Five galleries injecting renewed energy into the London design scene
A clutch of young design galleries and grassroots platforms are shaking the cobwebs off London's design scene. In the lead-up to the city's annual design festival, we profile five that you should know about.
The collective: after being quoted £900 per square metre to show in an emerging design show at LDF 2024, London designer Lewis Duckworth decided to throw his own. Joined by Tabatha Pearce Chedier, Jacob Marks, Eleanor Murphy and Sammi Cherryman, the effort to organise these free shows quickly turned collective.
"We're all kind of co-parenting Design Everything," joked Duckworth.
Following the guerrilla exhibition they hosted out of the back of a van in 2025, their annual presentation has gone mainstream this year with a zero-fee, open-call show at design shop Aram, featuring work from no fewer than 100 designers.
Outside of LDF, the collective also runs regular meet-ups and has turned its website into an emerging designer directory to keep the community alive throughout the year.
Online and at Aram for LDF
The actually affordable one: although it's been less than six months since Unit.d opened in a glorified garage near Haggerston station, the gallery has quietly revolutionised London's design scene.
Counter to the collectible design hegemony, its speciality lies in well-made, mass-produced everyday objects: wall hooks, bottle openers, etc. Despite being made by the likes of Jasper Morrison, Michael Marriott and Alexandra Gerber, the pieces are universally affordable, with most retailing for under £50.
Unit.d's monthly shows have also offered the community a much-needed chance to congregate regularly, likened by some to a "church service affair" – but with beer (more on that later).
Unit.d isn't showing at LDF this year, although founder Duncan Riches already has plans to take the gallery to Milan for next year's Salone del Mobile.
4 Frederick Terrace, E8 4EW, and online
The Scottish export: Slancha was born in 2022 to address the lack of spaces for emerging designers in Scotland, including founders Harvey Everson and Findlay MacDonald, to show and sell their work.
With the young Scottish design scene finally gathering steam thanks to platforms such as theirs, the duo has moved down south, aiming to bring underrepresented talent from across Britain and Northern Ireland to London's global stage.
"We want to cover as much of the UK as possible," explained Everson.
After making its LDF debut in 2025, Slancha returns this year with not one but three different shows: two at The Hoxton hotel and another at concept store Awaykin.
Online and at The Hoxton and Awaykin for LDF
The next-gen blue chip: at its new HQ on Vyner Street, Max Radford Gallery is representing some of the buzziest names in London's collectible design scene: Andu Masebo, Lewis Kemmenoe and Tessa Silva.
From the get-go in 2020, its mission was to fill the gap left by established galleries reluctant to take a bet on a new generation of talent.
Six years on, the gallery faces a juggling act of continuing to push its roster of rising stars to new heights while also lifting up new voices.
"It's about balance," said founder Max Radford, "because you don't want to become one of the blue chips where you just work with a stable of five people for the next 20 years."
25 Vyner Street, E29DG, and at Christopher Farr for LDF
The incubator: the brains behind birdwatching collective Flock Together, Ollie Olanipekun, turned the ground floor of his Haggerston office into an experimental gallery last year. Allotment gives local designers, artists and recent graduates a place to exhibit for free before taking it to commercial galleries.
"We're very much an incubator space," said Olanipekun.
As the name suggests, the aim is to spotlight work that connects nature and culture, with a recent show inviting attendees to build their own bio-fabricated lamp.
Soon, the gallery is set to move into a Hackney nature reserve, where a space has already been earmarked, to place the work in more direct dialogue with the environment.
Unit 8 Ability Plaza, Arbutus Street, E8 4DT
This article was written as part of our Dezeen Dispatch magazine for LDF 2026.
LDF 2026 is taking place at various locations around the city from 12 to 20 September. To see what's on, visit Dezeen Events Guide.
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