DESIGN CONFERENCES | The Design Weeks & Events Guide

This Month in Design: October 2026

October 2026 brings a full calendar of design events across Europe, Asia and the Americas. In Cologne, ORGATEC and IDD Cologne focus on the future of work and interiors, while Design Miami Paris turns the spotlight on collectible design and the meeting point between art and furniture. In Naples, EDIT Napoli brings together independent and editorial design in the city’s historic spaces, and in Prague, Designblok opens up the Czech design scene to an international audience. Further afield, Mumbai hosts India Design ID, the country’s leading design week, and Design Week Mexico wraps up the month in Mexico City, setting local talent alongside international names. This guide lists the key October design events, with dates, venues and highlights to help plan ahead.

Amman Design Week, October 2-17, 2026

After almost seven years of silence, Amman Design Week 2026 is back with the fourth edition. From 2 to 17 October, the Jordanian capital opens up its studios, galleries and old stone houses to designers, students and the public once again. The fourth edition picks up where the 2019 one left off, and its theme, Accumulations, speaks directly to everything that has been building up in the meantime. Read more →

Amman Design Week

Design Week Mexico 2026, October 5-11

Design Week Mexico 2026 takes place in Mexico City from 5 to 11 October, although most of its exhibitions stay open well into November, and one runs until January 2027. Founded in 2009 by Emilio Cabrero, Andrea Cesarman, Marco Coello and Jaime Hernández, it’s now in its 18th year. Over the years, DWM has built a wide program of exhibitions, talks, installations and documentaries that brings professionals, students and the general public together. Read more →

Design House, Design Week Mexico 2025

DesignBlok: Prague Design Festival, October 7-11, 2026

DesignBlok 2026, the 28th edition of the Prague design festival, runs from 7 to 11 October 2026 across some of the city’s most striking venues. This year’s theme is Light, read as a symbol of knowledge, truth, hope and life. More than 300 designers, studios, brands and guests from the Czech Republic and abroad take part, while the programme moves between the National Gallery Prague’s Trade Fair Palace, Prague Castle, the Museum of Decorative Arts and the Industrial Palace, which reopens to the public with the festival after four years of work. Read more →

DesignBlok 2023, Superstudio. Photo Ondrej Holub, courtesy DesignBlok

EDIT Napoli, October 9-11, 2026

The 8th edition EDIT Napoli comes back to La Santissima from 9 to 11 October 2026, with a press preview on 8 October. For its eighth edition, the fair brings together around 80 exhibitors from Italy and abroad, plus a delegation of 40 international guests from 12 countries, backed by ICE, the Italian trade agency for export and internationalization. New formats and a wider spread of projects across La Santissima and Chiaia push the fair further into international territory, while staying close to its roots: research, authorship, and quality design. Read more →

Decorex, October 11-14, 2026, London

Decorex 2026 opens its doors in October, and for anyone working in high-end interiors it’s one of the key dates of the autumn calendar. Now in its 48th edition, the show runs from 11 to 14 October at Olympia London. It brings together brands, makers and designers from across the luxury interiors field. Read more →

Decorex, Olympia London

Barcelona Design Week 2026, 14-25, October, 2026

From 14 to 25 October 2026, Barcelona hosts the 21st edition of Barcelona Design Week under the theme PRO-TEST: Prototyping and Testing, curated by Alessandro Manetti. The edition also links up with Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture, connecting design, space and new ways of picturing the future. Read more →

Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven, October 17-25, 2026

Dutch Design Week 2026 returns to Eindhoven from 17 to 25 October with a theme that goes back to the core of the discipline: R.A.W., short for Rebel Authentic Worth. At a time when so much of daily life feels optimised, filtered and packaged, DDW turns its attention to what can’t be fully controlled. The idea is simple. Design doesn’t start with perfection, it starts with the urge to break open existing structures, try things out and ask questions. Read more →

Emma Van Der Lain and Anab Jain

Design Miami.Paris, October 20-25, 2026

Design Miami is back in Paris for its fourth year, and it’s keeping its home at L’Hôtel de Maisons, an 18th-century residence in the 7th arrondissement. The fair runs from October 20 to 25, 2026, right alongside Art Basel Paris. Read more →

Jean Prouvé, Maison D émontable 6X6, 1944. Galerie Patrick Seguin at Design Miami Paris 2026. Photo courtesy of Galerie Patrick Seguin

Design ID Mumbai, October 9-11, 2026

India Design ID returns to Mumbai for its third edition, from 9 to 11 October 2026 at Jio World Garden, BKC. Launched in 2013 as India’s first design fair, it has grown into the country’s leading design week. This year’s theme, The Deep Fathom, looks beyond the finished object to the materials, processes and stories behind it. Over 120 Indian and international brands, from Poliform to Nilaya and No-Mad, fill the exhibition floor, alongside a section for collectible design. The symposium brings in names such as Shigeru Ban, Rahul Kadri and Matteo Cibic, while Undercurrents, curated by fair director Misha Bains, sets out the work of six experimental studios.

idd cologne, October 27-31, 2026

After its debut in 2025, idd cologne, short for interior design days cologne, comes back from 27 to 31 October 2026. The event keeps its urban-only concept, with no trade fair halls of its own, and spreads residential interior design across showrooms, stores and design venues around the city. This year, it gains a stronger centre: Design Post Köln, which becomes the heart of the whole programme.

idd cologne takes place alongside ORGATEC 2026, the trade fair for workspace and contract solutions, running from 27 to 30 October. Together they make up Cologne’s interiors week, and for the first time they share a venue. Read more →

idd cologne 2026, interior design days cologne at Design Post Köln during Cologne interiors week]

idd cologne 2025

ORGATEC, October 27-30, 2026

ORGATEC 2026, the leading international trade fair for workspace and contract solutions, opens in Cologne from 27 to 30 October 2026. This edition comes back with a tighter format built around business, a second venue in the city at Design Post Köln, and a special exhibition on the architectural thinking of Charles and Ray Eames. It also runs side by side with idd cologne, turning the last week of October into a full Cologne interiors week. Read more

October 1, 2026/by The Design Week Guide

This Month in Design: September 2026

What's up

September opens one of the busiest stretches on the international design calendar, with dozens of fairs, festivals and platforms running at once across the world. This is not the full list. It’s a reasoned selection: ten events picked for what they signal about where design is heading, from a furniture fair in Shanghai to a festival opening the autumn season in the Baltics. Here’s what’s on, where, and why it made the cut.

