This autumn, London brims with added creativity as a flurry of art and design shows take centre stage, proving if ever it was needed, the capital’s vitality, verve and pre-eminence in the global arts scene. It kicks off with the London Design Festival, with an ever-increasing number of venues and studios taking part across town (see pg 40-43 for more details) during the week of 17-25 September. The following month sees Regent’s Park welcome Frieze London and Frieze Masters from 12-16 October, respectively showcasing contemporary art and work from ancient to modern times, from more than 280 international galleries as Frieze Masters celebrates its first decade. Meanwhile, over in Mayfair on 10-16 October, Berkeley Square plays host to the annual art and design fair PAD London.

French furniture designer André Sornay’s console with two table tops, in red lacquered wood

PAD London is the only UK fair exclusively dedicated to 20th-century and contemporary design, in all its many elements and forms. Founded in 2007 by Patrick Perrin, fourth-generation Parisian antique dealer, the London event is the sibling of the original PAD Paris, launched 24 years ago and which takes place every April in the Jardin des Tuileries. These permanent fixtures on the two capitals’ art and design circuits are all about connoisseurship and the art of curating, featuring the best in modern and contemporary design and historical design from the world’s leading specialist galleries. To be included in the show, these pieces have undergone a fiercely judged process of scrutiny by a panel of experts. Distinctively, PAD fairs showcase how artistic genres across time and different periods can be brought together to create striking and individual interiors and settings.

With its refined marquee venue in the centre of the celebrated Mayfair square, PAD – originally called Pavilion of Art and Design – attracts not only collectors but museum curators, interior specialists and designers.

Electron Floor Lamp No 589 by Hervé Van der Straeten. The piece is made from bronze and aluminium

And, of course, the public is invited. On display are both the elaborate and the beautifully functional: cabinets, coffee tables, consoles, floor lamps, sconces, seating, decorative arts and sculptures and much more, including examples of work by emerging contemporary designers and artists. Jewellery is a particular highlight, and this year includes David Morris, “the London jeweller”, established in London in 1962. It is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a debut appearance at the fair and showing a number of specially designed dazzling high jewellery pieces for the occasion, all hand-made at the brand’s nearby Bond Street atelier. Go to buy, for inspiration and to find out more from the expert gallerists about this great period of innovative and exciting design and decorative arts.

PAD London, 10-16 October, Berkeley Square; padesignart.com

Gaspard Hermach, courtesy of Charles Zana; André Sornay, courtesy of Galerie Marcelpoil; Cecil Mathieu, courtesy of Hervé Van der Straeten