Polish designer Oskar Zięta’s exhibition, ‘Through Process to Progress’, has officially opened at Loop Generation, a renowned sustainable fashion house in Chelsea. The exhibition showcases Zięta’s innovative work with metallic materials, highlighting his expertise in design and craftsmanship. The event commenced with a spectacular launch reception and marks the start of a six-week residency at this exclusive West London store.
Brought to fruition by partners Zieta Studio, BGY ID, On&On Designs, Let’s Art Foundation, and the Polish Cultural Institute, this event was highlighted as a key destination in the recent London Design Festival programme. Serving as a teaser for the upcoming Season of Polish and British Culture 2025, the exhibition will set the stage for future events across prominent venues in the capital.
This captivating exhibition (from 12 September – 20 October) presents Zięta’s experimental design approach from development processes to finished air-sculpted metal creations which reflect Zięta’s ongoing design processes and commitment to innovation. Co-curated by BGY ID and On and On Designs, the exhibition leads the visitor through the designer’s journey of exploration and development including a film, drawings and prototypes of Zięta’s first London installation ‘Blow & Roll’; a sculpture of bionic fascinations, mono-material and circularity realised ‘live’ at the John Madejski Garden V&A ( LDF 2010), to the evolution of this inflatable FiDU technological methodology realised in the form of finished pieces including the iconic ‘Plopp’ stool series ( which stands for ‘Polish Air-Pumped Folk Object’), the stunning Rondo Mirror collection presented for the first time in new Jade colourway, the ingenious and award winning sleek Ultraleggera Chair that weighs less than 2kg, to the beautiful hand-held ‘bake at home’ Hot Heart.
This stunning showcase is presented in partnership with Zieta Studio, BGY ID, On&On Designs, Let’s Art Foundation, and the Polish Cultural Institute and highlights the latest advancements in technology, pioneering design approaches, and cutting-edge production methods. Located at sustainable reuse fashion house Loop Generation, this project celebrates design and innovation while emphasizing the importance of sustainability across the fashion and design sectors.
‘Through Process to Progress’ represents a significant cultural collaboration between Poland and the UK, focusing on innovations in design by this renowned Polish designer. It serves as a teaser to the highly anticipated UK/Poland Season for 2025 with activations planned across Poland, the UK and the capital including the Fleet Street Quarter; this initiative embodies a commitment to fostering creativity across borders.
Reflecting on the launch, Timothy Shepherd, Co-curator of the exhibition, and MD of BGY ID spoke about the inspiration behind the co-curating of the exhibition when exploring the opportunities of this exhibition.
‘This partnership began with the visit to see Oskar at his studio in Poland to understand the manufacturing process, where he eloquently talked about how he manipulates materials, and creates these very different functional and beautiful shapes’ says Shepherd. ‘When you understand this process of taking something quite strong and making it somehow so light and malleable with air, you become quite enchanted with the process. When [Oskar and I] talked about this project, [the key conversations were] asking how we bring [the project] into a fashion environment …and where it still sat beautifully within an amazing store and an incredible district of London’.
Paulina Latham, Co-Producer of the exhibition, and Head of Visual Arts and Music at the Polish Cultural Institute in London, commented at the opening reception:
‘The exhibition opened its doors at the London Design Festival. It connects fashion and design at Loop Generation, with co-curation by BGY ID and On and On Designs’ says Latham. ‘From my point of view at the Polish Cultural Institute, it’s very important to foster British and Polish creative collaboration and this project is the perfect symbiosis and illustration of how great things can happen when we connect people’.
The project is co-financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, as part of preparations for the upcoming UK/Poland Season 2025, organised in collaboration with the British Council. Public task financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland within the grant competition “Public Diplomacy 2024 – 2025 – the European dimension and countering disinformation”.
