Home to 120 showrooms and over 600 of the world’s most prestigious luxury brands, Chelsea Harbour’s Design Centre is the globe’s premier design destination. After a recent visit, our experts reveal their view on the most exciting design trend of the season.

The showrooms for Spring/Summer 2017 present an imaginative flare for anthropology and zoology, capturing the vibrancy of the world’s rainforests and exotic flora, fascinating design and colour palettes drawn from natural landscapes.

Chelsea Harbour is the largest showroom of its kind in Europe and is referred to as “interior design world’s Mecca” by Vanity Fair. Based in South West London at an old gas works station just next to the Thames, you wouldn’t expect to see interior design ‘couture for the home’. But as soon as you step foot into the buildings, you can experience a very glamourous world, packed full of the very latest in prestigious design.

We were completely inspired by Porta Romana which showcased products designed with the forest growth process in mind. The Enchanted Forest collection places you firmly in a fairy tale and the products tell a story of how things grow deep within a forest, tangling and weaving up to the light. The runes mirror looks almost mythical next to colours such as deep greens, earthy tones and rich royal blues.

Cole & Son, renowned for its luxury wallcoverings, is a brand which certainly knows how to create rich ranges of wallpapers and is bang-on trend with the Ardmore collection. It boasts rare birds, big cats, elephants and rhinos, plus Zulu patterns inspired by beadwork and ceramic art. One of our favourites is the Singita paper, which means ‘Place of Miracles’.

San Francisco Bay designers, Kate McIntyre and Brad Huntzinger are new to Chelsea Harbour’s show reel exhibiting work through UK showrooms. However, they have long been favourites of the design press. We were stunned by the beauty of the demian bedside table with charcoal/bronze base and doors. Whether Kate and Brad turn their attentions to furniture or artwork, the end result is desirable and striking, yet translates easily into this season’s top trends.

Sun streamed jungles and tropical tree tops are epitomised with this hand-spun Tibetan wool rug designed by Jan Kath for Front Rugs. The greens come alive when placed in a room with natural nude shades and botanical printed fabrics.

One final key takeaway is that botanicals can make a big impact on the home. Larry Walshe, a London-based floral alchemist, was a key partner for London Design Week which was held at the Design Centre. His floral and plant sculptures demonstrated curiosities exploring the anthropology and zoology trend. The displays wowed guests and brought botany to life. We can all apply a little of his thinking to achieve floral alchemy in our own spaces with hanging glass globes and tropical planters. There’s a short video highlighting some of the structures here.