Bending Iceland and the UKBehind The Bend
Having been home from London for barely two days, we are adapting rather slowly to this crazy SoCal heat wave. It's a far cry from the chilly temps that we left behind in both Iceland and London. We are excited to say that our trip across the pond was very successful though and also quite fun for our team. We thought we would take a minute and give you a little London Design Fair re-cap.
If you follow us on social media then you know we started our trip with a 24 hour stop in Iceland. It was an ambitious move, we admit, but one that was well worth the exhaustion. We landed and got on the road just in time for sunrise, which was arguably one of the most stunning sunrises we have ever seen. We then took a drive to a town called Vik which is the southernmost tip of the country. Along the two hour trek were magnificent landscapes complete with fluffy sheep, waterfalls and glaciers. After spending time on some black sand beaches, we drove back to the capital Reykjavik and explored some of the local, very colorful architecture. We rounded out our Icelandic experience with a trip to the Blue Lagoon which, if you have never been, is one of the most epic and relaxing experiences there is on Earth.
After our whirlwind 24 hours in Iceland it was time to get down to business. We arrived in London two days before the London Design Fair was set to start. The London Design Festival though was already in full swing. We spent thefirst two days setting up and taking in the sights. After all you can't go to London without seeing a palace or two. The design week festivities were also quite the experience. The photo on the right is of an art exhibit called The Smile, which was done by architect Alison Brooks from Toronto Canada. There were a number of different art and design activities all over the city that were very inspiring, if only we had more time.
Following our sight-seeing tour the time had come to show off the goods. The London Design Fair was held in a historic brewery called the Old Truman Brewery and was a really cool space. We joined a group of UK locals and international makers exhibiting everything from our wire goods to upholstered cushions and some pretty sleek pottery. For us the show was a great success and definitely cemented our excitement to be working in the UK market. Our plan, as of now is to get the first shipment of goods in the UK by the beginning of next year. We want to make everything much easier and shipping more immediate for designers and fans of Bend alike. As always if you want any info on when and which of the goods will be available, feel free to drop us a line at info@bendgoods.com. We would love to hear from you. Now the countdown begins to our next trek overseas to Dubai for Downtown Design! Stay tuned!
