In the nearly 15 years since its inception, Clerkenwell Design Week has become one of the UK’s leading independent design festivals, animating the London district with launches and installations set within historical venues.
Clerkenwell Design Week 2023: key locations
Ethimo at Museum of the Order of St John
As usual, offering a sense of discovery, this year’s edition (23 – 25 May 2023) takes over key historical Clerkenwell venues. These include Crypt on the Green (Clerkenwell Close), part of St James’ Church, hosting British brands such as Benchmark, Ercol, Sebastian Cox and The Conran Shop.
Nearby, the Museum of the Order of St John (St John’s Square) hosts Details, a fair-like exhibition where companies such as Ethimo, Samuel Heath and Kasthall present their latest collections in a charming atmosphere.
Exclusive members’ club location, the Old Sessions House (23 Clerkenwell Green), is also open for a few days, hosting international brands like Brionvega and Dyson within the Grade II listed location.
Elsewhere, the expansive Spa Fields (91 Skinner Street) hosts Design Fields, a purpose-built fair space where highlights include Natuzzi, Lasvit, Villeroy & Boch and Graff.
Clerkenwell Design Week 2023 presentations and showrooms
Clerkenwell is home to several interiors showrooms, not to be missed: Fritz Hansen (78 Cowcross Street), Carl Hansen & Søn (16 Bowling Green Lane), Cappellini (150 St John Street), USM (49-51 Central Street) and Arper (11 Clerkenwell Road). Bathroom and tiles brands that opened in the area include Kohler (44-48 Clerkenwell Road) and Iris Ceramica (61-67 Old Street), VitrA (64 Turnmill Street), the latter celebrating its long-term collaboration with Arik Levy. Among the latest openings in the area is also outdoor furniture specialist Kettal (115-16 Dufferin Street).
Discover new launches below.
Yinka Ilori x Domus Tiles
Yinka Ilori made his tiles debut with specialist Domus, and the collaborative collection is previewed at Clerkenwell Design Week 2023. The collection is defined by Ilori’s energetic colour palettes and patterns, and the presentation features a window display installation that demonstrated the collection’s expressive potential.
Domus Clerkenwell, Great Sutton Street
Case Furniture relaunches iconic Robin Day designs
Midcentury design codes are given a refresh by Case Furniture, which has worked closely with the Robin and Lucienne Day Foundation to recreate a sofa and an armchair that originally appeared in 1964. The ‘Forum’ seating collection, designed by Robin Day, epitomised 1960s design with its intricate solid hardwood frame. Details, including its elegant finger-joint detail and chrome-plated legs positioned outside of the frame, nod to Day’s wish to make the construction a part of the design in a rethinking of beauty and function. Writer: Hannah Silver
The new designs are shown at Amin Taha’s Groupwork studio on Clerkenwell Close
Viaduct x Smith's Rules: The Language of Furniture
Multibrand design showroom Viaduct presents new pieces by the likes of Emeco, Mattiazzi and E15, the latter showing the new Gallery table by David Chipperfield and the Zampa chair by Jasper Morrison. The showroom also hosts Kelvyn Laurence-Smith's letterpress workshop Smith's Rules, which will offer typography demonstrations (with visitors invited to try it themselves) throughout the week.
Viaduct, Summers Street
Skagerak by Fritz Hansen
Danish design brand Fritz Hansen unveils its first outdoor furniture collection at Clerkenwell Design Week 2023, under the Skagerak by Fritz Hansen aegis. The collection includes the Banco bench by Hugo Passos and Aurelién Barby’s Plank collection, comprising table and seating. Both collections are sold as flat-pack and made from sustainably sourced FSC-certified teak.
78 Cowcross Street
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Tour the best contemporary tea houses around the worldCelebrate the world’s most unique tea houses, from Melbourne to Stockholm, with a new book by Wallpaper’s Léa Teuscher
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‘Humour is foundational’: artist Ella Kruglyanskaya on painting as a ‘highly questionable’ pursuitElla Kruglyanskaya’s exhibition, ‘Shadows’ at Thomas Dane Gallery, is the first in a series of three this year, with openings in Basel and New York to follow
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Australian bathhouse ‘About Time’ bridges softness and brutalism‘About Time’, an Australian bathhouse designed by Goss Studio, balances brutalist architecture and the softness of natural patina in a Japanese-inspired wellness hub
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A new London show explores material magic with medieval melancholyInspired by deconsecrated monasteries, interior designer and curator Jermaine Gallacher takes us on a journey through time and mood in a London exhibition at The Ragged School
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William Morris mania meets the design industry’s darker side in a new London show‘Morris Mania’ at the William Morris Gallery explores the British designer’s complicated legacy in an ever-more commodified world
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Wallpaper* takes a turn around Somerset House for Collect 2025Our round-up of the highlights from the 21st edition of the collectible craft and design fair in London
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‘It’s a museum-like jewel box’: L’Objet marks 20 years of elegant design with a new London flagshipOpening on 12 March 2025, L’Objet’s new London boutique is rich in chocolate colours and velvet detailing
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This Beirut design collective threads untold stories into upholstered antique furnitureBeirut-based Bokja opens a Notting Hill pop-up that's a temple to textiles, from upholstered furniture to embroidered cushions crafted by artisans (until 25 March 2025)
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'A creative explosion' in the West End: Sarabande Foundation takes residency at SelfridgesSarabande Foundation's ‘House of Bandits’ takes up residence with gusto in Selfridges for nine weeks
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‘I began experimenting and haven’t really stopped,’ Miranda Keyes on working with glassIn a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. Here we speak to Miranda Keyes about her forging her own path to success
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Feldspar makes its mark on Whitehall with a festive pop-up at Corinthia HotelDevon-based bone china brand Feldspar makes its first foray into shopkeeping with a pop-up at London’s Corinthia Hotel. Ali Morris speaks with the founders and peeks inside
