens.

Some highlights include participation from Rosalie Huang, a fashion artist and editorial consultant for Vogue China, Ouyang Wendong's multi-sensory delicate sculptures, the promotion of environmental sustainability and up-cycled materials in the work of eco-art creator Huang Lu, and traditional techniques being spotlighted, such as a unique practice pioneered by Li Xiaofeng using ancient ceramic shards and Ma Yixi who integrates intangible cultural heritage with architectural culture. Another highlight is fiber artist Shuang Xi who explores the imprints time embeds within materials. Xi integrates natural raw materials into fiber art at a profound level, employing contemporary craft to render the organic textures and marks borne by the earth. Through slow, deliberate manual labour, her work documents the cycles and transformations inherent to nature.

Craft x Tech is returning to the London Design Festival this September for its second edition. Founded by designer and engineer Dr Hideki Yoshimoto of design studio Tangent, with curatorial direction by independent curator Maria Cristina Didero, Craft x Tech brings together international designers and artists with Japanese craftspeople. Through these collaborations, the project explores how traditional craft and contemporary design can come together to create new works that redefine the future of craftsmanship.

This year, Craft x Tech is pairing six international designers with six master craftspeople from the Tokai region in Japan. The six new pieces which will be on display at the V&A museum will be Fushi, a console and lighting piece created by Yohei Ito and Australian industrial designer David Caon; Grid Unwoven a collaboration between Takanori Senda and design studio Lanzavecchia + Wai; Kataginu bringing Hiroyuki Murase with acclaimed British designer Bethan Laura Wood; Kasane, the work of Shigeyuki Ando with British-Canadian designer Philippe Malouin; Chair in Japanese Nuki, The Everyday at the Atelier by Japanese contemporary artist Eugene Kangawa with Mayuki Kato; and Yamollo by South African designer Atang Tshikare with artisan Tomoyuki Matsuda.

MixZ is an international cultural platform connecting Asia and the UK through design, creativity and innovation. For the Festival, MixZ will present China White Reimagined at the V&A, an exhibition celebrating and reimagining Dehua porcelain’s heritage, one of China's most significant artistic and cultural exports. In addition, MixZ will present an immersive exploration of Future Living with Shenzhen Style™ at the Old Selfridges Hotel, a visionary environment where design, technology and culture converge. Visitors will journey through a series of cinematic spaces that imagine how we may live, work and connect in the decades ahead. More details will be announced soon.

Pioneering professional audio brand L-Acoustics will present an immersive sound experience at the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station. Originally built in 1890, Wapping Power Station once powered much of Victorian London. This historic space will open to the public for the first time in 13 years, offering a rare opportunity to explore one of the city's most remarkable industrial spaces. More details will be announced soon.

The Festival's long standing partner, the V&A, continues to play a central role with a curated programme of global installations. This year’s edition is co-curated by Carrie Chan and Kristian Volsing, and celebrates Awakenings – a vibrant exploration of how design, craft and technology can inspire new perspectives, spark curiosity and bring to light invisible yet interconnected forces.

This year’s programme will map a journey of awakenings across the museum’s iconic galleries, provoking new consciousness around the creative and destructive potential of AI, opening our minds to the non-human world, tapping into the joyful energy of music and sound, and exploring our embodiment of identity through subversive, sculptural furniture.

Bringing together an exciting lineup of global talent, the programme features work from Henry Svendsen, Sam Ghantous, Andre Williams, Nina Davies and Albert Yonathan Setyawan, alongside major new commissions from Aziza Kadyri, Eunjo Lee and V&A Emerging Designer 2026, Playfool. Together, these installations and interventions aim to awaken us from the everyday world and confront the forces shaping our collective future.

During LDF, the Design Museum’s programme will include NIGO: From Japan with Love, the world’s first retrospective on NIGO, KENZO’s Artistic Director, credited as one of the first designers to bridge the worlds of streetwear and luxury fashion. The Design Museum also continues its annual PLATFORM series with a free to visit display showcasing works by designer and artist Simone Brewster, exhibiting objects spanning architecture, furniture, jewellery, collectible design and unveiling brand-new works. The curator, Hadeel Eltayeb, will be hosting a guided tour of the display on Saturday 12 September. In addition, Simone Brewster will join Laxmi Hussein, Emefa Cole, and Hettie Judah in a conversation chaired by the Design Museum curator Danielle Thom on Design Practice and Motherhood at the museum on 15 September, reflecting on how motherhood shapes, challenges and enriches artistic and design work today.

Further projects will be announced in the coming weeks and information for this year’s programme as well as details of the Global Design Forum, London Design Festival’s curated thought leadership programme, and this year’s London Design Medal winners will be announced over the summer.