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CLUSTER CRAFTS FAIR

Cluster Crafts team is delighted to revisit the idea of a journal with a mission to provide useful information for artists, inspirational advice and insights to the crafts industry. We are excited to relaunch it accompanied by an interview with a truly inspirational, passionate and fearless woman - Louisa Pacifico.

Our first encounter with Louisa at The London Art Fair, where she curated the VIP lounge with a fantastic plethora of artists, was one of the best “work meetings” we had since we’ve been working in the industry. Her enigmatic energy and openness inspired us tremendously. This encounter lead us to a fantastic idea - Cluster Crafts taking part in Future of Craft event at The Oxo Tower with a solo project by NYC-based artist and neon-visionary Patrick Nash. We are looking forward to seeing everything falling back to its place and continue these shared journeys through the world of contemporary crafts.

Future Icons highlights a range of design and craft oriented works, what do you look out for when selecting new clients? 

Firstly, I look at passion. You can quickly see through the making skills and originality of our member collections that passion for their discipline is at the core of their businesses.  

Businesses are welcome to apply for membership; however, clients must meet at least one criteria: Educated at to an MA level, collections in museums/ prestigious retailers or if they have won awards. If they not have met any of these criteria’s then potential members are welcome to pitch to me.  

I also look at collections and ask myself ‘would I have this in my home’. I believe that if I aim to pitch and sell collections for my members, I must truly love the collections. This is then backed up with provenance they have provided me within their application. Both of these points significantly help me to ‘sell my members’ for new commercial or private projects. 

Following this process, I meet suitable applicants to view works and most importantly discuss if we have the ability to work with each other. I have very personal relationships with each and every business, therefore a mutual trust and respect must be in place for membership to be granted.

Recently, the creative industries have been hit by the current climate of COVID-19. In times of social distancing, what key advice would you give to designers and craft makers to stay connected and inspired? 

With so much uncertainty during this time, people are naturally spending less on luxury goods. Therefore, I have advised my members to focus on tightening up on their administration, business plans and branding so when we are more economically stable, we can hit the ground running with a stronger focus of desired goals. 

We should also see this downtime a chance to experiment and create by playing with scale, colour, materials, product range and developing new techniques. We are always too busy to allow ourselves to commit working hours to do this, so now is the time to do what creatives do best; create. 

In regards to staying connected, we are lucky that our industry is heavily reliant on social media. I see my members are already turning to Instagram and Twitter to showcase work in progress, updated online shops and personal updates to keep the community turning. It’s important that we keep each other updated, receiving and giving positive comments at this time will help us all cope with our wellbeing. 

I have developed some focused content through the Future Icons Instagram account for them to submit collections for me to promote over the coming months. I have also kept them all up to date with news letters with my personal business support findings and offered them all to stay connected with me through phone, text and skype. 

Craft in some ways can be a practice done in solitude. How do you keep your clients engaged, and is networking within the industry important? 

I created Future Icons with the intention for my members to use me as a soundboard for their day to day business activities. Placing the current global situation aside, it can be lonely working in studio all day by yourself, so I am there for them to brainstorm, discuss a response with a client with or comment on a new project through a quick call or WhatsApp message. Usually my members book in physical 1-2-1s with me at their studios, however we are unable to do this at the moment. So, I’ve been picking up the phone – either to speak to them or a simple text to check in. I also send monthly newsletters to them all with updates, often with homework for them to do too. 

In September, ‘The Future of Craft’ will take place at The OXO Tower for London Craft Week 2020. Any insights to look out for? How will your link with Cluster look like? 

We are super excited to be showing and supporting The Future of Craft again at Oxo Tower Wharf’s Bargehouse site. This year the show will boast over 100 contemporary makers across a plethora of craft disciplines (60 more than last year) and we have expanded the Talks, Workshops and Demo programme for our visitors to interact with too.  

We are focused on community through all aspects of the show, and therefore our commitment to working with local shows like Cluster is important for us so we cross promote educate visitors further on the landscape of craft in all of its formats. We are also very excited to see Cluster member; Patrick Nash’s lighting installation on level three. Visitors will be blown away by this!

FUTURE OF CRAFT

What drove your direction into the craft and design sector - where did this journey begin for you? 

I was one of the lucky ones, I knew I had to work in the design industry since my teenage years. This led me to focus my education on a path to Brighton University’s 3D Design for Production BA programme. Our course opted to showcase our final projects at the annual graduate design fair; New Designers. Whilst exhibiting, I was offered the opportunity to showcase one of my lights and support the team through an internship for New Designers Selection during London Design Festival 2004. After this event, I was offered a full-time position in early 2005 as a sales executive for ND, gradually becoming Sales Manager.  

