One of the most extensive exhibitions on contemporary Black design ever held in the UK opens at the Design Museum this autumn, bringing together 16 designers working across fashion, furniture, architecture, product design and sculpture.
The Nue Black Aesthetic, guest curated by author and journalist Charlene Prempeh, runs from 6 November 2026 until 8 August 2027. With over 100 objects on display, it charts the work of some of the most innovative contemporary Black designers working right now, built around a single question: what does it mean to be a Black designer working today?
Sixteen designers, six sections
The designers featured are Tejumola Adenuga, Taiba Akhuetie, Ini Archibong, Simone Brewster, Mac Collins, Phoebe Collings-James, Foday Dumbuya, Feben, Nifemi Marcus-Bello, Andu Masebo, Saul Nash, Tosin Oshinowo, Bianca Saunders, Rachel Scott, Samuel Ross and Giles Tettey Nartey.
Additional works and graphics from over 20 further designers, from Althea McNish to Yinka Ilori, contextualise Black design across the 20th and 21st centuries.
Across six sections, the show sets out to demonstrate that Black design is not a monolith, and that there’s no single way to be a Black designer. Towards a Nue Black Aesthetic opens with milestones in Black design across the past seven decades.
Identity as Inspiration examines designers who mine their identity as a departure point, including the Bianca Saunders-designed suit worn by Usher at New York’s Met Gala in 2023, and domestic furniture, including a chair and lampshade made of synthetic hair, by sculptural artist Taiba Akhuetie.
From an Arsenal kit to a chandelier called Mfon
Community Building looks at how designers embrace their craft as a space of belonging, including a high-fashion reimagining of the Arsenal 2024/25 away kit, designed by LABRUM founder Foday Dumbuya in collaboration with adidas. Its black, red and green colour scheme draws on the colours of Pan Africanism, and the kit resonated widely, bringing together Arsenal supporters across the African diaspora.
Rethinking the System looks at designers challenging established aesthetic norms and commercial hierarchies, including architect Giles Tettey Nartey’s contemporary twist on a balafon, a type of xylophone originating in West Africa, confronting how the Western design canon has dismissed traditional West African design as frozen in time.
The penultimate section features a new film created specially for the exhibition, directed by Samona Olanipekun. Black by Design follows the featured designers as they unpack their personal journeys through intimate interviews, studio visits and candid reflections.
The finale is a brand-new site-specific commission by Nigerian-American designer Ini Archibong. Mfon, meaning “grace” in Nigeria’s Ibibio language, is a large chandelier made from hand-blown Murano glass, experienced alongside an ambient soundtrack that encourages reflection.
Charlene Prempeh, guest-curator of The Nue Black Aesthetic, says: “The idea that Black design is not monolithic should not be surprising or controversial, and yet there has historically been very little interrogation about the complexities and inspiration of contemporary Black designers, or about how the specific experience of creating in a predominantly white space influences their practice. This exhibition focuses a spotlight on the design work of the diasporic community while provoking a reassessment of what Black design is today.”
Tim Marlow, Director and CEO of the Design Museum, adds: “Exploring new perspectives on contemporary design is at the heart of our exhibition programme at the Design Museum, and The Nue Black Aesthetic will enrich our understanding of what is happening in design today. It’s a thought-provoking and nuanced show that will invite visitors to consider how the Black experience is central to a designer’s practice and how design in the 21st century is shaped.”
The London x London take: the title nods to the ‘Black Aesthetic’ movement of the 1960s and the ‘New Black Aesthetic’ of the 1980s, but proposes a ‘Nue’ era defined by nuance rather than a single narrative. With 16 designers across fashion, furniture, architecture and sculpture, that’s exactly what it delivers.
It’s one of several major exhibitions opening in London this autumn, alongside Nan Goldin’s first UK show in over two decades at the Hayward Gallery.
Worth the trip to Kensington for the LABRUM Arsenal kit and Ini Archibong’s chandelier alone, and the nine-month run means there’s no rush.
Need to know
- Where: the Design Museum, 224-238 Kensington High Street, London W8 6AG
- When: 6 November 2026 to 8 August 2027
- Tickets: on sale now
