Twenty design stars of tomorrow to buy from today
The UK is alive with creativity, as new designers burst out of lockdown full of brilliant ideas. We are taking note of these emerging talents and are inspired by their strong visions and fresh directions
1 XANDRA SPENCE
Xandra Spence of Lolly & Kiks worked for 10 years as a fashion buyer before being made redundant in the seventh month of pregnancy. She drilled down into her Nigerian roots to create her own brand of fabric accessories stitched from African wax prints. Her latest fold-flat storage baskets in six sizes (from £12) have really taken off – and these are her own invention. Lolly is her daughter – and Kiks is her nickname from her Nigerian middle name Kikelomo. lollykiks.com
2 AIDAN DONOVAN
Designer-maker Aidan Donovan, in business for just over two years, makes freestanding contemporary furniture with clean lines and simple forms revealing his craft skills and the beauty of locallysourced and sustainably-grown British hardwoods. Shown is the Waga elm table with hand-carved fluted surface detail. He will be at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair at Victoria Baths in Manchester from 8 to 10 October. aidandonovan.co.uk
3 FLORA DALY
Some new talent is nurtured by leading brands. Meet Flora Daly, designer for Harlequin, who snapped her up at the New Designers show in Islington in 2019. Flora draws and paints, experiments with new techniques, researches colour palettes, and then creates digital files for the printing factories. Behind her is her Dance of Adornment wallpaper, with its melange of tropical birds, £89 a roll. ‘I love to make designs our customers will fall in love with,’ says Flora. harlequin.sandersondesigngroup.com
4 HARLIE BRIGGS
Artist Harlie Briggs got her chance to move from teaching into painting during the first lockdown, and soon had an enthusiastic fan base for her striking nude portraits in acrylic oils – and coffee (from £65 to £2,000).
Then came her upcycled ‘nude’ vases, sourced from antique fairs: each a one-off, with its own distinctive female outline painted on freehand (from £25 to £350). They’re a runaway success, selling out on Instagram and at a recent pop-up at Selfridges. ‘My work has taken over my north London flat!’ says Harlie. harliebriggsart.co.uk
5 AMECHI MANDI
Fashion in worked and London brand as entrepreneur but a innovator stylist, born buyer, in before Cameroon, Amechi style taking Mandi, director had a degree now in furniture and product design. His new range of homeware reference pre-colonial African textiles and culture – ‘aesthetics determined by the people and not forced on them.’ Linen cushions from £85. Amechi cushions are in the latest edition of Heal’s Discovers.
6 REBECCA ROWLAND-CHANDLER
Encapsulating the beauty of rugged landscapes from Iceland to East Anglia in glass is artist-maker Rebecca Rowlandchandler. She graduated three years ago from the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham and leading galleries immediately competed for her sculptures. A show at Pyramid Gallery, York, is open until 31 October. She is also crafting homeware for her Etsy shop with glass coasters from £18. rebeccarowland-chandlerglass.com
7 ALBA ELEZI
On graduating from London Metropolitan University last summer, furniture designer Alba Elezi won multiple awards and is now working for a bespoke furniture-maker. Her design for a cabinet in oak veneer in two shapes with sleek tambour slide-away doors won a Habitat competition last year and will launch this autumn. albaelezi.com
8 GAVIN KEIGHTLEY
Bulbous, heavily textured and fluorescent, Gavin Keightley’s stools (from £500) and chests are cast in plaster-like Jesmonite from moulds improbably made from foods such bread, couscous, jelly and mashed potatoes. ‘There’s a lot of trial and error and the studio usually smells of food,’ he confides. Gavin has been selling largely through Instagram during lockdown. He is now focusing on exhibitions, and showed with the Devon Guild of Craftsman during the summer. @gasketdesign
9 LAWRENCE PARENT
Living Blocks is an invention by Lawrence Parent, developed from his degree project at Brighton University last year. This is an ‘open source’ (ie freely accessible to all) recipe for modifying simple moulds with balloons and discarded fruit and veg to mimic a natural stone that harbours vegetation and wildlife to soften harsh urban landscapes. This will be the basis of a new business called Wild Structures, aiming to bring greenery back into cities. ‘I want to connect humans and nature,’ says Lawrence. lawrenceparent.com
10 LIAN CHAN
Photographer Lian Chan transposes her images onto striking homeware, including a lamp Habitat is launching this autumn. Also new are rugs and lighting, above, based on photographs of Avebury stone circle. lianchan.co.uk
11 AMY JACKSON
Ceramicist Amy Jackson uses traditional slip-casting and wheel-throwing to make dishes and small vessels, then paints, dips, sprays and splashes them with cool abstracts. The slip-cast work from her degree show last year rapidly sold out at the Bevere Gallery in Worcester, where new pieces in porcelain are available from around £90. The garage of her family home in Newcastle-underlyme is now her studio – ‘big thanks to mum and dad,’ she says. jacksonceramics.com