Five leading voices from across design: Tom Dixon, Professor Lesley Lokko OBE, Es Devlin, Suhair Khan and Foday Dumbuya are lending their voices to champion the Design for Planet mission as World Design Congress 2025 Ambassadors.
They have nominated a cohort of Design for Planet Trailblazers, an inspirational group of designers and design thinkers who are redesigning the industry and harnessing innovative design solutions to the climate crisis. Discover the Trailblazers and their incredible work below.
Artist and Stage Designer
Es Devlin is a British artist and stage designer known for her large-scale installations and innovative stage designs for theatre, opera, and concerts. Her work blends art, technology, and architecture, creating immersive environments for artists like Beyoncé and Kanye West. Devlin's visionary designs have earned her global acclaim, with a Tony Award and two Olivier Awards.
Fashion Designer
Foday Dumbuya is a Sierra Leonean-born, London-based fashion designer and founder of the menswear brand LABRUM London. Known for blending West African heritage with contemporary British style, Dumbuya’s designs emphasise storytelling and cultural fusion. A recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design, his work has gained recognition for its unique approach to modern menswear and thoughtful craftsmanship.
Architect and Academic
Dr Lesley Lokko OBE is a Ghanaian-Scottish architect, academic, and novelist. She is the founder and director of the African Futures Institute. Lokko is known for her expertise in architecture and her contributions to education, including serving as the curator of the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. Lokko received the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture, for her work to democratise the industry, in 2024.
Creative and Technology Leader
Suhair Khan is a London-based cultural strategist and leader in technology and arts. As a senior executive at Google, she spearheaded projects like Google Arts & Culture, collaborating with global institutions to digitise and share cultural heritage. With a background in architecture and design, Khan is recognised for bridging technology and the arts, driving innovative projects that connect culture, technology, and education.
Industrial Designer
Tom Dixon is a British designer known for his innovative work in lighting, furniture, and interiors. Starting as a self-taught designer in the 1980s, he gained fame for his experimental approach. His brand, founded in 2002, is renowned for its modern aesthetic and iconic designs like the Beat Lights, with pieces displayed in major museums such as the V&A Museum.
Structural Engineer
Trained as an engineer, architect from Cornell and Harvard university, and recognized by World Economic Forum as the “technology pioneer” leading in circular economy revolution today with 17 global invention patents granted making decentralized upcycling a reality.
Completed over 300,000 sqm of circular buildings across 17 major global cities transforming local trash into modular upcycled building products with government, large scale RE developers and consumer brands like NIKE, Starbucks, PMI, BAT, McDonald in the last 19 years.
Financial Times Earth Award 2010, Wall Street Journal Innovation award 2012, Bloomberg NYC Venture Fellow 2012, IDEA GOLD award 2013, National Geographic Emerging Explorer 2016, Vatican Award for Science/Ecology/Architecture 2019, Obama Foundation Emerging Leader 2019, IDEAT Vision Award 2019, WDO World Design Impact Prize 2021.
Architect
Arthur Mamou-Mani AA dipl, ARB/RIBA FRSA –Wikipedia– is a Franco-British architect, and director of the award-winning architecture practice Mamou-Mani, specialising in a new kind of digitally designed and fabricated architecture. Arthur is a lecturer at the University of Westminster, and has given numerous talks around the world on “Eco-Parametric” architectural practice, including three TedX conferences in the U.S, France and UK.
A fellow of the Royal Society for Encouragement of the Arts Manufacture and Commerce, he has won the American Architecture prize, the RIBA Rising Star Award and has recently been awarded the prestigious Pierre Cardin Prize for Architecture from the Academie des Beaux-Arts in France.
In 2020 the Architects Journal named Mamou-Mani one of it's 100 ‘Disruptor’ practices who are challenging the norms of traditional architecture practice in their drive to bring about sustainable alternatives. Alongside his architectural practice Arthur founded the digital-fabrication laboratory FabPub, allowing the public to experiment with large-scale laser cutting and 3D printing equipment in Hackney, London.
