Added Value explores luxury and brands in new Crafts Council show at London Design Festival

London Design Festival: Added Value, designjunction, until September 23 2012

The Crafts Council is using the London Design Festival to launch its new touring show, a six-string exhibition adventuring through materials, traditional skills, brands, bespoke works, experience and the everday with the cunning compliance of a skilled maker in each field.

Oliver Ruuger, in the traditionalists’ corner, grabs a gentleman’s briefcase and adds a nifty stroke of leatherwork, while toe-glitzers carréducker make a one-off pair of shoes for in The Bespoke, fashioned via more than 200 individual processes.

Elsewhere, Tracy Kendall makes wallpapers, Zoe Arnold gives jewellery meaning, Simon Hasan shows how fashion house Fendi are adding craft values to high-end production, and debonair jelly contortionists Bompas and Parr use new technologies in a bid for sensory finesse.

“The increasing interest in provenance and the narratives behind the things we buy has had a visible impact on how bands market themselves,” says the Council’s Rosy Greenlees, calling the project a “timely” examination of “the value of craftsmanship within the contexts of global brands and luxury.”

“Many use words like ‘craft’ and ‘craftsmanship’ to denote quality. This show explores where craft sits within this and whether consumers’ perceptions of value are changing.”

A UK tour will follow the launch.

• Open 10am-6pm (5pm Sunday). Admission free, online registration required. Visit www.addedvalue.org.uk for more on the show.

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