The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) announced details of the first collection of contemporary designs purchased through the Outset Contemporary Art Fund. The fund was launched in March at a gala event at the V&A, hosted by Ben Evans, Director of the London Design Festival; Francis Sultana, Chair of the Design Fund Patrons; Yana Peel, Co-founder and Co-director of Outset Contemporary Art Fund; and Nadja Swarovski, Vice President of Corporate Communications and Creative Director.

A panel of design experts led by Christopher Wilk, V&A Keeper of Furniture, Fashion and Textiles, selected the pieces, which include works by Fredrikson Stallard, Nendo, BCXSY, Platform and Satyendra Pakhalé. The furniture will be displayed in the Museum during the London Design Festival in September and will then form part of various V&A exhibitions and galleries.

Fractal Table II by Platform (Gernot Oberfell, Jan Wertel and and Matthias Bär)

Table #1 (Log) (first prototype) by Fredrikson Stallard

Sofa ‘Pyrenees’ by Fredrikson Stallard

Cord chair by nendo (Oki Sato)

Chair, Thin Black Line Series by nendo

Cabbage Chair by nendo

Wood screens Origin – Part I : Join by BCXSY (Boaz Cohen and Sayaka Yamamoto)

"We are very grateful to Outset for supporting the V&A and enabling us to acquire such wonderful contemporary design pieces for the collections," said Sir Mark Jones, V&A Director.

"I am delighted that the acquisitions from the Outset Fund are going to be put on display for the first time during the London Design Festival. The V&A is our hub venue and our programme there is the highlight of the Festival," said Ben Evans, Director of the London Design Festival.

The fund organisers are also partnering with Æsir Copenhagen, a pioneer in the design world, which has just launched a handcrafted mobile phone by Yves Béhar. This fund has also been made possible by contributions of fifteen individual patrons.

"We are very pleased that the generosity of Outset patrons has resulted in the largest donation to date for the acquisition of design at the V&A. The exemplary objects purchased through the Outset Design Fund to Benefit the V&A will have a meaningful impact on the permanent collection and serve as an important extension of our work in supporting public institutions through private patronage,” said Yana Peel.