For shoppers looking to support emerging designers or find truly unique homeware, a growing number of curated online platforms are offering limited-edition pieces that are hard to find elsewhere. These sites are filling a gap between mass-produced furniture and high-end galleries, giving early-career makers a direct route to buyers.
Founded in 2022 by Edinburgh College of Art product-design graduates Harvey Everson and Findlay MacDonald, Slancha operates as both a design gallery and an online store. The platform stocks eclectic one-off works and limited editions, such as This Is Byron’s wooden wall cabinet and James Stephenson’s horny pewter wall hooks.
Each piece is selected for its utility and material integrity.
Beyond retail, Slancha hosts physical exhibitions and events. These let newcomers show work to international audiences.
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During last year’s London Design Festival, it held the group show ‘The Car Boot Sale’. Half the pieces came from Slancha’s existing roster of early-career designers. That included Scottish designer Jeremy Hollister’s ‘Too Cube’ lamp for his studio Korrom.
Oblist is an expertly curated platform for contemporary and vintage design. It has become a go-to online emporium for Gen Z interior-design enthusiasts.
While some shoppers head there for its library of rare mid-century furniture, the site also offers a wide range of price points and an evolving edit of work by the next generation of designers. The site’s founders, Paris-based partners Leia and Gary Sfez, along with their team of curators, cherry-pick each item. Standout pieces include a teapot by Natalia Criado and Jessi Burch’s ‘Seven Ball’ cutlery set.
For those seeking the best of British design, The New Craftmaker (formerly The New Craftsmen) has an unmatched portfolio. This is thanks in no small part to creative director Sarah Myerscough.
Over nearly 15 years, it has represented hundreds of artisans working across textiles, silverware, furniture, ceramics, jewelry, glassware and more. Now based in Pimlico Road’s design district, its showroom offers an experience akin to sifting through someone’s beloved handmade possessions. The brand has a reputation for championing burgeoning talent with The New Craftmaker Award at New Designers.
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Objective Studies is an online marketplace for contemporary designs with a business strategy that sets it apart. By sharing profits with designers and makers, it is attempting to bring greater equity to the industry, especially at a time when traditional retail contracts see manufacturers taking big cuts.
The platform focuses on one-of-a-kind pieces.
These include Elis Monsport’s vase, with select works for commission or scaled production. It serves collectors, institutions and industry partners. The brand launched collections at the two latest 3 Days of Design festivals. Drop 003 will include a small series of objects such as a tea-light holder and a wooden tray.
Now in its 11th year, Seeds (an acronym for Special Events Exhibitions and Design Selection) may be familiar from its pop-ups at notable galleries and fairs, such as Collect art fair or London Design Festival. The platform is dedicated to discovering and championing collectible and unique contemporary designs, stocking exclusive pieces by everyone from designer Marco Campardo to Tokyo-based studio We+ and its ‘So Coloured’ chair.
There is a physical shop and gallery space inside founder Nathalie Assi’s Kensington townhouse, where A-list interior designers go to conduct their field research.
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Housed in a former 1960s council office in Deptford, this cluster of makers’ studios has birthed some of the biggest names in contemporary craft, including wood artists Darren Appiagyei and Eleanor Lakelin. Run by a charity and community enterprise that awards talented makers free spaces to practise from, Cockpit Studios was renovated in 2024 by architecture studio Cooke Fawcett, with a focus on opening the space to the public. Twice a year, you can attend its open house to meet makers and purchase wares like Morag Seaton’s ‘Making Faces’ cushion.
Fels is a lockdown project by Finbar Conran and Oscar Mitchell that brings together a diverse mix of lesser-known makers under one virtual roof. The platform also has a spiritual home with partner Grymsdyke Farm in the village of Lacey Green in Buckinghamshire, where pieces are made and designers engage in researching materials and crafts.
It regularly curates exhibitions that bring together contemporary artists who focus on hand-wrought production.
The site stocks works by Rooms Studio, Grace Prince and LS Gomma.
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