Design September casts spotlight on young talent

The most striking name is perhaps that of Lucie Koldova. Originally from the Czech Republic, she now works between her homeland, Paris and Brussels. Five years ago - also during Design September - she presented one of her first projects: Muffins. This series of lamps proved enormously successful and won her worldwide fame.

She now works for design brands such as Brokis and Lasvit and is the artistic director of the new Belgian design brand Per/Use. During Design September she will give a talk in Flagey and will be given free reign to set up an exhibition of her (mostly wooden or glass) objects at design store Diito.

Concept sotre Smets will present an exhibition in connection with the Dyson Awards, the competition organised by Dyson that challanges young designers to radically rethink everyday objects. That is after all the legacy of founder James Dyson - after more than five thousand prototypes, he came up with a revolutionary vacuum cleaner design. More recently, after 125 years of the same design, Dyson also reinvented the fan. The company will discuss its philosophy in depth during a talk in Flagey.

An appetite for design

Because we're very proud of our home-grown talent and because it's not always easy for the public to stay up-to-date with designers' current work, Frederik Delbart and Quentin De Coster have made a selection of products by Belgian designers. The products, all from the pas two years, will be displayed under the title Dialogue. Delbart himself will be collaborathing with Cosentino - at Bulthaup he will present an installation that makes use of Dekton, the new and remarkably innovative material from the internationally renowned Spanish producer.

Design store La Fabrika will present the poetic work of Caroline Gomez. Referring to her use of natural materials and gentle, minimal forms, Gomez categorises her work as 'slow design'. The new brand Cruso also attaches a lot of importance to traditional and natural materials and wood in particular. Cruso will presents its first collaborations during Design September, Namely its work with top designers Jean Francois d'Or and the winner of the La Cambre competition. At the Flemish Goverment's Architecture Studio (Atelier Bouwmeester), Textile Design students from La Cambre will have the opportunity to show their prototypes made with material from Tasibel, a producer of carpets made from natural fibres.

If all this design-spotting has worked up an appetite, one place you might consider is Pistolet Original. Their original concept has already won them the 2014 Commerce Design Award and put Belgium (generally speaking) and the pistolet bread roll (more specifically) on the map. this award honours the enterprise with the most original and consistently designed interior. Another tasty choice during Design September is last year's winner of the same prize, Pimpinelle. In addition to its normal offering, Belgium's first mozzarella bar will be holding special cooking workshops and dinners.

www.designseptember.be