Creative Agency
Assimply Studio is an experimental design studio created by the couple Victor Xavier, Brazilian, and Søren Hallberg Søndergaard, Danish. Inspired by their diverse roots, Assimply's DNA is a blend of Scandinavian minimalism and Brazilian bossa. Founded in 2021, Assimply is relatively young. However, it has great aspirations for the future with a focus on the production of objects, furniture and architecture that have as a premise the reuse of discarded waste. For now, the materiality of Assimply's designs manifests itself in the use of traditional Terrazzo techniques combined with an innovative vision that incorporates non-traditional elements in its composition, such as CDW (Construction and Demolition Waste), glass, plastics, ceramics, crystals, recovered stones, acrylics, oysters and more.
Interdisciplinary Designer
charlottemccurdy.com
@ctmccurdy
Charlotte McCurdy researches and teaches design at the intersection of climate change, futures, and materials at the Stanford University school. Her pioneering work on applying natural carbon sequestration to fashion has been exhibited around the world including at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the London Design Museum, and the Cooper Hewitt Triennial. Previously she served as Assistant Professor and Senior Global Futures Scientist at Arizona State University and as Assistant Professor of Industrial Design at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Industrial / Product Designer
forestalgia.co.uk
audiocomingsoon.com
Emmanuel Lawal is the founder of Forestalgia, a London based design studio with an objective to connect and communicate global communities through the lens of unique product offerings.
The British-Nigerian sits as the Creative Director of Forestalgia and has lead a string of collaborations which include partnering with Bentley Motors to create a conceptual driving glove, celebrating 20 Years of the Continental GT. Forestalgia are focused on curating community-first activations. A highlight, partnering with British Fashion Council to host the first Vinny’s Readers Club during London Fashion Week with the prolific BAFTA Award winner Jeymes Samuel.
Forestalgia was founded with a twofold approach to creation; elevated everyday essentials and conscious collaboration.
Emmanuel first found triumph with AUDIOCOMINGSOON. What began from two friend’s exploratory music expedition turned into a leading career in music design and broadcasting paved by the cult podcast, The ACS Show.
AUDIOCOMINGSOON has gone on to curate soundscapes for the likes of British GQ, Glastonbury Festival, NTS Radio, Lamborghini, The Fashion Awards and Samuel L. Jackson. In addition to staring in fashion campaigns for brands such as Zegna, Prada, Mr Porter and Ralph Lauren.
Sound and design have always gone hand in hand, and through Emmanuel’s dynamic sensibility, this has become the focus of his practice. Emmanuel Lawal currently sits on the Frieze 91 committee as an advocate to curation and strives to incorporate people as the centre point to his work.
Designer
Fernando Laposse is a Mexican designer who specializes in transforming humble natural materials into refined design pieces. He has worked extensively with overlooked plant fibers indigenous to Mexico such as sisal, loofah, and corn leaves.
His works are the result of periods of research that are developed into objects where materials and their historical and cultural ties to a particular location and its people take center stage. He often works with local indigenous communities and addresses topics such as the environmental crisis, the loss of biodiversity and migration through the transformative power of design.
Product Designer - Founder of Shellworks
Insiya Jafferjee is the Co-Founder & CEO of Shellworks.
Founded in 2019, Shellworks is a venture breaking reliance on petroleum-based plastics with its pioneering material, Vivomer.
It looks, feels, and performs like plastic, can be injection-molded and blow-molded, but will fully break down once disposed of, leaving no microplastics, toxins, or PFAS.
As a safe, benign substitute for plastic, the potential is uncapped. They are building the next Tetra Pak.
Originally from Sri Lanka, Insiya has previously built manufacturing lines for Apple, Bose, and Ford and holds a B.Sc in Product Design from Stanford University and an M.A and Msc. from Royal College of Art and Imperial College.
Architect
optionallink.com
@optionalhandle
Jayden Ali is an Architect, artist and filmmaker, and has been recognised as a key voice in shaping the future of our cities by the Design Museum, Vogue and Wallpaper Magazine, whilst also being included on the Architects’ Journal’s prestigious ’40 Under 40’ list. He is a Mayor’s Design Advocate, sits on various quality review panels and is a Dean’s Visit Professor at Columbia University, NYC. In 2023, Jayden co-curated the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, with the exhibition 'Dancing Before the Moon' being awarded a prestigious special mention. He is an alumni of the Architecture Association, The Cass and the University of East London.
Graphic Designer
kieronlewis.com
@kieronanthonyl
Kieron Lewis is a part-time designer at Gusbourne, host for D&AD, freelancer and public speaker with a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design, Marketing & Branding. Predominantly his area of expertise is in Editorial design.