CIFF Shanghai 2026

5–11 September 2026 · Shanghai, China

Asia’s leading furniture and interior design fair returns to Shanghai for another edition. Inside, The Italian Lounge marks its fourth year at the fair, a platform built to bring Italian design and lifestyle to the Chinese market with a dedicated space for hospitality, networking and business. Read more →

Paris Design Week 2026

10–19 September 2026 · Paris, France

Paris Design Week reaches its 16th edition, spreading across Le Marais, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Opéra and Bastille. Galleries, showrooms, schools and heritage venues open their doors for the occasion, and this year’s programme brings in new guest countries and fresh addresses to an already sprawling map. Read more →

Paris Design Week Factory 2025. Photo Greg Sevaz, courtesy Paris Design Week

Maison&Objet September 2026

10–14 September 2026 · Paris, France

Maison&Objet’s September edition steps out under a new name: Pulse. Built around the theme Pulse in Motion, developed with trend agency NellyRodi and fronted by ambassador studio Masquespacio, the fair spans seven sectors, from décor and fine craft to fragrance and fashion. The rebrand marks a split identity for the fair going forward: January stays Maison&Objet Premier, dedicated to craftsmanship and established names, while September becomes the more experimental, sustainability-driven chapter. Read more →

Masquespacio installation at Maison & Objet 2026

London Design Festival 2026

12–20 September 2026 · London, UK

The 24th edition of London Design Festival welcomes Soho as its newest district, joining Bankside, Brompton, Chelsea, Mayfair and the debuting Shoreditch Design Week. The main hub stays at the V&A South Kensington, which this year also hosts a new edition of Material Matters and the Global Design Forum. Read more →

Framing LDF 2026, Courtesy Pentagram & London Design Festival

Global Design Forum at the V&A — Worlds of Motion

12–14 September 2026 · London, UK

Part of London Design Festival, the V&A’s talks programme returns to South Kensington with a line-up of speakers exploring movement as a lens on contemporary design, from materials and making to the wider built environment. Read more →

The Shape of colors

Lake Como Design Festival 2026

12–20 September 2026 · Lake Como, Italy

Now in its eighth edition, Lake Como Design Festival takes Border as its guiding theme, an invitation to think about geographical and creative limits and how design can work across them. Installations and events unfold across the towns and villas along the lake. Read more →

Shoreditch Design Week 2026

15–20 September 2026 · London, UK

London Design Festival’s newest district launches its first edition, adding Shoreditch to a map that already spans Bankside, Brompton, Chelsea and Mayfair, with galleries, studios and independent spaces opening across the neighbourhood. Read more →

Kachette on Old Street

Material Matters London 2026

15–17 September 2026 · London, UK

Held within Shoreditch Design Week, this exhibition puts materials and innovation at the centre of the conversation, bringing together designers, manufacturers and researchers working on new processes, finishes and sustainable alternatives for the industry. Read more →

Material Matters at Unlocked

Design Democracy 2026

18–20 September 2026 · Hyderabad, India

India’s most celebrated design festival returns for its fourth edition at the HITEX Exhibition Centre, bringing together more than 200 brands, 150 speakers and 250 architects and designers, with 30,000 visitors expected. Alongside a curated showcase spanning furniture, lighting and collectible design, the programme includes four themed exhibitions, talks, immersive installations and public art across the venue. Read more on designdemocracy.in →

Tallinn Design Festival 2026

28 September – 4 October 2026 · Tallinn, Estonia

Known locally as Disainiöö, the festival is the leading design event in the Baltic region, closing out September and opening the autumn season with exhibitions, talks and open studios across the Estonian capital. Read more →

August 31, 2026/by The Design Week Guide

VMARK | Vietnam Design Week 2026

Design Weeks

Vietnam Strengthens its position as Asia’s Creative Hub for the Circular Economy

The global design landscape experienced a milestone between June 9th and 10th, 2026. The 7th edition of VMARK Vietnam Design Week, held at the Thiskyhall Sala Center in Ho Chi Minh City, surpassed the boundaries of a simple trade show, transforming into a strategic catalyst for the entire Asian creative economy. With the iconic theme “DESIGN | RECREATING THE WORLD,” the event proposed a bold vision: design is not merely an aesthetic exercise, but an essential investment lever for the sustainable development of the future.

VMARK – Vietnam Design Week 2026

The first World Design Summit

Design Summit & Conferences

On March 20, 2025, CIFF Guangzhou hosted the first edition of the World Design Summit, a gathering of interior designers from all over the world, coordinated by curator Tung Ching Yew. Many topics were addressed, with a common thread of sustainability and inclusivity. The four keynote speakers presented their perspectives on the theme, drawing from their professional visions.

Ms Crystal Deng, General Manager at CIFF, introduced the Forum.

Discover more on CIFF Guangzhou

Crystal Deng, CIFF General Manager

Crossing borders with design: World Design Summit 2025