Milliken Joined The London Design Festival for First Time

Milliken, the UK-based flooring designer and manufacturer took part in the London Design Festival for the first time this September 2016. The Milliken showroom became home to an eclectic group show by the ceramicists of Turning Earth, the largest co-work and first dedicated open-access ceramics studio in London.

During the London Design Festival, there was the chance to see the work first hand, meet the makers and watch wheel-throwing and hand-building demonstrations. The show, State of Clay, featured many of London’s most exciting emerging artists, including Instagram-famous Tom Kemp, Andrea Roman of ARCeramics and Stine Dulong of SkandiHus, who demonstrated their skills and showed their wares in person.

Turning Earth’s founder and Creative Director, Tallie Maughan commented after the show: “’This was our first group exhibition, and an exciting collaboration with the flooring design displayed in Milliken’s beautiful Clerkenwell showroom. Exhibiting alongside an established high-end design company enabled us to profile our emerging artists work in a luxury context, which truly showcased their artistic achievements. We were blown away by the feedback we received and the number of galleries and publications that have approached our artists as a result of seeing their work in the London Design Festival.”

The concept for this collaboration with Turning Earth was inspired by a new carpet tile collection ‘Glazed Clay’ from Milliken. Glazed Clay takes as its starting point the subtle colours, finishes and textures of studio pottery. The Milliken design team used as its inspiration the glazed washes of colour and puddles of opacity combined with the alchemy of the earth’s most natural elements to create a fresh and contemporary collection.

Alison Kitchingman, Marketing & Design Director at Milliken, shared, “Our Clerkenwell showroom seemed to lend itself perfectly to a gallery space for these exquisite and diverse ceramics. It was wonderful to meet the makers and learn more about their work and inspiration. It’s very gratifying to hear that we were able to give Turning Earth artists a high profile platform within London Design Festival and bring their work to a new audience.”