With over a decade of experience in design, Kieron has successfully implemented several self-directed and client-based projects. His client list includes the Victoria & Albert Museum, Harper Collins and the South London Gallery. He has also designed an award-winning publication for chronicles Books.
Kieron is also an active guest lecturer through his collaboration with various educational institutions including, Ravensbourne, University of the Arts London and Kingston University.
Product Designer
modularbymensah.com
@modularbymensah
Modular by Mensah is a design studio with a practice centred around people, our projects are reactions and responses to the questions and forces that shape everyday existence. Motivated by the power of social design, we promote and inspire wellness, interaction and cohesion.
Founded by Ghanian-British designer Kusheda Mensah, Modular is committed to make industry changes with a diverse workforce and creative community.
Modular projects and ideas continue to evolve beyond the mainstay of furniture. At the heart is community work around social wellbeing and the promotion of better social behaviours.
Solar Designer
Marjan van Aubel Studio is an award-winning innovative solar design practice that brings solar energy into daily life. Designing for a positive future through combining the fields of sustainability, design and technology.
The studio is creating lasting change through solar design, integrating solar power seamlessly into our environments such as in buildings and objects. With the goal to make solar power more accessible for everyone. Most notable works are Sunne, 8 Minutes and 20 Seconds, Current Table, Power Plant and the roof of the Netherlands Pavilion at the World Expo 2020 in Dubai.
Marjan has collaborated with global brands such as Lexus, Cos, Timberland, Swarovski with the aim of accelerating the global energy transition to solar. Graduating from the Royal College of Art (Design Products MA) in 2012 and the Rietveld Academy DesignLAB (BA) in 2009. Her work can be found in leading museums and institutions around the world.
Spatial Designer
Michael Bennett is a social activist, philanthropist, and designer. His work is a fusion of his diverse experiences, from his prior career as a Super Bowl champion and Pro Bowl defensive end, to his ongoing activism and passion for social justice. Michael’s architectural philosophy revolves around spatial justice and creating communal spaces that evoke a deep sense of connection, belonging, and tranquillity.
Michael Bennett’s journey from the world of professional football to the realm of design and architecture is marked by a shift in focus from the gridiron to the study of spatial theory and architecture, all in pursuit of reclaiming public spaces for meaningful human interaction. While design has always interested Michael, his activism catalysed an interest in the power of architecture to create Black agency, particularly through reinvigorating traditional typologies for gathering and communing, such as domestic and sacred spaces.
Michael is a graduate of the Heritage School of Interior Design and a current student in architecture at the University of Hawaii. In 2020, he founded Studio Kër, a platform for visionary design concepts, where he serves as creative director.
Beyond his design endeavours, Michael Bennett is celebrated as an activist raising awareness about significant social issues, and a devoted family man. Michael’s advocacy extends to philanthropic efforts, including establishing endowments for students from low-income backgrounds pursuing creative arts degrees at the Rhode Island School of Design. He provides grants to organisations such as the Rebuild Foundation, Mass Design, and Humble by Design, furthering his commitment to fostering positive change through design, education, and social justice initiatives.
Designer
Natsai Audrey Chieza is a visionary designer and thought leader, celebrated for her pioneering contributions to design and biotechnology. She is the founder and CEO of Faber Futures and a co-founder of Normal Phenomena of Life (NPOL). Launched in 2018, Faber Futures is a groundbreaking design agency that bridges advancements in consumer biotechnology with real-world applications. In 2023, Chieza co-founded NPOL, a consumer brand offering biotech products online, showcasing how biotechnology can produce new materials that are beautifully designed to support climate goals and foster resilient bioeconomy value chains.
Natsai's work is rooted in broad-ranging partnerships spanning biotech, consumer sectors, and cultural institutions. Her collaborative, story-driven strategies catalyse engagement and concrete action on critical issues. Her portfolio includes notable clients and commissioning bodies such as Ginkgo Bioworks, adidas, the Design Museum, MIT Media Lab, and the World Economic Forum (WEF).
In recognition of her innovative work, Natsai was awarded the prestigious 2024 London Design Innovation Medal and nominated for the Dezeen Awards Bentley Lighthouse Award. She also holds the 2019 INDEX Award, widely regarded as the Nobel Prize for design.
