Recognising both leading and emerging design talents, the 2025 edition of the London Design Festival has awarded four designers for their contributions to the design landscape of London and beyond. The jury panel, comprising stalwarts, renowned design professionals, industry experts and previous winners, includes British artist and stage designer Es Devlin, fashion designer Ozwald Boateng OBE, curator and researcher Jane Withers, LDF director Ben Evans CBE and industrial designer Jay Osgerby OBE. The awardees of the medals, together, reflect how contemporary design and creativity can transform our everyday lives by way of the products we use, lighting designs that are sensitive to user needs, craftsmanship imbued with a sense of history and reverence for the environment, architectural innovation and accessibility advocacy.

Cypriot-born British designer Michael Anastassiades OBE has won the London Design Medal for his consistent contributions to the field. On the other hand, Japan-born designer Rio Kobayashi has been awarded the Emerging Design Medal for his recent works and dynamic interventions. Entrepreneur Sinéad Burke has won the Design Innovation Medal for her design-centric endeavours in fashion and accessibility, while renowned British architect Lord Norman Foster has received the Lifetime Achievement Medal. The award ceremony is set to take place at the V&A East Storehouse in London on September 15, 2025.

Originally trained as a civil engineer, London-based Anastassiades later pursued a master’s degree in industrial design at the Royal College of Art. After founding his studio in 1994, he launched his eponymous brand in 2007 and is known for his wide range of works across lighting, products and furniture designs, along with spatial design projects. From designing for manufacturers to introducing limited edition collections, the multidisciplinary designer has also showcased solo exhibitions worldwide. He has won several awards for his contributions to the design industry, including the Royal Designer for Industry in 2015 from the Royal Society of Arts, the ADI Compasso d’Oro in 2020 and an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) from King Charles III in 2024. “It’s a great honour to feel at home and be acknowledged [for] a dream that you never knew was going to work out,” says Anastassiades in an official release.

Kobayashi, a UK-based designer and maker, was born in Japan into a multicultural family of artisans. After training as a furniture maker in Austria, he apprenticed with workshops across Europe, eventually establishing his own studio in 2017 in East London. Crafting furniture, sculptural objects and interiors, Kobayashi fuses traditional craftsmanship and contemporary design approaches with hints of playfulness and humour. His works have been showcased at design events such as the Milan Design Week, Design Miami and LDF 2024 where he exhibited the Off the Shelf pavilion , along with several design galleries across Europe and the United States. “I am truly honoured to receive this recognition from the design community, alongside inspirational figures who have forged new paths of creativity for the future," says Kobayashi in the official release.

Awarded for her design-centric local and international undertakings, Burke works towards making the world more accessible for the marginalised and the disabled. Her experience as a teacher and an Achondroplasia patient helped her realise the lack of accessibility for disabled folk in public and private spaces. A blog series about the lack of representation in the fashion industry sparked conversations in adaptive fashion design and accessible design systems. After founding the strategic consultancy Tilting the Lens in 2020, Burke has been making public spaces accessible and advising clients such as Chanel, Gucci, Microsoft and NASA on recruitment, workflows and cultural changes. “As a majority Disabled team, we’ve seen few places acknowledge the innovation and intellectual property of lived experience… Our focus is for design innovation to be multi-modal, to move beyond compliance and to create the conditions for Disabled people to be successful,” states Burke in the official release.

Founder and executive chairman of Foster + Partners, Lord Norman Foster has made significant contributions to the disciplines of architecture and design over the course of his illustrious career. For over five decades, the practice has approached urbanism through the lens of sustainability in a wide array of projects, including master plans, commercial architecture, airport and industrial design. He has been awarded architecture’s highest accolades, such as the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the RIBA Royal Gold medal and the AIA Gold medal. “I am deeply honoured to receive this special award. Since my early childhood, design has been an integral part of my life and I feel extremely privileged to have indulged in this passion every day of my life since,” states Foster in the official release.

Along with honouring individual brilliance, the design festival medals celebrate the diverse possibilities offered by design in how spaces, objects and systems shape our everyday lives and the built environments that surround them. From Anastassiades’ geometric lighting designs, Kobayashi’s playful approach towards craftsmanship, Burke’s advocacy for accessibility and Foster’s architectural legacy, this year’s recipients exemplify how creativity transcends traditional boundaries of disciplines. Through these recognitions, the design event also reinforces London’s role as a global stage for contemporary innovation, where design continues to act as a catalyst for inclusivity and radical transformation.