NEW DISCOVERIES FROM TOP DRAWER SS20

I had a great time attending Top Drawer London few weeks ago. The SS20 trade show was conveniently located in London Olympia again with lots of inspiration from design-led brands across home, gift, fashion, craft, greetings and stationery. Naturally I was focusing mainly on interiors and homewares (maybe I also spotted a few great gift ideas too!)

I spent good 6 hours at the event discovering some new brands as well as meetings up with old clients. Garden Trading, Ivyline, Artisanne Home and Block Design were just some of the wonderful brands that I’ve had the pleasure to work with. My main goal was to feel inspired and find out what the new trends are. There is a massive focus on sustainability (as you may have guessed). Interior industry creates a lot of waste each year and many designers/companies are now coming up with new ways to use waste materials to create homewares. Beautiful rugs made of plastic bottles was probably my personal favourite.

This was the first time I attended a trade event without my big SLR camera. I wanted to talk to people/designers/founders and really find out about the story behind the products.

Here are a few new brands that I discovered at the event..

1. Ginko Electronics

Credit: https://www.gingkoelectronics.com/

Who doesn’t love a stylish speaker? It was the cute wooden design that initially attracted me to the Ginko Tumble Selfie speaker, but this sleek looking speaker does a lot more than you’d think. Not only does it play your favourite tunes, but it also has a hands free selfie function (a must-have for image conscious millennials!) The sales reps at the Ginko stand demonstrated how the speaker works and it’s really easy to use. The touch screen function is super simple and it also has an impressive 10 hour battery life. It’s small so you can easily carry it in your handbag and it won’t look out place on your bedside table either thanks to the stylish design. The selfie speaker will be available to purchase starting from February and I have a feeling the maple version will end up on my shopping list at some point.

2.  Sevin London

Image credit: https://www.topdrawer.co.uk/hospitality/sevin-image01td#I

I love discovering new bath products. It’s a FACT that you can never have too many bath oils, lotions, towels etc. I probably have a bath 3 times a week, so I’m constantly on the look out for new scents. I stumbled across Sevin products quite randomly actually. I was heading to another stand when this amazing scent from a scent diffuser caught my attention. It was so soothing and relaxing. Turns out it was their Porcelain White scented oil that smelled so heavenly. I also loved their luxurious award winning towels which are probably the softest towels I’ve ever touched. I also love the minimalist  packaging which goes so well with my own Scandi aesthetics. If you’re curious to try the products out, head over to Selfridges or Heal’s who stock them.

3. Paia Copenhagen Candles

Credit: https://www.paiacopenhagen.com/

As a self-proclaimed candle addict it’s virtually impossible for me to walk past a candle and not smell it. Danish Paia candles are definitely worth a look, or a sniff (should I say). The packaging is really bohemian chic which I love. The scents were really unusual too. In a good way of course! My favourite was the Pink Pepper & Olibamum scent that smelled quite mysterious. I haven’t properly tested these candles though, so I cannot comment whether they are actually good value. I think  you can expect a candle review on the blog at some point though.

4. Wijk (Goods of your favourite cities!)

Credit: https://www.wijck.com/en/

Is there anything better than personalised art? I don’t think so. I love contemporary art that is meaningful to its owner. Personalised city map prints are not exactly a new invention, but if you can add other personalised items to the mix (like candles, diffusers etc) it becomes quite cool, right? Wijk prints your favourite cities, building or neighbourhood. They also present a collection of beautifully scented products (hand soaps, room sprays, diffusers, candles etc) with one of your favourite cities on it (choose it from the collection or create your own). I absolutely love the entire concept and if you’re ever in Amsterdam don’t forget to visit their brand store for some serious design inspiration.

5. Himla

Credit: https://www.topdrawer.co.uk/create-your-wish-list/earth-calling#/

Himla is a Swedish interior design company, which is all about Scandinavian simplicity and beautiful textiles. They only use natural materials like linen, cotton, silk and wool. Himla designs are contemporary but classic. I can totally imagine having their rugs and crinkled table linen in my own home. I was also intrigued by their Black Lily scent diffuser. If you’re looking for high quality textiles with natural colours look no further. I’m sure you’ll be as impressed as I am.

6. Weaver Green rugs

Credit: https://www.weavergreen.com/products/tarifa-rug?variant=35500657100

Weaver Green rugs were definitely my favourite rugs at the event. They are easy on the eye, but these rugs are so much more than that.  Weaver Green have taken their sustainability to another level by creating stunning rugs made out of plastic bottles. Yes, that’s right. The rugs are made entirely from 100% recycled plastic bottles. The amazing thing is that the rugs look and feel like wool. Honestly, I kept staring at them for 5 minutes and wondering how can they make such realistic looking rugs out of recycled plastic. But it’s possible and they have done an amazing job at it too. There’s an indoor and outdoor rug collection and the hand loomed rugs are machine washable. What’s not to love, right?

I hope you liked my picks. If you want to see the entire list of all the exhibitors, head over to the official Top Drawer website.