Soho Design District Marks a Triumphant Debut at London Design Festival 2026

Soho Design District has closed its inaugural year as a standalone district at London Design Festival, capping a celebration of design, craft and community that brought the West End back into the spotlight of London's design calendar.

Championed by Informare, and curated by Yasmin Jones-Henry, the district transformed some of Soho's most distinctive spaces – including the Heal's Building, Soho Lighthouse, The Soho Hotel, Century Club, Groucho Club and The Union Club – into a platform where designers, makers, architects, artists, developers and the public came together to explore what design means to the unique character of Soho.

A Week of Discovery and Key Installations

Stüdyo Akdoğan Furniture presented GÜDÜ ("Instinct"), the first chapter of Founder and Designer Mehmet Yilmaz Akdoğan's Primitive Trilogy – a collection of dark, avant-garde, sculptural works exploring instinct, humanity and the natural world, with further chapters to follow in coming years.

With the support of Shaftesbury Capital, the district also celebrated the newly restored ‘Beloved Spirit of Soho’ mural at the corner of Carnaby Street and Broadwick Street, which served as a focal point for visitors throughout the week.

At 21 Great Chapel Street, Soho Lighthouse hosted Soho: People & Place, Informare's exhibition of photography by Claire Davis – a photographer and NHS healthcare manager whose raw, instinctive images captured the spontaneity, colour and everyday characters that give Soho its identity. Prints from the exhibition remain available to purchase.

Bocci marked its involvement in the district with the unveiling of a new purple colourway of its iconic 14p portable light, set within a labyrinthine installation by designer Bethan Laura Wood. Inspired by the light's distinctive hue and the film Labyrinth, Wood's "Bowie Ball" installation – a landscape of colourful totems crowned with Purple 14p lights – was officially launched at a party during the district's late night, drawing designers and creatives from across the industry.

Highlights from the Programme

The week opened with The Future of Soho: Reimagining Soho's Landscape, a panel chaired by Peter Murray OBE at The Soho Hotel. Matt White (Matt Architecture & Soho Business Alliance), Barbara Brownlee (Soho Housing Association), Minnie Kemp (Design Director, Kit Kemp Design and Firmdale Hotels), Russell Potter (SODA Studio), and Joseph Corré (Founder of Soho Light House and Co-Founder of Agent Provocateur), explored the area's regeneration agenda: public realm, accessibility, affordability, development and community, before an audience surrounded by Kit Kemp's interiors.

The conversation continued on Great Chapel Street with Informare's ‘a seat at the table’, now in its second year, inviting the public to join a live discussion on technology and natural heritage with voices including Lee Roberts (Zebra), Justine Fox (Studio Justine Fox), Izzy Kelly (Product and Furniture Graduate), Assa Ashuach (Director at Assa Studio Limited), Adam Najia (Associate and Digital Lead at Scott Brownrigg), Yvonne Donaldson (Associate Partner at Garnett Architecture LLP) and Chaired by Anna King, CEO and Founder of Informare.

The Surface Design Show partnered with Green Grads for a hands-on weaving workshop led by Claire Malley, Textile Artist, giving visitors the chance to craft their own pieces from textile offcuts and recycled yarns.

Future Designs took audiences behind the scenes of one of Europe's most ambitious infrastructure projects with Lighting the Elizabeth Line: Design Beneath the City, unpacking the engineering and prototyping – including over 350 hours of thermal testing – behind the lighting at Tottenham Court Road station.

Interior stylist and author Lucy Gough joined Informare for an evening Q&A and book signing on Great Chapel Street, sharing insights from her career across London and Sydney with design professionals and interiors enthusiasts over a glass of fizz.

Anna King, Founder and CEO of Informare, comments: “With little time and even less money to kick off a showcase for Soho, we really didn’t know what to expect; thankfully we had goodwill and enthusiasm in huge quantities which is very much in the spirit of the Soho community. We cannot thank our partners and contributors enough. Together we have firmly established Soho as an LDF District, reasserting its position as the epicentre of creativity in London, and we cannot wait for 2027.”

Curated Highlights and Looking Ahead

As a key partner of the district, Cultural Placeshaping Strategist Yasmin Jones-Henry curated a parallel programme across the Heal's Building, Century Club and Groucho Club, including:

• Better Living By Design exhibition launch with Kind At Heart CIC, Daniel Heath and Young Craft Citizens (Crafts Council), supported by the Pinterest Arts Creator Community

• Colechi — You Can Knit With Us, community workshops with three regenerative designers in residence

• Soho LDF Film Club — Chief of the Beach photography exhibition and drinks reception with Louie-Joe Findlater and Raindance

• Better Living By Design: NextGen panel, moderated by Yasmin Jones-Henry

• Better Living By Design: Community Craft & The Circular Economy, with Brodie Neill, Cassie Quinn, Ella Doran and Bella Gonshorovitz

• A morning session with Futurecity, followed by the NextGen Materials showcase with The Mills Fabrica, start-up pitches and a panel with Amanda Johnston and the Centre for Sustainable Fashion (UAL)

• A Raindance Film Masterclass with Elliot Grove

Yasmin highlights: “It was a privilege and a pleasure to be the delivery partner for the launch of Soho as a design district for London Design Festival.

“While curating our flagship ‘Better Living By Design’ programme and exhibition across the district, I had hopes and aspirations this would feel authentic to Soho's cultural DNA which has always been for the grassroots community of the UK's creative industries. Our motto is ‘Co-Design Culture’ and with LDF-Soho that's definitely what we achieved.

“My thanks to all who supported The Lab W1, including our venue partners The Groucho Club, Century Club and The Heals Building (General Projects). It feels like we've started a movement, and I'm looking forward to building momentum with Informare and our fellow Soho District partners for 2027.” — Yasmin Jones-Henry, Founder, The Lab W1

Looking Ahead

In its first year, Soho Design District brought a clear energy and renewed sense of purpose to W1, reaffirming the neighbourhood's place at the heart of London's creative life. Informare and Yasmin Jones-Henry's programme engaged both established names and the next generation of designers, and organisers say the district's debut lays strong foundations for future editions.

Participants: Informare, Future Designs, Scott Brownrigg, Barr Gazetas, Overbury, Morgan Lovell, Bocci, Better Living By Design, Asket, Mark+Fold, Nota Gallery, ili architects × SANAN Studio, London Transport Museum, Surface Design Show, Stüdyo Akdoğan Furniture, slowform, Artemide London, Fengyi Wu, Heal's, W1, and Hungarian Academy of Arts.