The Scottish designers selected to take part in V&A Dundee’s Northern Lights show as part of the London Design Festival at the V&A have been announced. Northern Lights will showcase the work of designers who have chosen to stay in Scotland to build their careers.
The products on show range from hand-crafted wooden furniture bent by steam to ceramic jewellery and sustainable fashion, reflecting the bold confidence of the current Scottish design scene. The show will focus on the strengths of contemporary Scottish product design – and the increasing confidence designers feel in basing their businesses north of the border, contributing to the economy and making an impact around the world.
The full list of designers and companies taking part in Northern Lights is:
1. Angus Ross, bespoke furniture
2. Beth Lamont, ceramic jewellery and accessories
3. Hayley Scanlan, womenswear
4. Instrmnt, minimalist watches and products
5. Isabelle Moore, contemporary chairs and swings
6. KellyDawn Riot, sustainable menswear
7. LAT_56, premium performance travel luggage
8. Scott Jarvie, product and furniture design
9. Tom Pigeon, simple, crafted products
The show is free and open to the public from Saturday 17 to Sunday 25 September in Gallery 55 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington, the leading London Design Festival hub.
Beth Lamont said: “Being selected by V&A Dundee for Northern Lights is a huge honour. Dundee was my home for four years while I studied design at university and from a very young age I fell in love with the magic of the V&A, so being a part of this milestone in Scottish design is beyond what I could have imagined for my small business. The opportunity this exhibition gives to shout loudly and proudly about all the amazing design happening right now in Scotland is phenomenal. I’m absolutely ecstatic to be a part of it.”
Dundee brand Lat 56 produce luxury, durable luggage.
Scott Jarvie said: “The V&A in London has been a great inspiration and influence on my work as a designer, since being captivated by the place as a child. To be presented as part of Scotland’s rich design landscape by V&A Dundee at such a globally renowned institution is a mark of professional and national pride.
“London Design Festival will be the centre of the design universe in September, so I’m thrilled to be part of the V&A Dundee show, exhibiting alongside leading lights in contemporary Scottish design.”
Philip Long, Director of V&A Dundee, said: “Scotland has a great history of design and today there are many, many designers and manufacturers creating impeccably crafted new products, services and life-changing innovations across the country. We are delighted with the calibre, ambition and volume of submissions we received to exhibit as part of Northern Lights.
“London Design Festival allows us to highlight these most exciting contemporary product designers, showcase their ideas and ingenuity, and give them an opportunity – whether they are an established or emerging designer – to raise their profile internationally.”
Northern Lights is a partnership between V&A Dundee, Scottish Enterprise and Creative Dundee as part of the Scottish Government’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016, a celebration of the nation’s global contributions to architecture, design, engineering and science.
Gillian Easson, Executive Director of Creative Dundee, said: “Creative Dundee is excited to be a partner in Northern Lights with V&A Dundee and Scottish Enterprise, showcasing Dundee and Scotland’s design sector at one the UK’s most important events for the creative industries, London Design Festival 2016. This is a significant opportunity to further amplify the story about our creative city and Scotland’s design community, during Scotland’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016.”
First staged in 2003, the London Design Festival is one of the world’s most important annual design events. The festival programme is made up of over 400 events and exhibitions staged by hundreds of partner organisations across the design spectrum and from around the world.
V&A Dundee will be a new world-class design museum for Scotland – a ground-breaking international centre for design innovation, a place of inspiration, fun and learning. It will open to the public in 2018.
The new museum will be based in the heart of Dundee, the UK’s first UNESCO City of Design which is currently undergoing a 30-year, £1 billion regeneration.
Northern Lights is free and open to the public from Saturday 17 to Sunday 25 September in Gallery 55 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington.