On 16 September, I’ll be demonstrating Luneville embroidery at SDC in Conversation: The Craft of Less – Designing for Longevity, part of London Design Festival 2026.

The event is organised by the Society of Designer Craftsmen together with Fleet Street Quarter and will take place at the St Bride Foundation in London.

The theme of the evening is particularly relevant to contemporary craft: how material knowledge, slower production and making objects to last can offer an alternative to constant consumption. Rather than discussing sustainability as an abstract idea, the programme brings together practitioners who approach it through their own materials and working methods.

The panel will be chaired by ceramicist Emma Lacey, whose work focuses on creating objects people want to use and keep. She will be joined by woven textile artists Ali Holloway and Sharon Kearley, bladesmith Sam Gleeson, and jewellery designer Sarah Drew. Their work brings different perspectives to the same conversation — from material responsibility and longevity to the use of reclaimed, found and recycled materials.

Alongside the panel discussion, the evening will include a series of live demonstrations, allowing visitors to see a range of craft processes at close hand.

I’ll be demonstrating Luneville embroidery, one of the traditional techniques at the centre of my own textile work. Throughout the evening I’ll be working on the frame with beads and sequins, giving visitors a close look at the process and at the amount of handwork behind this type of embroidery. Within an event focused on longevity and the value of materials and making, it also opens an interesting conversation about why time-consuming hand techniques still have a place in contemporary design.

SDC in Conversation: The Craft of Less – Designing for Longevity
Wednesday 16 September 2026
5.30–8.30pm
St Bride Foundation, 14 Bride Lane, London EC4Y 8EQ

Tickets are £5

If you are visiting London Design Festival, this is a chance to hear several very different craft practitioners discuss longevity, materials and responsible making — and to see some of the techniques behind their work being demonstrated during the evening.