CONTEMPORARY BRITISH DESIGN DEBUT AT INTERIORLIFESTYLE 2010

Britain’s wealth of internationally known designers is clearly evident from the worldwide media coverage for the icon products they design for leading global brands. But equally valuable as their celebrity fame for the public image of the country, is the impact of their work on the economy. The contribution of the so-called creative industries to the national GDP amounts to more than 120 billion £Sterling per year and is – with an annual growth rate of 4% - one of the most profitable and fastest growing sectors of the British economy.

It is undoubtedly the multinational, multicultural, internationally networked urban environment of the city of London that produces such an explosion of interdis, if not impossible, to identify and define a specific ‘British’ style.  Instead there is an amazing variety of individual approaches, solutions and – most typically – a unique and fascinating co-existence. This is reflected in the myriad creative philosophies and resulting products originating from the island, which have deservedly earned the country the byname ‘creative hothouse of the world’. With the exception of Japan and its honoured tradition of revering outstanding craftsmanship, there is no other country, where the interrelationship between craft and design is more noticeable or more acceptable than in Great Britain. It is not only a nation of ingenious engineers and scientists but also of inspired craftsmen and –women, original, innovative and often wonderfully non-conformist and irreverent.

On the other side of the scale, the nature of the economic and professional climate in Great Britain with its declining of manufacturing bases has resulted in the rapid growth of small and medium sized businesses in the creative industries as professional designers have to set up their own studios or work as free lancers to pursue their vocational professions.

Yet these small studios more than compensate for their diminutive size with a wealth of creative ideas, unusual approach to product development and technological innovation. Wherever the British contingents go, they very soon become the star attraction at even the biggest international fairs – a source of inspiration for architects and interior designers looking for the ideas with ‘a difference’ for their discerning private or corporate clients, a treasure trove for high end retailers and buying agents in need of the eyecatching ‘showstoppers’ for their shops and department stores, a talent pool for heads of corporate design departments in search of new talent for their own brands and a hunting ground for stylists working for film, television, theatre, show business, events, magazines and advertising agencies and looking for exciting product props to enhance the sets.

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