Material Focus: Cork

When you think of cork, what comes to mind?

1970s cork place mats? A nice bottle of Champagne being opened? The type of Australian hat only ever acceptable at a fancy dress party? Whatever it is, it probably isn't stylish, well-designed gifts, accessories and homeware.

At MOXON we like to celebrate simple, humble materials, and cork is just that. Not only does it look great, cork is sustainable and extremely versatile and can be found in all sorts of products from trainers to furniture, so we've put together a list of some of our top cork products.

Cork Furniture + home accessories by Ilse Crawford

British designer Ilse Crawford has teamed up with Ikea to produce the Sinnerlig collection which includes a cork fruit bowl and this beautiful table and bench.

Sinnerlig Cork Table and Bench by Ikea and Isle Crawford

Cork Pinboard

The creative's staple item. The cork memo board is certainly not a new idea, but it's a must-have, amazing for pinning notes and arranging ideas, so you're sure to find one in every design studio.

Roll + Pin by London design brand THABTO is a creative take on the standard pin board. A 3 meter roll of self adhesive natural cork that can be cut and configured in any way, transforming any surface into a truly unique memo board for your home or office.

Sprout the Cork Watch

Sprout is a watch with a cork strap by Nordstrom. This is a great on-trend Summer accessory. We love the green stitching!

Cork watch. Cork strap with turquoise face

Cork Home Accessories

Cork's neutral shades are matched perfectly with natural woods and monochrome materials - The Vessel by Vitamin Living can be used as a vase, but it's design is so beautiful it could just sit in your home as a stand-alone ornament.

White porcelain and cork vase

Cork Notebooks

This range of cork-backed notebooks is so different from the norm that you will never confuse your notepad with someone else's again. We especially love the cork pattern on the yellow grid book. Look at the image for a few seconds and let your eyes be confused.

Collection of cork note books in yellow and colour patterns over the cork

Cork Shoes (okay, trainers)

So the obvious choice here would be to list cork wedges, with the 1970's revival being a huge 2015 trend, but we saw these and really enjoyed the reversal of materials. Vans have mixed it up and used the cork as the main fabric, rather than using it in the sole, resulting in an awesome looking trainer. We love it!

Vans have made an awesome feature of the great texture and pattern found in this wonderful material!

Vans trainers made from cork.

Cork Clock by Ilias Ernst

This beautiful round mantel clock by Ilias Ernst for Puik Art, Amsterdam, has an extended right angle allowing the solid cork clock to stand on any flat surface.

Cork Handbag by Stella McCartney

We love the random colour fleck in this cork, making each bag unique.

Cork handbag design with colour fleck by Stella McCartney

Boeien by Puik Art

These contemporary salt + pepper shakers are produced from mouth blown glass with a solid cork base. Inspired by a buoy in the ocean, the base is slightly domed so the shakers roll slightly giving them an interesting and playful aesthetic.

Luno storage jars with cork lids

Czech designer Martin Jakobsen has created these beautiful storage jars with spherical cork ball lids

Luna Cork storage Jars design by Martin Jakobsen

Other cork designs we love:

Cork stool with storage and cork watch Cork packaging for pens and pencils Cork pinboard moulded frame design

1 Response

Georgina Stapley

April 05, 2019

Hi there,

My boyfriend is looking to make a pair of his own cork shoes, something he is fascinated by. I would love to find out whether you could recommend a place in London where I could buy cork material for shoes from?

Your help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks a lot.

Georgi