Each week, we highlight a selection of global design headlines, from standout projects to innovative product launches and industry moments. Celebrating craftsmanship, creativity and contemporary design, we explore this week’s latest design news from Living Edge, USM, Hugo Toro, Eames Office, Cartier at the NGV, Lo & Co, Mud Australia and Craft Victoria, Designs of the Time, and The Rug Company x Paul Smith.
Photography & styling by Andrea Ferrari, Alessandro Tear and Laura Fulmine
The Rug Company and Paul Smith Launch Ratio
The latest chapter in an enduring creative partnership, Ratio translates Paul Smith’s affinity for Bauhaus geometry and graphic rhythm into richly handknotted form. Rooted in principles of order, proportion and repetition, the collection demonstrates how precise structure can be softened through craft. The Rug Company is available exclusively through Obery in Australia.
Photography courtesy of Hugo Toro
Hugo Toro Presents Ojo de Agua at Perrotin New York
Franco-Mexican architect and artist Hugo Toro makes his US debut with Ojo de Agua at Perrotin New York, on view until 31 July 2026. Bringing together paintings and ceramics made over the last two years, the exhibition uses water as its central motif—a meditation on inherited memory, dual identity and landscape.
Photography by Liam West
Lo & Co Launches Duet in Collaboration with SMAC Studio
Bringing a jewellery-inspired perspective to hardware, Lo & Co’s Duet collection—designed with SMAC Studio—offers knobs, pull handles and passage door sets in solid brass, finished in brushed brass and polished nickel. Selected pieces can be styled with a tassel detail for an added layer of character.
Photography courtesy of USM
USM and Pinch Food Design Present Food Form Function
For NYCxDesign 2026, USM joined forces with New York culinary studio Pinch Food Design to ask what happens when furniture doesn’t just display food, but actively serves it. Eight bespoke USM pieces were co-created for the installation—among them a drawer unit repurposed as a dessert display and a cocktail fountain emerging from a USM base.
Photography by Eline Willaert
Designs of the Time Launches Azimuth at 3daysofdesign
Belgian textile editor Designs of the Time debuted Azimuth in Copenhagen—a new interior fabric collection drawn from the raw textures and earthy palette of desert landscapes. Belgian designer Nathalie Van der Massen responded with Azimuth Screens, a series of room dividers exploring the boundary between protection and intimacy.
Photography courtesy of Mud Australia
Mud Australia and Craft Victoria Open Entries for the 2026 Shelley Simpson Ceramics Prize
Mud Australia and Craft Victoria have announced the return of the Shelley Simpson Ceramics Prize, with applications now open for its sixth edition. Offering a $10,000 cash award, the annual prize celebrates emerging Australian ceramic artists whose work demonstrates originality, technical skill and thoughtful engagement with contemporary culture. Finalists will be announced in late July, with selected works exhibiting at Craft Victoria’s Melbourne gallery.
Photography courtesy of Living Edge
Living Edge Opens Dedicated Muuto Showcase in Sydney’s Woollahra
Coinciding with Muuto’s 20th anniversary, Living Edge has opened an immersive, apartment-style showcase within its Woollahra showroom—the first dedicated mono-brand environment for the Scandinavian design house in Sydney. Structured around three distinct moods informed by the brand’s work in neuroaesthetics, the space presents new and iconic designs including the Beam Table Lamp, In Situ Sofa and Stacked Storage system.
Photography courtesy of Phaidon
Eames Office and Phaidon Launch The Eames Houses
Publishing 8 July 2026, The Eames Houses is the first comprehensive overview of Charles and Ray Eames’ residential architecture—288 pages of previously unpublished archival material authored by Eckart Maise, with forewords by Norman Foster and Eames Demetrios. Pictured: The Eames Houses. Charles and Ray Eames – Residential Architecture. Eckart Maise, with text contributions by Catherine Ince and forewords by Norman Foster and Eames Demetrios.
Photography by Sean Fennessy
Cartier at NGV Melbourne, Designed by Sabine Marcelis
The largest Cartier exhibition ever staged in Australia is now open at NGV International, running until 4 October 2026. Featuring nearly 400 jewels, timepieces and archival objects, the show was designed by Studio Sabine Marcelis and Cloud—its colour-coded galleries tracing the evolution of a Maison that has dressed royalty and icons for nearly 180 years.