Saturday got off to an early start in Melbourne’s CBD, with a breakfast at Corporate Culture. A Belgian beer café showcased the Extremis range, Adam Cornish’s ’Monkey Grip’ planters, with visitors enjoying snacks prepared on an Onfalos barbecue. Visitors who wandered upstairs were rewarded with design icons and future classics, such as Poltrona Frau’s Centenary chair by Benjamin Hubert. On the top floor, a fully furnished apartment, completewith a Bisazza tiled bathroom had more than a few visitors planning to move in. Later in the day, the Indesign editors dropped by for a ’meet the editors’ event.

Corporate Culture

The Flinders Lane journey began for most on the corner of Spring Street, where the Dacou Gallery was transformed into a conceptual art space by Woven Image in collaboration with Bang Design as part of The Project. A range of products, including the Echo Panel, Mura Tile, and Minnie Pwerlecollection, on display.

Woven Image

Down the road, another gallery, Fortyfivedownstairs, was taken over by Herman Miller. Creative Director, Steve Frykholm opened the ’Then x Ten – The Power of the Poster’ exhibition on Friday with a VIP lunch. Ten classic Herman Miller posters lined the walls, while ten newly commissionedlarge-scale posters were displayed on scaffolding, conceived by the team atFabio Ongarato Design.

Herman Miller’s Then x Ten Exhibition

At Lot 7 Bar, Signature Floorconcepts let visitors go crazy with colour to celebrate the launch of CMYK Colour Concepts. The colourful and interactive installation, designed by HBO+EMTB as part of The Project, was a favourite on the day.

Signature Floorconcepts

The team at Stylecraft was busy all day. In the morning, they celebrated Australian design and manufacture with the launch of the One/Third collection with Alexander Lotersztain, Helen Kontouris, Jon Goulder, Adam Goodrum, and Matthew Prince. Throughout the day, guests enjoyed The Project, a video installation ’Animate Activate’ by students at RMIT, and four lucky visitors went home with an Arper ’Saya’ chair.Then they kicked on into the early hours with the Stylecraft after party.

Stylecraft

Haworth teamed up with Euroluce in their Russell Street showroom, in which visitors got dotty with an installation for The Project by Nexus Designs. Guests also had the chance to indulge in ’anti-gravitational’ delicacies, and meet with award-winning New Zealand designer Fletcher Vaughan.

Euroluce with Haworth

DAL+ Brands, Konfurb, and New Age Veneers took over theZambesi showroom on Flinders Lane, where they entertained visitors with living statues, and displayed new directions in ergonomic furniture, sustainability, and veneers. Margot Naegele from Moll and Michael Brisbane of Scandinavian Business Seating were on hand to answer questions on Friday and Saturday.

DAL+ Brands with Konfurb, New Age Veneers at Zambesi

Zenith, who teamed up with Godfrey Hirst this year, put on a great show. The three level showroom played host to new products from Schamburg + Alvisse and stand-out products from Neocon, the entries to the design competition to design and ’outfit’ for the ’TIPO’ chair, and ’TIPO’ chair designer, Taku Kumazawa was on hand to meet guests throughout the day. Zenith celebrated their special Japanese guest with designer sushi and a party on Saturday evening. Godfrey Hirst showcased their new Designer Jet in a colourful display.

With so much going on for Saturday in Design, a stroll down Flinders Lane made for a vibrant experience of design, entertainment, art, special guests, and gastronomic delights.

Images © Spy Photography and Nicole England Photography