Kicking off the New Year in early February 2026 were 14 GREEN GRADS in the Innovation Gallery of the Surface Design Show in the Business Design Centre, North London, over three days, for the second year running – and with double the space. They brought new ideas for textiles, wall coverings, ceramics, furniture and more.

Material innovation was a recurring theme, with, for example, a robust board of waste denim impressing visitors with its unique and sophisticated blue marbled finish. Also on show: a carbon- negative replacement for polystyrene; plus a remarkable new biomaterial made from food waste (principally eggshells). Textile art included embroidered wall hangings in silk and root fabrics coloured with natural dyes, and dramatically-large needle-felted panels, with wool sourced within a six-mile radius of the maker’s home suffused with plant-based dyes.

There was furniture made from regenerative materials such as cork, hemp and coffee grounds, to serve as shelving, a desk, a TV stand, a wardrobe and more. GREEN GRADS eco-activists protested against deep sea industrial fishing (with ceramics) and against river pollution (with woven panels). Indigo cyanotype fabrics were part of a wider protest against the destruction of our oceans. A print collection for wallpapers, fabrics and stationery exquisitely highlighted the British crisis of diminishing butterfly species. Even cigarette waste played its part. Discarded buts yielded ash for an idiosyncratic glaze, whilst the cellulose acetate of cigarette filters (combined with wool) became fresh fibres and wall panels.