PAD London’s 16th edition is a blisteringly optimistic case for human achievement

While Frieze might grab the headlines in London in the second week of October, the concurrent arrival of PAD over in Berkeley Square routinely captures the hearts of art and design lovers in the capital. Last week marked the French collectible design fair’s 16th visitation to London, with a remarkable 62 galleries in attendance, folded tidily into the tents. Of these, 12 galleries were first-time attendees, suggesting PAD’s allure as a brand and business-driver is as strong as ever, and when Wallpaper* visited early in the week, the stands rippled with excitement following a visit from David Beckham no less.

Here is what happened at PAD London

PAD’s charm is about more than celebrity spotting. The bar has been set extremely high over 16 years for stands to be presented as rich interior worlds. Far from feeling as though one is walking through a temporary tented structure, visiting PAD is like wandering through a series of exquisite stage sets, each revealing rooms that could be lifted straight from the homes of a cast of exuberant collectors. En masse, the experience borders the surreal. Here are works in real life that we are familiar with from magazine pages and museum collections, with mighty London Plane trunks dotted in between. PAD smells like leaf mulch, furniture polish and a melange of fine fragrances - a curiously seductive olfactory combination.

Homing in on some highlights, let’s start with the newest additions. Aequo (Mumbai) describes itself as India’s first collectible design gallery and showed a beguiling collection of works by international designers including Kelly Wearstler, Boris Brucher and Florence Louisy and, most intriguing: Linde Freya Tangelder of Destroyers/Builders’s Slabs collection, featuring a coffee table, wall-mounted mirror, and sconce light, made from the metal repoussé technique.

Brazil Modernist (Paris) lived up to its name, celebrating Brazilian modernist and contemporary design with standout pieces by Oscar Niemeyer, José Zanine Caldas, Joaquim Tenreiro, as well as contemporary works by younger stars. Highlights include Tiago Braga's lighting in wool felt and metal, and Juliana Vasconcellos's wonderful chairs in solid freijo wood and jute.

Movimento Gallery (Milan, London) showed a collection of new commissioned work from their stable of designers titled Marks of Existence, each piece made from Travertino Ascolano. Theoreme Editions (Paris), founded by David Giroire and Jérôme Bazzocchi, featured a selection of sculptural and minimalist furniture including the Sistema modular wool and alpaca sofas by Pool Studio.

Besides the healthy showing of newcomers, PAD stalwarts turned out in force with their best feet forward too. Gallery FUMI (London) unveiled a monumental oak and brass wall cabinet by Francesco Perini, part of his new Nucleo series, inlaying metal into seasoned Tuscan oak wood. We were equally taken by Casey McCafferty mythological carved works, and a mohair and leather chaise longue by their recent signee Charlotte Kingsnorth.

Galerie Kreo (Pairs) presented a handsome and refined wooden hunk of desk by Barber & Osgerby - the perfect foil for Jaime Hayon’s playfully cheeky Lucky Monkey mirror. Spazio Nobile (Brussels) offered up new Brushed lamps by Pierre Charrié produced with Vietnamese lacquerers, which are riding high on our wishlist, alongside Nilufar Gallery’s (Milan) copper chairs by Shlomo Harush.

Stepping out from PAD into the October gloam in Mayfair is like being rudely awoken early from a blissful dream. To be surrounded by such a wealth of beauty, imagination, detail and effort, as the craftsmanship of collectible design demonstrates, is to be reminded of the sheer creative power and poetry of humanity. To spend even two hours drinking it all in has a curiously uplifting effect not just on the eyes and heart but on the soul, too. These are pinnacles of human physical expression. AI could never come close.

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