The 8th annual LA Design Festival makes its return to The Row, in Downtown this weekend. From June 7th to 10th, the festival will showcase an array of talent visionaries, ranging from bright-eyed students looking to shake up the art world to established artists with cemented visions that challenge viewer’s preconceived notions.
Since 2011, the festival has used it’s unique assets and artists to showcase just how special LA is. Waking or ubering around, it is clear to see that the city welcomes people from all walks of life. You can find people of every creed, color and sexual orientation here. As a result, the festival looks to highlight the global nature of LA as well as the artistic achievements of the design-oriented city.
In their upcoming “Design is For Everyone” exhibition, the work of various innovators will be displayed and awarded. Some of the highlighted design companies include Concrete Geometric, Knotwork LA, Pretty in Plastic, Nik Nik Studio and Wolfum. In addition, curated installations by the French artist/architect Town & Concrete and the postmodern contemporary Nobel Truong will be on display. The festival has it all-from architects to artists to designers to craftsmen and women. Art is appreciated and honored in all its forms.
Yesterday I headed over to the festival to check out Hem’s new pop-up shop, which will be up for one month at Poketo’s project space. This is the Stockholm-based brand’s first retail space on the West-Coast. While the brand showcases a wide array of high design products, it strives to remain affordable to the greater public. Working with notable designers including Max Lamb, Luca Nichetto, Pailine Deltour, and Phillipe Malouine - the Hem’s pop-up is a must-see at the LA Design Festival this weekend.
Afterwards, an awards ceremony will be held to honor the distinguished artists. This year Ruth E. Carter received the ICON award, which recognizes one bold woman each year, for their design contributions to the city of LA and the outlying design community itself. Additionally, Ted Vadakan and Angie Myung ([Poketo](https://www.poketo.com/)), Amelia Giller, Audrey Lee, Xoana Herrera and Kaitlyn Mahoney ([Get It Girl Collective](http://getitgirlcollective.com/)), Adi Goodrich and Sean Pecknold ([Sing Sing Studio](http://www.sing-sing.co/)), and Airi Isoda and Ryan Upton ([wrk-shp](http://wrk-shp.com/)) were all awarded the EDGE award, to acknowledge their potential as emerging talents within the design world.
Festivities will continue tonight with an opening night party. This fiesta will feature a live podcast performance, entitled _Design, etc._, where designers will share insight into their creative process. In addition, a magazine will be distributed to guide the viewers through the festival as they dive into design and crawl through the creations. Once you’ve worked up your appetite over the first two days, you will be ushered to the Saturday Breakfast Club-a global event that ties culinary creativity to the conventions of design. Your eyes will be just as delighted as your stomach. Check it out this weekend!
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Written By: Molly Simon
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