Max Radford Gallery presents furniture by emerging designers at Collect 2026

Patchwork timber, frosted glass and fine horsehair are among the materials used to create the furniture displayed in the Max Radford Gallery debut exhibition at London's Collect fair.

The presentation is part of Collect, the annual craft and design fair at Somerset House, which opens today.

East London-based Max Radford Gallery brought together eclectic pieces by 11 emerging UK and European designers to highlight the breadth of materials that up-and-coming practitioners are experimenting with.

"For our first display at Collect with its relationship with the Crafts Council, we were very keen to bring a roster of British based designers whose work aligns with craft or has some sort of commentary on it," Radford told Dezeen.

Among the furniture is a chunky dining chair by local designer Lewis Kemmenoe. The timber seating is a melange of walnut, cherry, oak, elm, brown oak and plywood, arranged in a patchwork like a pair of jeans.

Kemmenoe applied the same patchwork technique to a plywood cabinet clad in painted pieces of copper.

British-Brazilian designer Tessa Silva is showing a statement Smock Lounge Chair upholstered with coconut fibres, horsehair, wool, hessian, cotton and calico.

Silva is known for her tactile creations, which are made over hours spent pleating and smocking deadstock textiles. A wool-clad floor lamp and stool, also part of the Smock series, feature in the show.

Self-taught London creative EJR Barnes is another exhibitor who has made a name for himself with his humour-inflected designs.

Barnes is presenting one wooden and one frosted glass table alongside a pearwood armchair, which is supported by playful croissant-shaped feet made from sandcast aluminium.

A striking floor lamp by Austrian designer Flora Lechner is also on display. Lechner used anodised aluminium and stainless steel to create the lighting, which features a shade shaped like a flower despite its harsh materials.

London designer Georgia Merritt is also showing metallic lighting in the form of a sculptural table lamp formed from pieces of stainless steel and nickel.

The lamp is on display alongside Merritt's equally sculptural table, rendered in stainless steel and glazed fibreboard.

Among the smaller-scale pieces is a spindly wall-mounted candelabra by local furniture maker Barnaby Lewis, whose steel creations recently formed the debut rotating gallery show at London's APOC Store.

Called Seven Fingers, the asymmetric candelabra features alongside another gothic-style mirror by Lewis, also formed from steel.

Since Max Radford launched his eponymous collectible design platform in 2021, the gallerist has hosted a series of exhibitions celebrating the work of emerging designers.

For last year's London Design Festival (LDF), Radford collaborated with British furniture maker Ercol to create a show in an old fire station featuring fresh takes on wooden furniture from six designers.

The photography is courtesy of Max Radford Gallery.

Collect 2026 takes place from 26 February to 1 March 2026 at Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA, UK. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.

Project credits:

Curator: Max Radford
Participating designers: EJR Barnes, Tom Bull, Samuel Collins, Carsten in der Elst, Lewis Kemmenoe, Flora Lechner, Barnaby Lewis, Georgia Merritt, Eddie Olin, Freddy Tuppen and Tessa Silva

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