Day Three

The morning after the night before

I’ll cut straight to the chase: today is a struggle. Friday night in London is always eventful, but when it ends a week that has seen 100%Design, the London Design Festival and London Fashion Week, it’s carnage. From buyers to manufacturers to sales people and designers, everyone was letting off steam last night and Brick Lane/Shoreditch in east London was the place to do it.

So if I come across as just not ‘with it’, you’d be right, it will be the free drinks at TENT the breakout show to 100%, and at Corian alongside star-architect Amanda Levete, who were laying on drinks last night like they were going out of fashion.

Designersblock

Despite the shaky start to the day, I did have a good look around Designersblock. An all-together more rugged and thrown-together show it aims to show-off the most progressive emerging and established design talent from all over the world. You are always guaranteed a giggle at Designersblock and this year was no different with creative cooperative KithKin offering up something a little different.

I-BUM declares the ‘arse to be the window of the soul’; it’s a chair with inbuilt bum scanner printing your bits from a slot on the side (unsurprisingly popular in bars), there’s jewellery made out of human material from dead people (yes, really) and HIP-OP-DON’T STOP shoes making you smirk even though you know you shouldn’t.

Aussie Ben Rousseau had an impressive stand showcasing his high-end bespoke furniture and modern graffiti take on traditional cornicing, and the mustachioed ceramic mugs were wonderfully playful and just downright silly. The Hitler mug would suit my old boss perfectly (you know who you are!).