Shoreditch still holds a special place in the hearts of London creatives, despite the effects of gentrification and spiralling rents pushing many of them further out. During this year’s citywide London Design Festival (LDF), the Shoreditch Design Triangle – an area roughly contained by Redchurch Street, Old Street and Great Eastern Street – will prove the neighbourhood remains a nexus of design. A new program of exhibitions, talks and workshops, called Design London Shoreditch (DLS), will be held across a number of venues in the triangle – including 2LG, a design studio co-founded by Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead.
This year marks the third iteration of 2LG’s You Can Sit With Us, a showcase of work by new and emerging designers. Each year there’s a theme; the first two focused on recycling and design as art, respectively. The 2025 exhibition highlights queer design talent.
“There is a surprising lack of queer representation in the design industry, specifically in furniture and lighting,” Whitehead tells Broadsheet. “We wanted to address that and build a platform that showcases what queer designers have to offer.”
The show space, in the basement of Shoreditch Town Hall, will be reimagined as a literary salon named The Green Carnation – a reference to the flower worn by Oscar Wilde as a discreet signal of his sexuality. Over the course of DLS, from September 16–18, the salon will host talks – including a panel discussion, Queering Design, and the cheerfully titled Are You Scared Yet?, about the future of the design industry – as well as open mic spoken-word events and tarot readings.
The salon will be furnished with products from 13 design studios, including by textile brand Les Keepers; abstract artist Katie Eraser; and Richard Henley, a lighting designer who worked on the Hollywood adaptation of Wicked and a recent Broadway production of Cabaret.
“There is a romance and nostalgia to the idea of a salon,” says Whitehead. “It evokes a chicness that we want to bring to the heart of LDF. With so much nuance across a spectrum of queer identities, discussion is also vital. We hope that from this salon, new energy will be harnessed – boosting, in some small way, the undeniable influence of queer creatives.”
Alongside the Green Carnation, DLS features installations, tours, talks, workshops and exhibitions, ranging from a show by Royal College of Art design students at Shoreditch Town Hall to an exhibition of camping equipment at product and furniture designer Jasper Morrison’s Kingsland Road studio.
London Design Festival takes place at venues across the city from September 13–21.
Design London Shoreditch runs from September 16–18. Entry is free but you must register for a visitor’s badge.
