Bethan Laura Wood, a multidisciplinary designer known for her bold use of color and pattern, is participating in four exhibitions at this year’s London Design Festival, which is running through September. The Shropshire-born creative, now 43, presents works ranging from furniture and lighting design to collaborative craft projects, highlighting her diverse artistic practice.

Among her contributions is a round side chair displayed at the design store SCP in Clerkenwell Green. The piece was produced in partnership with Shore Studios, an East London-based design collective. Wood developed custom rope patterns and a distinctive appliqué technique that overlays woven elements onto the chair’s structure, blending her signature style with Shore Studios’ craftsmanship.

At the Victoria and Albert Museum, Wood participates in Craft x Tech Tokai, an exhibition showcasing collaborative works between international designers and Japanese artisans from the Tokai region. Wood worked with Hiroyuki Murase of the textile company Suzusan on a lighting installation inspired by kataginu, a traditional Japanese sleeveless vest characterized by exaggerated shoulders. Using Arimatsu Narumi Shibori tie-dye fabric, the project emphasizes texture, three-dimensional folding, and vivid coloration. Previously exhibited in Japan earlier this year, these pieces are now featured in London.

In Soho, Wood has created a backdrop for lighting designer Bocci’s newest launch. Drawing inspiration from the 1986 film Labyrinth, starring David Bowie, she designed an installation to complement Bocci’s new 14p table light. The hand-cast neodymium glass orb recalls the movie’s aesthetic, and Wood incorporated a system of interacting structures that play with the light’s shifting hues of lilac, pink, and blue.

Further east in London, Wood appears in The Positive Necessities of Life at the William Morris Red House in Bexleyheath. This exhibition gathers domestic objects imbued with personal significance from a diverse range of contributors, including designers, architects, politicians, and local residents. The selection reflects William Morris’s philosophy that objects should be useful, beautiful, or meaningful.

Wood’s distinctive approach to design was shaped early in her career. After studying 3D design at Brighton University, she completed a master’s in product design at the Royal College of Art in 2007. During those formative years, she balanced creative work with bar jobs and collaborated closely with glass artist Max Jacquard, learning production techniques that enabled her to self-produce early collections. Her initial pieces drew inspiration from urban life in London, notably laundrettes, while her involvement in the city’s nightlife and creative scenes further influenced her style.

Her career steadily progressed through exhibitions such as Tent London, a key event of the London Design Festival, culminating last year in her first UK solo exhibition as part of the Design Museum’s inaugural Platform series. Wood’s ongoing collaborations and experimentation across materials and media underscore her prominence in contemporary design today.