Sir Ian Blatchford was appointed Director & Chief Executive of the Science Museum Group from November 2010 and combined this with the role of Director of the Science Museum from December 2010. Previously Sir Ian was Deputy Director of the Victoria & Albert Museum, having joined as Director of Finance & Resources. Sir Ian is Chairman of the National Museum Director’s Council. He was Chairman of the Governors of De Montfort University from 2011 – 2018. He was awarded the Pushkin Medal in 2015 and was awarded a Knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to Cultural Education.

Marlène Huissoud is an experimental designer. Marlène works as a freelance designer for different companies alongside the art & design areas, and created her own company in 2013. In 2014, she graduated from a MA Material Futures at Central Saint Martins’ School of Art and Design in London where she developed the project From Insects: an exploration of insect materials from the common honeybee and the Indian silkworm. Her work questions our way of making by challenging the properties of natural resources. She believes in the value of the concept, not only with an outcome but with the complete creative process. She has received several prestigious nominations and awards, and her work has been exhibited worldwide in major Institutions such as Victoria and Albert Museum London, Chamber New York, Design Miami Basel, Design Museum Barcelona, Artipelag Museum Stockholm, Design Days Dubaï, Rossana Orlandi Milan, MAK Vienna…

For over 25 years the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) has been at the forefront of international wood promotion, successfully building a distinctive and creative brand for U.S. hardwoods. AHEC’s global programme of activities secure a future for American hardwoods by demonstrating the performance and aesthetic potential of these sustainable materials, while providing valuable creative inspiration and technical advice.

Find out more about AHEC

Benchmark is a leading company of craftspeople and designers, founded 30 years ago by Sir Terence Conran and Sean Sutcliffe. Based in West Berkshire on a converted farm, the team is now 50 strong in over 40,000 sq ft of workshops for timber milling, carpentry, veneering, spraying, specialist metalworking and upholstery, as well as design studio and furniture showroom. Benchmark works extensively on design solutions for hotels, restaurants, public buildings, offices and private residences.

benchmarkfurniture.com

The London Design Festival is a key constituent of London’s autumn creative season, alongside London Fashion Week, Frieze Art Fair and the London Film Festival. Established in 2003 its role is to celebrate and promote London as the world’s design capital and gateway to the international design community and it has now established a reputation as one of the largest and most exciting design events in the world. This year the Festival will run from 15-23 September and over 400 events and installations will be on offer across the capital, from an exciting programme at the V&A to plus over 300 partners who will participate in the nine-day Festival.

www.londondesignfestival.com

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) is the world’s leading museum of art and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.3 million objects that span over 5,000 years of human creativity. The Museum holds many of the UK's national collections and houses some of the greatest resources for the study of architecture, furniture, fashion, textiles, photography, sculpture, painting, jewellery, glass, ceramics, book arts, Asian art and design, theatre and performance. 

www.vam.ac.uk