Building a Design Brand That Lasts

London Design Festival 2025 – Press Evening at The Listening Room

As part of this year’s London Design Festival, we hosted an intimate evening in collaboration with USM Haller and Porter Studios, moderated by Leanne Cloudsdale, to explore one simple idea: what does it take to build a design brand that truly lasts?

The conversation brought together three perspectives united by design and longevity.
USM shared the origins of their iconic modular furniture system, a design born from precision engineering and a belief in timeless functionality. Liz from Porter Studios discussed how she curates and collects design classics and rare artefacts that bring warmth and individuality to otherwise minimal, clinical spaces.

From there, we opened the discussion to the future of manufacturing and how brands like SLOWE and USM balance scalability with quality and local production. Together we explored how to maintain integrity in a fast-moving industry by designing furniture that grows with its owners, can be repaired or reimagined, and continues to hold relevance over decades, not seasons.