After 5 years, I left ND to work for a new show – Clerkenwell Design Week. Between 2010 – 2015, I was appointed Head of Sales and Venue Curator for this international design festival.  

Between these two events, I was privileged to learn a managerial skill set across sales, marketing and operations along side building up a network of industry contacts. Following these positions, I was appointed Chief Executive at Craft Central, a charity which housed 76 craft led brands in their former sites across Clerkenwell. Although I had always keenly followed the corporate furniture, lighting and material industries, Craft Central provided me the opportunity to learn more about craft and making processes. I instantly fell in love with these historical crafts and gained a deeper understanding of craftsmanship across a wide spectrum of disciplines.  

Previous to Craft Central moving to their new location in Mudchute, London, I decided I wanted to set up my own hybrid platform to support selected craft and design led brands, so I set up Future Icons in April 2017 and haven’t looked back.

Within Future Icons, The Future of Craft showcases brands with a focus on craftsmanship, heritage and innovation. What does the ‘future of craft’ mean to you and how do you see this evolving? 

I like to think my members are ‘The Future of Craft’. They are contemporary living businesses actively developing new collections and techniques year on year. As each business grow, many adopt employees and support internships to pass down knowledge and encourage newer craftspeople to develop businesses of their own.

How do you approach the curation and display of your clients work - what is your source of inspiration? 

This is a very hard question to answer. I do not set themes or ask them to respond to a brief as each business has its own individual business goals for exhibiting through Future Icons.  

Therefore, I ask all clients to submit their new works and ideal location within our 90 sqm room. I then look at a the submitted collections and dissect the concepts, materials, colour pallet, textures, and identify if it’s free standing or wall based. I then look at the visitor experience, often trying to partner complimentary collections together as this often inspires interior designers and buyers for projects.  

This process easily takes me 3-5 full days of work to layout. Once on site, I always tweak the displays as you can always plan on paper but for me it will never be 100% right until I see all the works together. I’m a visual person and need to see works together before I am happy with the curation.  

How did your partnership with 67 York Street, Marylebone come about? How has your annual ‘Buyer’s Showcase’ evolved? 

In early 2017 I announced on LinkedIn I was going freelance and a client of mine from Clerkenwell Design Week (Cult Vision) reached out to me to offer me a gallery space in Marylebone. At the time I did not want to commit to setting up a formal gallery just for Future Icons, so we agreed to turn it into a venue for design, craft, art, fashion, jewellery brands and collectives to use on a rental basis for their own shows. This allows us to generate income as well as use the space ourselves when we need it for our own personal projects, such as Future Icons Buyers’ Showcase.  

For three years, I have taken over 67 York Street as a pop-up showroom to showcase client collections to premium retailers, stylists and interior designers. This 3-day event allows me to connect with desired retailers to learn more about the collections they are looking for over the next 12 months. It also gives them an opportunity to provide me feedback to my clients on their collections. This could be discussing price, use of colour, size, function and so forth. I usually host this event in July, however I am likely to postpone this until 2021 this year, but I have a plan to connect with my buyers and interior designers during the summer through alternative methods. To be revealed to my members soon! 

What feeling do you hope visitors will take away after attending a Future Icons event? 

I want our visitors to be inspired and to gain a further understand of the craft on display. This can be achieved by viewing the piece, but the real enthusiasm and knowledge is created when the visitor meets the craftsperson. I also hope our visitors gain a deeper appreciation of an object, looking at as a piece you buy once, keep, treasure it and hand it down. We have been in a throwaway society for too long now. Collect, the leading show of craft and design recently made the move from The Saatchi Gallery to Somerset House. 

Collect, the leading show of craft and design recently made the move from The Saatchi Gallery to Somerset House. 

How was your experience at the exhibition - any highlights from this year? 

I think it was a great move for the Crafts Council as I see so much potential for the show to expand in future years.  

I liked the use of the rooms; it provided the grandeur the works on display deserve. Absolute highlights for me include galleries Cavaliero Finn & Bullseye. My top picks for this year’s Collect Open must be LOT Collective and Margo Selby – both had outstanding works on display. 

Like all events, there is room for a little improvement. I did feel it was too busy on the two occasions I visited (Private View on Thursday Eve & Friday lunchtime). I feel Collect should potentially adopt a timed ticket to disperse the visitors evenly throughout the day. This will give the visitor more space to enjoy the works on show and the galleries a chance to connect with potential collectors.