Future Heritage a key fixture of Decorex showcased some of the best of British-based designers and makers

London designer Adam Nathaniel Furman 
being photographed against his own huge brilliantly-coloured,
abstract rug "Capricciosa" made in collaboration
with East London’s FLOOR_STORY. 
Photo by Lucia Carpio for MyFashionConnectGlobal.

While this dreadful pandemic is not over, the creatives among us working in design, arts and crafts, are in much need of positive personal contact.  

Thus the return of Future Heritage, a key fixture of the hotly awaited Decorex 2021 trade event for upmarket interior professionals, was greeted with a warm welcome in October at London Kensington Olympia.  

Featuring a number of creative designers’ work to entice trade visitors on the look-out for unique projects, Future Heritage showcased some of the best of British-based designers and makers, selected to showcase their new work for the show.

Large-scale glass platters by Amanda Simmons in the foreground.  Backdrop shows
hanging rug Capricciosa by Adam Nathaniel Furman who was inspired by pizza, one of his favourite foods during lockdown, when creating this rug, says the designer. 
Photo by Lucia Carpio for MyFashionConnectGlobal.

Corinne Julius, a renowned arts and design critic who is also founder and curator of Future Heritage, said her aim was to “bring much needed joy and delight” to this year’s show.  “For this year’s show I have chosen makers and designers who celebrate colour and pattern, but who also revel in the power of touch, something most of us have been deprived of during Covid,” says Corinne.

“My selection is based on their ability to produce innovative pieces that push the boundaries of contemporary craft. I also chose people who can work in partnership with commissioning interior designers and architects on their own projects, be they private or public. This year I wanted to be celebratory.”  

Corine started Future Heritage as the central feature at Decorex in 2014.  This year’s selection covers traditional skills reworked in contemporary ways alongside new technologies ranging from blacksmithing to digital.

Adam Nathaniel Furman shows off his furniture collection,
the Beiruti for Beit Collective reimagining the traditional
Lebanese craft of furniture cane weaving known as “Khayzaran”. 
Photo by Lucia Carpio for MyFashionConnectGlobal.

A leading exponent of the joys and benefits of colour and ornamentation is Adam Nathaniel Furman, a trained architect, artist and designer, whose designs span public spaces, installations, interiors and even mugs and shopping bags.

For Future Heritage, London-based Adam has designed three new bespoke collections; including a huge brilliantly coloured, abstract rug based on one of his private drawings and made in collaboration with East London’s FLOOR_STORY. 

As part of his installation, Adam presented a unique collection of colourful chair and stool that featured plastic cane using traditional Lebanese caning techniques and wooden frame made in collaboration with Beit, which used techniques that are not affected by Lebanon’s shortage of electricity supply.

An armchair and rocking chair will be added to the collection.

Baalbek by Adam Nathaniel Furman is a collection of porcelain vessels for Beit Collective
" inspired by the ancient allure of the great ruins of Baalbek in Lebanon, and the cosmopolitan vibrancy
of its capital Beirut."  Photo by Lucia Carpio for MyFashionConnectGlobal.

Glassbule beam pendant and table lamp by
Adam Nathaniel Furman
Photo by Lucia Carpio for MyFashionConnectGlobal

Also on show is a series of new glass free-standing and suspended lights produced in partnership with Derbyshire-based lighting manufacturer, Curiousa and Curiousa.

Anna Ray and her loop creation.

Continuing the celebration of colour and pattern is textile artist Anna Ray, winner of the 2021 Brookfield Properties Crafts Council Collection Award. Anna, who specialises in colourful soft sculpture, created three large wall hangings/screens, along with two existing works made from her stuffed hand-painted and digitally printed textiles. 

Hand-painted glass screens by Kate Mastri displayed against the wall, while
in the foreground is a selection of large-scale glass platters by
Amanda Simmons.  Photo by Lucia Carpio for MyFashionConnectGlobal.