Natsai serves on Fondation USM's Future Lab advisory panel and advocates for the integration of design and culture in policy development for bioeconomies powered by biotechnology as a member of the WEF's Global Futures Council on Synthetic Biology. Her expertise and thought leadership are sought after on global stages, including SxSW, TED, and Design Indaba, where she inspires audiences with her contributions to biophilic design and innovation.
Architect
Nzinga Biegueng Mboup is a Senegalese architect who studied at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, and obtained a master’s degree in Architecture at the University of Westminster in London. In 2019, she co-founded Worofila, a Dakar-based architectural practice specialized in bioclimatic architecture and construction using earth and other locally-sourced natural materials. Some of the practice most notable projects include the Ngor Vertical house, the Goethe-institut in collaboration with Kéré Architecture and the upcoming Rainforest Gallery of the MOWAA Campus in Nigeria.
Nzinga is also active as a researcher and has made significant contributions to urban and cultural heritages studies in Dakar. Her two most notable research projects are Dakarmorphose which studied the evolution of the indigenous villages and interrogates the urban and cultural heritage of the city of Dakar, and Habiter Dakar which focuses on the evolution and problematics of housing in Senegal.
In 2023, Nzinga produced a film on earth architecture in Senegal, titled Bunt BAN that was exhibited at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. As of July 2023, Nzinga has begun a collaboration as a curator for the Canadian Centre for Architecture and leads ℅ Dakar, a 3-year research project investigating Senegalese architectural traditions.
Fashion Designer
phoebeenglish.com
@phoebeenglish
The Phoebe English studio was founded in 2011 and designs clothing with our planetary boundaries in mind.
In the decade since Phoebe established the studio, the brand has developed into an internationally renowned label. The studio is in an ongoing transition towards sustainable circular design within a slow fashion context.
The PHOEBE ENGLISH studio has dual roots in textile craftsmanship and reduced environmental impact: aiming to develop ways of working with design, and its surrounding systems, that align within the realities of our planetary limitations. A personal narrative runs throughout the work within the studio's established aesthetics of both the decorative and the utilitarian.
Phoebe attended Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design in London for her BA and MA in Fashion Design with Knitwear, completing the acclaimed MA under the tuition of Louise Wilson, where her practice evolved to focus on constructed textiles. Upon graduation she was awarded the L'Oreal Professional Prize.
The PHOEBE ENGLISH studio has shown at London Fashion Week since 2011 and has received the following accolades: The Marie Claire Sustainability Award for Best Sustainable Designer Brand (2022), The Fashion Awards Leader of Change for Environment Honouree at The Fashion Awards (2021), Beazley Design of the Year (Design Museum, 2020), The Fashion Awards Community Honouree for co-founding the Emergency Designer Network (2020).
The studio’s work now sits in the national archives of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Collection in New York, the V&A fashion collection in London and the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh. We have been featured in exhibitions around the world: Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion at The Met, New York; Waste Age: What Can Waste Do? at the Design Museum, London; Homo Faber: Crafting a More Human Future, Venice, curated by Judith Clark. In 2017, the studio's archive was the subject of a day-long live event as part of the V&A Fashion in Motion series.
Fashion Designer
ahluwalia.world
@priya.ahluwalia1
Priya Ahluwalia is a London-based Designer and Film Director of Nigerian and Indian heritage who established her name-sake label “Ahluwalia” in 2018. Ahluwalia is informed by the designer’s dual heritage and London roots and explores the potential of vintage and surplus materials by giving them new life.
Ahluwalia embarked on the MA Menswear Course at The University of Westminster and it was here that she developed her design ethos and point of view that would inform her work moving forward. During the course, Ahluwalia went on a family trip to Lagos, where she noticed hawkers wearing obscure vintage European clothing and wanted to learn more about how the clothing ended up there. It was then that she learnt about the global second-hand clothing trade. Following the thread of research, she learnt about Panipat in India which is the global capital of recycling clothing in the world. Shortly after, Ahluwalia visited Panipat and saw first-hand the sheer amount of clothing that ended up there. The research and photographs Ahluwalia took culminated in a book “Sweet Lassi” and informed the direction of her final collection and ultimately, the brand.
Since the inception of the brand, Ahluwalia has enjoyed working with others and has collaborated with Mulberry, GANNI, Paul Smith and Microsoft. She has also worked on brand partnerships with Porsche, NTS and Adidas among others. Despite only being established in 2018, Ahluwalia has several international stockists including Net a Porter, Harrods, Saks, and Printemps.
