Design lovers rejoice! The Los Angeles Design Festival, an annual celebration of local talent in areas including fashion, interior design, product design and graphic arts, is back beginning this Thursday, June 8. The festival has made some big changes for its 7th year—namely, the fact that it has condensed its schedule from the usual two weeks into a jam-packed four days of panel discussions, pop-up shops, exhibitions, workshops and more, split between two Downtown locations: City Market South (1124 San Julian St) and ROW DTLA (777 Alameda St). Admittedly, there’s a lot to take in, which is why we've broken it down by spotlighting some of the best events to attend.
Thursday evening, the four-day festival kicks off with a party and benefit (7pm-10pm, City Market South). For the $35 ticket price—which Time Out readers can take 20 percent off of with the code LADF17FF20—attendees can sip cocktails courtesy of Our/Vodka’s local distillery and snack on Taiwanese soul food from Little Fatty, plus enjoy a performance from contemporary dance company MashUp, a floral installation by Krystal Chang Projects (perfect Instagram fodder), music by Dublab and more.
Friday night design fiends will flock to the Adobe Creative Jam (7pm-10pm at ROW DTLA), in which teams compete in a creative showdown and local leaders showcase their work.
Over the weekend, blogger Jonathan Lo of Happy Mundane offers a curated exhibition of California craft (Friday 7pm-9pm, Saturday and Sunday 12pm-5pm at ROW DTLA) that includes work by Cathy Callahan, Janelle Pietrzak, Niki Tsukamoto and more.
For those looking to shop, the festival features a few pop-ups beyond weekly market Smogasburg LA, which coincides with Sunday’s offerings at ROW DTLA. Artist collective Atmosphere (Saturday and Sunday, 11am-5pm at ROW DTLA) has gathered a group of makers whose works are created with a holistic/wellness slant. Things to find in this concept shop are clothing by Jill Aiko Yee and Echo + Air, jewelry by Tiffany Kunz and live painting by Buckley.
In the neighboring space, lifestyle site CleverLA offers locally-made housewares and accessories including a curated collection of ceramics, leather goods, and stained glass from The Radder, cards by Fine Ass Lines, woven wall hangings by Farron Feiner and brass key tags and jewelry by Chaparral Studio (Saturday and Sunday, 11am-5pm at ROW DTLA).
Get active with a few workshops, including MovedLA’s movement non-dancer-friendly workshop (Saturday, 4pm-6pm at ROW DTLA) and Unique LA’s DIY watercolor postcard class (Sunday, 11:30am-1pm at ROW DTLA). If you’re still looking for more design-happy activities, be sure to see LADF’s full schedule here.
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