Siin Siin is a Tokyo-based designer whose practice unfolds through careful observation and a willingness to dwell within process. Rather than rushing towards conclusions, he approaches materials and situations with an openness to not knowing, allowing forms to emerge from the fragments and disturbances encountered along the way. His work privileges the moments of uncertainty, the deviations that appear in the midst of making, treating them not as flaws to be corrected but as cues for shaping.

From this stance arise the traces that persist in his work. Marks of cutting or welding, the tremor of a hand, or even the errors of machines — typically concealed within manufacturing — are here retained and brought to the surface. In doing so, Siin Siin draws attention to the layered relations between people, tools, and matter, and to the memories of time and action inscribed in material.

The resulting works are at once accumulations of process and traces, and compositions that gather these fragments into a resonant presence. They carry a density that inhabits space as if breathing within it. Siin Siin’s practice resists fixed categories, reweaving the overlooked minutiae of everyday life into new forms.

KUO DUO is a Seoul-based industrial design studio working across product, furniture, and spatial design, as well as creative direction.

Designers Hwachan Lee and Yoomin Maeng studied Industrial Design at Hongik University in Seoul. After gaining experience at international design studios such as Cecilie Manz Studio, Form Us With Love, Shigeki Fujishiro Design, and SWNA, they founded their own studio, bringing together a global perspective and refined sensibility.

KUO DUO explores the boundaries of design, ranging from mass-produced products to limited-edition pieces, exhibitions, and spatial installations. Their work seeks to balance innovative approaches to materials and production techniques with the functionality and simplicity of the final product. Through hands-on experimentation and careful craftsmanship, they delve deeply into the structural possibilities of materials, creating designs that endure over time.

Collaborating with a wide range of brands and clients, KUO DUO has presented diverse outcomes across the field of three-dimensional design. In 2025, they were awarded the Rising Talent Award at Maison&Objet Paris, earning international recognition for their creativity.

Rio Kobayashi is a London-based designer and maker. Born in Tochigi, Japan, to a multicultural family of artisans with Japanese and Austrian-Italian roots, he grew up surrounded by ceramics, tools, and a deep understanding of craftsmanship. He built his first piece of furniture at a very young age and, at eighteen, moved to Austria to undertake a three-year apprenticeship in traditional cabinet making.

After his training, Kobayashi spent several years working with international design studios and artists in Milan, Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, and Innsbruck, before establishing his own practice in East London in 2017. There, he creates furniture, objects, and interiors that blend precision with personality, drawing on both Japanese and Austrian craft heritage and the experimental nature of contemporary European design.

His works often initiate a playful dialogue that explores themes of cultural identity, movement, and form. Through bold color, refined detailing, and subtle narrative, Kobayashi translates lived experience into tactile expression. His pieces have been exhibited internationally at institutions and events including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London Design Festival, Milan Design Week, and Design Miami, Frieze Art Fair, and have been featured in leading design publications worldwide.

Fabien Cappello (France, 1984) is a furniture and product designer based in Guadalajara, Mexico. Educated at the University of Art and Design (ECAL) in Lausanne and the Royal College of Art in London, his practice combines active design work with investigations into Mexican material culture, positioning his studio as an influential reference in contemporary design at an international level.

His body of work makes his design strategies tangible. Cappello describes his approach as an attempt to propose “a non-aspirational aesthetic, connected to a new order of values.” His work uses elements of vernacular culture and materials or techniques that are often overlooked or little considered by industry, not as imitation but as relevant solutions. The aim is to create durable and culturally significant objects and spaces that respond to functional and social aspects of everyday life. Through research and published projects on Mexican material culture, he also questions the role of design, manufacturing, and material systems in shaping our cities, identities, and ways of living together.

In 2021, he launched Objetos de Hojalata para el Hogar (Tin Objects for the Home), a concept brand developed with a network of traditional tin makers in downtown Guadalajara. The project focuses on redesigning common objects—such as watering cans, buckets, vases, and candleholders—made from galvanized steel, highlighting the relevance of small-scale production and the economic and cultural value of techniques often overlooked today. The collection is distributed internationally, including in London, Japan, Australia, and the United States.

Max Lamb, born in 1980 in Cornwall, United Kingdom, is a highly acclaimed and innovative designer celebrated for his distinctive contributions to the realms of furniture and product design. Lamb's artistic journey is characterised by a remarkable fusion of traditional craftsmanship with avant-garde design principles.

Lamb's early life in the picturesque landscapes of Cornwall laid the foundation for his deep appreciation of nature, a theme that often permeates his work. After completing his studies at the Royal College of Art in London, Lamb quickly garnered attention for his unconventional and experimental design approach. He emerged as a key figure in the contemporary design scene, challenging norms and pushing the boundaries of materials and processes.

One of Lamb's defining characteristics is his relentless exploration of materials. From stone and metal to foam and cardboard, he fearlessly delves into diverse mediums, extracting unexpected beauty from their inherent properties. This commitment to experimentation not only showcases his technical prowess but also underscores his dedication to redefining the possibilities within design.

Lamb's designs, whether furniture pieces or smaller-scale products, exhibit a unique aesthetic marked by a raw and tactile quality. Each creation tells a story of its own, with an underlying narrative that connects the user to the object on a visceral level. His pieces often embody a harmonious blend of functionality and artistic expression, challenging the conventional boundaries of design disciplines.

Faye Toogood is a British Designer whose practice encompasses interior design, homewares, fine art and fashion, and refuses to be constrained by a single discipline or defined way of working.

Faye studied Art History at Bristol University and was Interiors Editor at The World of Interiors for eight years before founding Toogood, her London-based design studio in 2008. She has since become one of the most recognisable figures in the design and art industry, whose work has been exhibited and collected by Museums around the world including The Victoria and Albert London, NGV Melbourne, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Corning Museum of Glass and the Faberge Museum in St. Petersburg.

Faye was raised in the British countryside. A magpie’s instinct and obsession with landscape continue to permeate everything she designs, whether it be a bronze door handle cast from an abandoned skull, a fashion collection inspired by hay bales, or a house interior with the brooding palette of an English sky. Toogood brings a distinctly sculptural approach to the art of furniture design, with pieces such as the ‘Spade’ chair and the ‘Roly-Poly’ chair achieving iconic status through their strong geometry and form. Describing herself as an ‘outsider’ whose work defies categorisation, Faye has created a studio which allows a movement between genres. Architects, sculptors, furniture makers and illustrators cross-pollinate on every project, producing work that is rigorous, poetic and genuinely avant-garde.