The done thing across Europe and Scandinavia is to take the month of August off, head for the seaside or the hills and have a well-earned break, safe to relax in the knowledge that everyone else is, too. How very civilised. On this fair isle, however, it's not so easy. And for anyone in the creative industries in London, relaxing is not on the agenda – there's work to do. September in London is not just back-to-school month, but when everything in the design industry kicks off and months of intense hard work culminate at the London Design Festival, which starts next weekend. A nine-day (and please let's not forget the nights) celebration of all that is great and good, innovative and inventive in the world's creative capital, it's also the only annual opportunity for industry folk, and indeed anyone with a passing interest in form or function, to get inspired.
And how it's grown. It's strange to remember that, once, "design week" in London, now in its eighth year, simply took in the Earl's Court trade show, 100% Design and a few showroom exhibitions around town. These days every other area of London is now competing as a design district. Brompton, home of the V&A and the London Design Festival's hub, was first to the post. That was swiftly followed by east London's Shoreditch and Spitalfields – where young show Tent has pitched up in recent years and where the Tramshed Event will make its debut this year.
For 2010 the area north of Oxford Street is also staking a claim with Fitzrovia Creative – featuring design-led shops, galleries, hotels and eateries – while Clerkenwell, where many a prestigious furniture company from Knoll to Vitra and, most recently Kohler, has decided to set up shop, is also expecting the hordes to converge and is staging its own mini-festival to celebrate. In fact, so far-reaching is the design influence on London today that even Deptford has become a destination.
The hard part, of course, is deciding which designer-do to do. And given that the festival also coincides with London Fashion Week and is followed shortly after by the Frieze Art Fair, a well-planned itinerary is essential. So here's a guide to our nine favourite destinations, and an extra, alternative, anti-design one for good measure.
Tony Chambers is editor-in-chief of Wallpaper*
• This article was amended on 1 October 2010. The original referred to Kholer. This has been corrected.
