Downtown Design 2025 – The Highlights
A showcase of innovation, craftsmanship, and design excellence
Downtown Design 2025 celebrated the best of contemporary design from around the world. The fair offered a dynamic mix of established brands and first-time exhibitors, each bringing their signature vision to the floor. Huda Lighting, Kartell, Kohler, Poltrona Frau, Obegi Home, and Venini wowed visitors with their latest collections, while Roche Bobois, Stellar Works, Calico Wallpaper, Porada, Desalto, Stéphanie Coutas, and the designer-duo Draga & Aurel made a striking first impression.
Beyond the global names, regional creativity shone brightly BEIT Collective’s handcrafted Lebanese objects, Pakistani designer Yousaf Shabaz’s debut Strata, Saudi Arabia’s Designed in Saudi showcase, Sharjah-based 1971 Design Space’s material innovation projects, the newest cohort of Tashkeel’s Tanween Design Programme, and Abu Dhabi’s Athath Fellowship all contributed to a rich tapestry of design that blended heritage, innovation, and storytelling.
Vitra, showcased luxury design and interiors specialist Dhow to the region’s premier design, with a remarkable installation titled The World of Vitra. Visitors explored a series of rooms, each designed to evoke a distinct atmosphere from expansiveness to intimacyenhanced by signature lighting from Louis Poulsen and Artemide.
The iconic French luxury furniture house Roche Bobois made its eagerly awaited Middle East debut and transformed its booth into a floating architectural structure, highlighting vivid colors, textures, and mirrored perspectives. The event gathered global and regional creatives, offering Roche Bobois a platform to express its vision of Art de Vivre a harmonious blend of craftsmanship, emotion, and individuality.
For the third consecutive year, Venini showcased its artistry at Downtown Design Dubai, reaffirming the Middle East’s strategic importance to the brand’s international growth. The 2025 edition unveiled Amber Mirage, inspired by the ever-shifting desert landscape. Like dunes shifting beneath the sun and shimmering air reflections, the stand became a mirage of light and matter a space where the warmth of sand met the brilliance and purity of glass.
Among this year’s global debuts, the Bureau of Innovation BOI presented a curated collection of collectible works emphasizing materiality, storytelling, and emotional impact. Founded by Holly Lucas and Sam Henley, Positioned between gallery, cultural salon, and digital curator, BOI introduced a model where design was lived with bold, purposeful, and enduring. They presented a collection of collectible and thoughtfully crafted works selected for their distinctive material language from sculptural stone to expressive glass and handcrafted furniture. The debut highlighted designs that endure and provoke, creating an intimate, immersive, and emotionally resonant experience.
Buccellati collaborated with Beirut-based design duo david/nicolas to create an intimate lounge inspired by marine elegance. Fluid lines and mirrored surfaces, alongside soft woods and reflective panels, nodded to Buccellati’s heritage while providing an immersive setting to view silverware and jewellery. The lounge complemented the nearby Solaire Lounge by Veuve Clicquot, offering visitors a respite inspired by the French Riviera.
Stellar Works made its Dubai debut in a space designed by Omar Al Gurg, presenting a collaboration with Calico Wallpaper that explored the dialogue between craft and culture, seamlessly merging material and narrative into a refined design statement.
Collectively, these installations captured the essence of Downtown Design 2025 , a vibrant meeting point for global and regional talent, where artistry, materiality, and imagination came together to shape the future of contemporary design.
The Latest
Nebras Aljoaib Unveils a Passage Between Light and Stone
Between raw stone and responsive light, Riyadh steps into a space shaped by memory and momentum.
Reviving Heritage
Qasr Bin Kadsa in Baljurashi, Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia will be restored and reimagined as a boutique heritage hotel
Alserkal x Design Miami: A Cultural Bridge for Collectible Design
Alserkal and Design Miami announce one of a kind collaboration.
Minotticucine Opens its First Luxury Kitchen Showroom in Dubai
The brand will showcase its novelties at the Purity showroom in Dubai
Where Design Meets Experience
Fady Friberg has created a space that unites more than 70 brands under one roof, fostering community connection while delivering an experience unlike any other
Read ‘The Winner’s Issue’ – Note from the editor
Read the December issue now.
Art Dubai 2026 – What to Expect
The unveils new sections and global collaborations under new Director Dunja Gottweis.
‘One Nation’ Brings Art to Boxpark
A vibrant tribute to Emirati creativity.
In conversation with Karine Obegi and Mauro Nastri
We caught up with Karine Obegi, CEO of OBEGI Home and Mauro Nastri, Global Export Manager of Italian brand Porada, at their collaborative stand in Downtown Design.
The Edge of Calm
This home in Dubai Hills Estate balances sculptural minimalism with everyday ease
An interview with Huda Lighting at Downtown Design
During Downtown Design, we interviewed the team at Huda Lighting in addition to designers Tom Dixon and Lee Broom.
Downtown Design Returns to Riyadh in 2026
The fair will run its second edition at JAX District