Colour is hugely important for architectural glass designer and artist, Kate Maestri who typically collaborates with prestigious architects in the UK and abroad. For Future Heritage, Kate creates a series of new hand-painted glass screens for the domestic interior, a departure from her usual architecturally focused work which is often seen in the public realm. The screen measures 150cm wide x 180cm high and is made up of five individual glass panels. These can be placed either separately or together, to create new spaces and shapes within a wide range of interior settings.  

“My colour palette for this piece is drawn from the natural world. A wave of luminous blues, greens and turquoise flows across the surface of the glass to evoke a sense of sky, sea and landscapes,” says Kate.

Amanda Simmons

Light and colour are key to the work of glass artist Amanda Simmons who plays with gravity forming in the kiln. Amanda manipulates mass, heat, colour and time to create complex, elusive work that has intense colour and pattern and reacts to the light it’s placed in. For the show she is creating a brand new series of large-scale glass platters whose colour and pattern derive from her time spent in Australia.

Designer and engineer Moritz Waldemeyer is a digital maker, who has collaborated with some of the world’s most renowned brands as well as top architects and fashion designers to create captivating digital installations. 

An installation "True Love" by Studio Waldmeyer, featuring a canopy of giant butterflies, dancing and swaying amongst mesmerising digital candles designed by Mauritz  Waldemeyer - inspired by Persian poet Attar of Nishapur -formed a welcoming focal point at Decorex 2021.  Tropical garden created by Wild at Heart.
Photo by Lucia Carpio for MyFashionConnectGlobal.

For Future Heritage in conjunction with Mayice Studio, London based Moritz designed a brand new chandelier based on a large-scale version of his digital candles. 

Installation "True Love" by Studio Waldmeyer
Photo from Decorex.

Moritz also created a dramatic, suspended luminous pathway of digital candles to lead visitors into Future Heritage from the main hall and is also responsible for the delicate, welcoming installation "True Love" to Decorex, featuring giant butterflies and digital candles.

Daniel Freyne

At the other end of the craft continuum is Daniel Freyne, a recent graduate and QEST scholar who uses traditional blacksmithing techniques that he pushes in new ways to create metal vessels. These have the look of ceramic or leather and cry out to be touched. They range in scale from the handheld to the majestic. Daniel's series of over-sized ‘Transition’ metal vessels are shown alongside another new series of mixed-sized vessels called ‘Perceptions’. He is also creating sculptural works whose fragmented surfaces allude to the fractious experiences of many of us during Covid and the consequential impact on mental health.

Frances Pinnock

Frances Pinnock

Maker Frances Pinnock uses traditionally oak tanned leather from the only surviving British tannery to produce it, to create extraordinary asymmetrical leather vessels that she makes using adapted hand-stitching saddle-making techniques. For Future Heritage, she shows off even bigger scale works including a large sculptural piece.

Intelligent re-use of materials is also a key element of the show. Marco Campardo is an inventive designer-maker, who specialises in the re-purposing of materials. He has created a series of new tables and seating, made from discarded wood sheets by Italian company, Alpi. These combine spontaneous assembly and careful manual finishing. Marco works with offcuts and materials that are discarded, layering them to create solid colour. He is also making one off ‘Split Selfie’ mirrors made of recycled aluminium and reclaimed wood especially for Future Heritage.

Fabio Hendry's range of designs using Hot Wire Extensions.
Photo by Lucia Carpio for MyFashionConnectGlobal.

Fabio Hendry an experimental designer is similarly pre-occupied with intelligent re-use of discarded materials. He specialises in developing new materials and processes, such as using waste SLS 3D nylon powder, a material that is currently not recycled, to create new and contemporary works. Inspired by the way a vine grows around a tree, he reuses the material to create lights in organic bone-like structures built around a wire. He shows a series of free-standing, wall-mounted, table and suspended lights as well as furniture, including seating and a wall mirror and console.

