100% Design HIGHLIGHTS

Stuck to the usually grubby and miserable windows of Earls Court tube station are wallpaper panels – pink roses, trailing silver leaves and blooms in shades of plum and charcoal. 100% Design is here:

This is the pretty Countess wallpaper, from Graham and Brown‘s new Elixir collection, and very nice it is too. Another paper in the range worth checking out is the stunning Mirage design, featuring silhouetted trees and a sort of misty early-morning-valley effect – very beautiful. Especially in the mustard and grey colourway, which is practically EDIBLE:

Having accidentally eclipsed Barbara Hulanicki while a poor photographer was attempting to capture her, I moved swiftly on to the Korea Design Pavilion, where I got chatting to the 15 young, innovative designers there. I was particularly taken with 601Bisang, a stationery company, and I PRAY that their stunning letterpress notebooks, numbered post-it notes and rolls of colourful ‘glass tape’ are snapped up by British buyers – I’m sure they will be…

These little leaf notebooks have leaves printed on all the pages and are inspired by old-fashioned flower presses. SO nice. I also liked the fun ‘RELATION-SHEEP’ stool from the charming designArtist Soh – designed for two friends to sit on, it looks like two sheep kissing. (You might recognise his book tree shelving unit in one of these photos, which he showed last year).

I also loved the wonderful ‘Ta-Rae‘ lighting (made from spools of thread in traditional Korean colours with thimbles for light-pulls) from Design Virus…

Next, I spoke to the lovely people at Print, Tuft and Fold who had been charged with designing some very cool seating cubes for the exhibition’s entrance hall. Covered in gorgeous geometric patterns as well as city skylines and icons, they were proving popular for perching. Zoe Beck’s new London and New York wallpapers were stunning, Claire Alderdice’s new rugs were beautiful, and Kim Bassett’s latest origami-inspired cushions a delight. Woah, so many adjectives. But I can’t help getting as bit over-excited about these things…

I had a nice natter with Joshua Ritchie, husband of textile designer Caroline Ritchie of Corita Rose. I’ve been a fan of Caroline’s eye-wateringly bright fabrics, furnishings and accessories since I spotted them at Tent last year. Channelling Mexican art, circus fonts, Medieval poetry and tattoo symbols, her work is unique and VERY eye-catching! Joshua showed me her new curtain design, with the John Dryden quotation: JOY RULED THE DAY AND LOVE THE NIGHT…

I paid a little visit to the Roca stall to see the incredible light wave installation there and to hear all about the new Roca flagship showroom due to open in Chelsea soon, then headed to Camilla Meijer‘s stand to see her new wallpaper designs. The two new collections, called Victoria and Summer Garden, are every bit as stunning as her previous ranges…

I love this show, but after a while, my energy evaporated as per. My arm started to ache from the weight of press releases, my hair went all frizzy from heat/rain, I felt dehydrated, and I got a bit freaked out by the disgusting new ‘Utter Pots’ from Thelermont Hupton (of Handjob Hooks fame) which are basically little vases with lips, teeth and gaping orifices. Disturbing…

Time to trek back to SE1 and cover my desk with tape from 601Bisang. It doesn’t take much to make me happy. – Ellie