In a recent editorial meeting, our editor, Hugh Metcalf, my colleagues, and I found ourselves wondering: what's the real aim of a design week, if it doesn't directly serve the community it's held within? We were discussing the latest edition of Milan Design Week, which ran April 20-26 and was attended by — when not directly hosted in collaboration with — an ever-increasing number of luxury fashion brands, with storms of influencers spotted at most initiatives sometimes even outweighing both designers and local attendees in number.
As London Craft Week continues through Sunday, May 17, rapidly followed by Clerkenwell Design Week (May 19-21), the same dilemma returns to haunt us, this time in the British capital. The difference, though, is that this time the answer seems to come straight from the source: London Craft Week wants to preserve human craftsmanship for makers and those who get to enjoy its fruits for decades to come, proving that one-off, handmade furniture can still be the secret to a home that's inspiring and familiar; a home that, grounded in personal gestures and stories, never grows old.
