Meet the Makers showcasing their craftsmanship at Decorex 2024 

The collective group of 16 artisans were chosen by the Decorex 2024 Making Spaces Committee - a collaboration of experts, all with a specific interest in craft. The committee hand-picked their favourite makers, providing the chosen artisans with a unique and exclusive opportunity to showcase their craft to Decorex’s interior design audience. The Making Spaces Artisans will present an array of crafts and designs, from weaving techniques and embroidery to hand printing and woodcraft. Below we’ve taken a closer look at four of the chosen artisans and explore what they’ll be demonstrating, their proudest career achievements and how they developed their unique skills.

From a Flamboyance of Flamingos to the solo Sun Worshipping Hoopoe, Bryony Knox explores the combination of colourful glass and contemporary chased silver, creating a range of elegant sculptural centrepieces, inspired by animals and birds. For her debut at Decorex, Bryony will be showcasing silver vessels and forms inspired by birds, with their wonderful shadows, pops of colour and kinetic secrets to create elegant sculptural, yet functional, centrepieces with wit and flare.

Throughout her crafting journey, Bryony’s career highlight is the design and creation of a flock of 15 silver and pink birds for Paul Smith's iconic pink store, in Los Angeles. “When its designers approached me at Goldsmiths’ Fair, I decided to combine bird sketches I’d made whilst 'Silversmith in Residence' at Edinburgh Zoo, combined with a love of Audubon's bird paintings.” recalls Bryony. 

To develop her craft, Bryony explored making automata and kinetic gates during her MA at Glasgow, playing with metals and scale, before realising that silver and figurative, functional sculptures was where she flourished. “I have spent 25 years honing my embossing metal techniques, so that I can fashion the characterful birds I can see in my mind’s eye.” explains Bryony. 

Furniture maker and artist duo, James Trundle and Isobel Napier are process lead makers, blending traditional craftsmanship and digital techniques to create furniture and unique wall panel pieces using wood offcuts.

During this year’s show, the pair look forward to collaborating on a new body of work for Decorex, designing and crafting an interior scene that showcases stand-alone artworks and bespoke furniture. “This project will be our first opportunity to combine the diverse elements of our practice in a single installation. We look forward to seeing our ideas culminate in a unified scene, united by our shared commitment to craftsmanship.” explains Isobel. 

During their career, the production of the duo’s hardwood laser-engraved panels has been their proudest achievement. “We really enjoy making these pieces because they’re incredibly playful in the way we construct the timber, building a patchwork from all our timber offcuts left over from furniture making projects. This is why there is a nice relationship between our furniture and artworks - making the most of this incredible material that we source locally.” says Isobel.

Both Isobel and James studied and met at the Slade School of Fine Art, where Isobel developed her laser engraving processes with paper, while James developed his passion for woodwork whilst building a boat. “We are dedicated to sourcing sustainable, characterful materials, and our designs are driven by pursuing making processes we enjoy. Through “Making Spaces," we hope to share this fundamental part of our practice.” comments Isobel.

Sofia Karakatsanis is a maker of sculptural furniture and objects based in the West Midlands. Her work focuses on the interaction between maker and material and explores the interplay between the beautiful and the grotesque with delicate yet repellent forms.

For her first time at Making Spaces, Sofia will be showing a selection of sculptural furniture pieces in both Ash and Sycamore. “I put my work through rigorous processes; scorching and bleaching, to achieve high contrast finishes.” explains Sofia. “All of the carving is done using only a sketch for reference, allowing me to work freely and create unique shapes. I will be demonstrating the hand tool carving during Decorex.”

Throughout her career journey, Sofia’s standout piece she is most proud of is her chair, ‘Resilience’. “The piece was such a technical challenge because of the compound angles and complex construction. I wanted to create a visually dominating chair that was also comfortable and functional.” she continues. “A lot of joinery went into this piece, all of which had to be considered during the carving process to ensure I didn't expose any joints.”

Sofia’s craft journey began from an early age with a lifelong interest in making. Since university she worked as a designer and joiner until she was able to self-fund a course at a furniture school to learn to make furniture properly, using both traditional and contemporary techniques. She was then able to secure QEST funding to continue developing her body of work. Having time to exercise her creativity and explore processes guided Sofia to the work she is doing now.

Led by craftsman Richard Platt and Sam Cooper, The Marchmont Workshop make bespoke traditional furniture in the style of the arts and craft movement, inspired by luminaries such as Ernest Gimson and Philip Clissett.

During their second year taking part in the Decorex Making Spaces feature, The Marchmont Workshop will be showcasing its traditional rush-seated ladderback chairs and will be demonstrating the art of rush-seating using rushes the company harvest themselves. They will also hold steambending demonstrations, which will show the process for a new chair design the team are developing and hope to display at Decorex.

A standout piece the craftsmen are most proud of is a bespoke four-person settee in ebonised oak, which was made for Ben Pentreath Ltd. The finished chair was 6ft long and the seat used over a mile of rushes, taking two full days to weave.

The Marchmont Workshop began in 2018 when Richard and Sam undertook an apprenticeship with Lawrence Neal, who was at that time the last full-time rush seated chairmaker in the UK.  “We spent just shy of two years working under his tutelage, before moving to Scotland to launch our own workshop. Over the last 4 years we have honed our skills further, and branched out by adding new designs, techniques and materials to our repertoire and are now advertising for our first apprentice.” comments Sam. 

Intricate Installations

This year’s craft makers space will also feature exquisite hand-embroidered silk wallpaper by Fromental, exhibiting the brand's talent for reclaiming traditional design methods and styles, with a contemporary perspective. 

A series of installations will walk visitors through an exclusive view of Fromental's silk wallpaper production process from start to finish. In the eyes of founders Tim Butcher and Lizzie Deshayes, a product's true beauty is seen in the excellence of its craftsmanship.

Making Spaces - The Next Chapter

As part of an exclusive extension to the space for 2024, Making Spaces will feature a host of returning makers from the past two years. The seven talented artisans will once again demonstrate their perfected crafts and share highlights of their journeys since first taking part in Decorex’s Making Spaces. The makers returning this year are: 

• Louise Heighes
• Aimee Betts
• Justyna Medon
• Karen Henriksen
• Kim Jordan
• Claire Coles
• Giulia Manzoni

Check it out here!

Get ready for Decorex 2024

To see the Decorex makers in action and discover the best brands in the luxury interiors sector, all alongside an inspiring talks programme and unique features – visit Decorex 2024 from 6th – 9th October at Olympia London. 

Registration is now open, with early-bird tickets available until 12th July. Trade tickets during this period are £18, consumer tickets are £30 and VIP passes are £50 – all exclusive of VAT. Click here to register your place and to contribute a small donation to the Furnishing Futures Charity. 

Revisit Decorex 2023 with our highlights video here and take a trip over the show floor via drone here. 

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