Ahluwalia’s work and creative vision extends past clothing, in 2020 she released her second book, Jalebi, which celebrates the beauty of multicultural Britain in London’s Southall. In November 2020 Ahluwalia was invited to join Gucci Fest and create her first film, Joy, a kaleidoscopic look at the Black British experience. Ahluwalia went on to creatively direct and direct a further six notable films and as a result, she was signed as a film director with Ridley Scott’s Blackdog film agency. Additionally, in 2024, she was commissioned to design a rug in collaboration with Studio Ashby, further showcasing her versatility and innovative approach to design.
Ahluwalia has since directed branded films for Nike and Levis, a music video for Grace Carter, a campaign celebrating 30 years of NEWGEN for the London Design Museum, and short films ‘Beloved’and 'Blessings'. In all her work, Ahluwalia endeavours to create, innovate and design whilst driving social and environmental change.
Designer
Sara Martinsen is a Danish designer working in the cross field between research, art and design creating edition pieces from natural materials and exploring the potential of regional plants.
From her Copenhagen based studio solid wood, veneer, plants and plant fibres are weaved, layered and arranged through visually strong and intriguing compositions. From free standing objects, to large wall and ceiling hung formations, she creates pieces that exist within a larger architectural context.
Saras work is sculptural with a distinct rhythm and tactility encouraging the user to touch, look and smell the piece, promoting awareness of its qualities through beautiful compositions.
Aside from investigating materials and their potential Sara advices companies on responsible solutions and is the founder of the digital plant library at www.phytophilia.dk
Product Designer
sebastiancox.co.uk
@sebastiancoxltd
Sebastian Cox is a furniture designer, maker and environmentalist based in south London. Sebastian founded his carbon-counting, forward- thinking, zero-waste workshop and design studio in 2010 on the principle that the past can be used to design and make the future...He believes that what we harvest, make and buy can be part of the solutions to our biodiversity and climate crises if we ask ‘what resources does nature want to give us?’
Working to the workshop’s mission of storing 100 tonnes of CO2 in the wooden objects it makes each year, he produces heirloom furniture, lighting and home accessories and collaborates with other material experts who share his vision for a regenerative material future.
He has been labelled as one of the most influential designers in London by the London Evening Standard and listed amongst Forbes’ 30 under 30 to watch. His work has received a Design Guild Mark alongside other accolades from design publications including Elle Decoration, Homes & Gardens and EKKB. In 2022 he was recognised with design’s most prestigious title and made a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI).
Architect
Shajay is an Associate Director at Zaha Hadid Architects where he co-founded and heads the Computation and Design research group (ZHACODE, 2007). He is an alumnus and a studio-master at the post-graduate course of Design Research Laboratory at the Architectural Association, London (AADRL, 2006). There he explores the intersection of computational geometry, video game technology, urban development, and industrialised construction. Shajay pursued his scientific interests in digital design and robotic fabrication during his Doctoral studies at the Block Research Group (BRG, 2022) at the ETH, Zurich and previously as a M.Phil. graduate from University of Bath (2016).
Artist and Researcher, Co-Founder of MycoWorks
optionallink.com
@optionalhandle
As Co-founder of MycoWorks, Dr. Sophia Wang recognized the potential of mycelium as a living material with endless aesthetic expressions, and stepped forward to lead MycoWorks’ efforts to bring mycelium materials to the wider world. As Chief of Culture, Sophia builds values and mission-driven programs to scale a company culture of innovation, service, respect and empowerment. Her values-based program leadership draws on nearly twenty years of experience as an educator, activist, and cultural producer, working with universities, art institutions and social justice movements in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Sophia’s creative practice includes choreography, performance, writing, curation and producing original dance and multimedia works. She has danced for Xavier Le Roy, Tino Sehgal, Jerome Bel, Amara Tabor-Smith and Xandra Ibarra. Sophia is likewise the co-founder of the Brontez Purnell Dance Company. Since 2015, Wang has co-produced Heavy Breathing, a discussion and movement workshop series that has featured over 45 presenting artists working at the intersection of performance, visual arts and pedagogy. Sophia Wang earned a PhD in English specializing in 20th and 21st century experimental American poetry, and has presented her work at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, SFMOMA, and The Broad Museum, among other institutions around the world.