Marco Campardo

Metal is the ultimate recyclable, and young metalsmith and jeweller, Callum Partridgem showcases a series of candelabra in angular, modernist and geometric shapes, using precious and everyday metals including steel, brass, silver and gold for his contemporary metal work.  Meanwhile Marco Campardo features furniture using Api wood.

Large wall hangings by Anna Ray
along side oak leather artworks by Frances Pinnock.
Photo by Lucia Carpio for MyFashionConnectGlobal. 
 

Future Heritage, the ‘show within a show, reveals unique pieces created by designers who have pushed their creativity to the limits to produce new and unexpected work, often combining traditional materials with innovative new processes. 

“I so enjoy the creativity, commitment and enthusiasm of contemporary makers,” says curator Corinne Julius, who continuously spots and helps new makers fulfil their potential as well as encourages mid-career makers to extend their practice and develop new projects.

“Future Heritage is a wonderful opportunity to share their skills with a wider audience who are in a position to commission them for their own projects. Since the start, many of them have sold work or have been commissioned by Decorex visitors."

A thought-provoking message in The Monkey Puzzle Tree's new designer print

British award-winning company The Monkey Puzzle Tree has launched a new print for a collection of furnishing fabrics thanks to its collaboration with Yorkshire artist and illustrator Alexis Snell.

"All Tomorrow’s Futures" from The Monkey Puzzle Tree is available in three monochrome colourways - Ocean Blue, Lobster Orange and Seaweed Green, each providing a vivid pop of colour against an unbleached cotton linen background.
Photo by Lucia Carpio for MyFashionConnectGlobal.

The Monkey Puzzle Tree's booth at 
Decorex 2021 where the new
"All Tomorrow’s Futures"  range was launched.
Photo by Lucia Carpio for MyFashionConnectGlobal.

Just launched at the Decorex 2021 high-end interior design trade fair in early October 2021, the “All Tomorrow’s Futures” range is a locally-produced textural artisan print depicting the impact of humans on the natural world.

Ms Alexis created the thought-provoking design to explore the juxtaposition between the natural and industrial worlds.  Hidden within the hand-carved lino cut pattern is a subtle message about humankind’s impact on the planet.  Flocks of swallows morph into aeroplanes and factory fumes mingled with skulls and snakes. 

"As an artist, I can’t make that much difference to climate change, but what I can do is create images that make people think about what’s happening to our planet. The name refers to the fact that the future of our planet could go in two different ways. We’ve got to act now to prevent disaster,” said Alexis, who sketched out the original design for ‘All Tomorrow’s Futures’ in pencil before hand carving it onto a lino block and printing it by hand. 

A specially commissioned cotton-linen fabric with a handcrafted, bouclé-like feel was woven on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border and the pattern was screen printed at a heritage mill in Cumbria.

All Tomorrow’s Futures is available in three monochrome colourways - Ocean Blue, Lobster Orange and Seaweed Green, each providing a vivid pop of colour against an unbleached cotton linen background.

As a printmaker working in linocuts, Alexis is well known for her darkly humorous and characterful illustrations which have been featured in everything from a cast bronze table which was commissioned by the V&A Museum, to a recent Doctor Who book for the BBC.

Alexis has collaborated with The Monkey Puzzle Tree on a number of popular designs including 'How the Leopard got his Spots' velvet (available as cushion covers and lampshades) and 'Passion Flower' wallpaper.

The Monkey Puzzle Tree is known for their award winning artist designed fabrics and wallpapers with a twist and a conscience.  

Founded by Charlotte Raffo in 2017, the business pays a 20% royalty to their artists to help provide them The Monkey Puzzle Tree with a passive income, and the unique designs are manufactured in the North of England, supporting traditional industries and maintaining high environmental standards.  

Earlier this year, it was awarded a Design Guild Mark for 2021 for its “Hit the North” real cork wallpaper, as seen in this picture on the left.