Image from Noe Kuremoto Ceramics Studio
Now in its 18th edition, PAD London has got us accustomed to its distinctive blend of collectible design, fine art, objects and jewellery. Uniting works by contemporary makers and creatives with historical pieces that represent some of the most celebrated design movements of the past, its eclectic curation attracts international collectors and those curious to see where collectible design is heading.
This year, we wanted to cast our lens on the new names to know in collectible design, creatives working in a variety of materials and techniques, that are merging personal cultural histories with ancestral craft, material research with formal experimentation. Here are five talents from across the globe that are setting new directions in collectible design. Discover their profiles below, and find their work at PAD London, 13 to 18 October 2026 at Berkeley Square
London-based Japanese ceramicist Noe Kuremoto creates clay objects that speak of Japan’s ancestral traditions, her experience as a mother, and the role of the artist in today’s world. At PAD London 2026, she is bringing significant new bodies of work that reflect how the complexity of her heritage and her life merge in an inquisitive, personal way. They include ‘Project Crane Wife’, a series of black stoneware sculptures shaped like vessels with tall necks and elongated handles, referencing one of Japan’s oldest folk tales. ‘Project Shodō’, meanwhile, is a series of black, unglazed sculptural objects that nod to the traditional art of Japanese calligraphy, while ‘Jōmon’ is inspired by the intricate fertility vessels of the eponymous Japanese era (between 14,000 and 300 BCE).
'When I started to face the complexity of life, I looked for ancestral wisdom; that mythology felt dusty when I was in Japan, it felt like shackles to my teenage self when I was trying to figure out who I want to be,’ she explains. ‘Now, that same mysticism gives me a map to figure out life’s most complex moments.’