The Only Design Fairs Worth Traveling for in 2026 — A Culture Editor's Ultimate Guide to Staying Inspired
We've rounded up the most anticipated design fairs so you can keep track of all of this year's major cultural moments
Whether you're a seasoned connoisseur or an eager-to-learn enthusiast, design fairs around the world provide the perfect entry point into the ever-shifting essence of this creative landscape — and the ultimate excuse to explore what else there is to see and do out in the cities that host them, too. Because what's the design world, truly, without its beloved and exclusive after-hours soirées?
While the Livingetc team has turned strutting about town during the hottest design weeks of the year in search of 'the next big thing' (and the coolest parties and rooftop aperitivos) into a profession, it's easy to understand why first-timers might struggle to know what design exhibitions they should have on their radar for the weeks ahead. So if you have been wondering which design events are inspiring enough to get you on a plane, you've landed in the right place.
Your Design Fairs 2026 Hot List
Featuring long-time institutions like Salone del Mobile, arguably the godmother of all design fairs, along with independent industry newcomers treating furniture making, objects, and decor as an immersive, intimate affair, the hot list below spans some of the most exciting 2026 cultural appointments, and where and when to find them, all across the globe, not just in Paris, Milan, or New York.
Because if it's true that our passions are reshaping how we travel the world, as we explored in our latest Travel Trends 2026 report, then we predict design-minded readers to be flocking to alternative cultural capitals, too, in the coming months. Keen to know more? Don't just scroll — get ready to take notes.
February
NOMAD St. Moritz. St. Moritz, CH
When & Where: Villa Beaulieu, February 12-15
Founded and directed by Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte, NOMAD CIRCLE St. Moritz is a boutique global design and art showcase conceived as a nomadic alternative to large commercial design fairs. The event, which has traveled to Capri, St. Moritz, Monaco, and Venice in its physical form, and to Cannes digitally, curates intimate exhibitions that bring collectible design, contemporary art and architecture into dialogue within extraordinary architectural settings, fostering true cultural exchange rather than transactional browsing. For 2026, the fair's flagship winter edition, set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Swiss Alps, returns to a fully renovated Villa Beaulieu, where it took place last year, offering a more spacious yet intimate venue and "a renewed sense of presence".
Leading gallerists, curators, and purveyors of cutting-edge design — including Nina Yashar's trailblazing NILUFAR gallery, Paris's Maisonjaune Studio, and Cairo's LeLAB — are expected to participate. Among the nine 'Special Projects' part of this year's programme, I am most curious about Unveiled, a presentation by late Italian fashion giant Giorgio Armani, who passed away last September age 91. There will also be a culinary pop-up by Silo, the world's first zero-waste restaurant, with bespoke set design by architect Francesca Neri Antonello of FNA Concept, and curated pieces sourced from NILUFAR, Imperfettolab, and Volumnia.
Plan your visit to NOMAD CIRCLE St. Moritz.
Modernism Week. Palm Springs, USA
Where & When: Various locations across the city. February 12-22
One of the premier annual festivals dedicated to preserving the legacy of mid-century modern architecture, design, interiors, and landscape, Palm Springs' Modernism Week is turning 20 this year. An area-wide celebration of the influential genre conceived for die-hard fans and curious passersby alike, its anticipated cultural programming combines tours of landmark homes and buildings, films, presentations, exhibitions, and social events. The goal? Cementing modernism's influence on contemporary design thinking by granting visitors access to some of the most spectacular architectural gems the legendary California locale has to offer, fostering appreciation and further preservation efforts.
Last year, the event put the ongoing, design-forward revival of vintage motels in the US front and center, with multiple appointments centered on their role in the construction of all things Americana and the myth of the road trip. In 2026, highlights include an extraordinary lineup of bus and home tours (such as the Barbie pink-tinted Marquee at Twin Palms and a walk through the iconic Sandpiper neighborhood) that showcase iconic midcentury residential design, a worldly-inspired film and talk lineup, and the Palm Springs Modernism Show — a curated marketplace of mid-century and modern design vendors.
Book your tickets to Modernism Week.
FUTUREOBJEKT @ Melbourne Art Fair. Melbourne, AUS
Where & When: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Exhibition Door 1. February 19-22
Livingetc's in-house Aussie, interiors editor Emma Breislin, must have played her trick on me, because since I started familiarizing myself with the Australian design scene, most design projects I get excited about recently hail from the Land Down Under. Launching for the first time within Melbourne Art Fair this year, FUTUREOBJEKT reinforces that belief. A tightly curated design salon envisioned to platform "the most compelling ideas in contemporary design, architecture, and the crafted object", FUTUREOBJEKT brings heightened attention to collectible design voices and practices that challenge convention, highlighting material craft innovation, and proposing new ways of "living with design".
The fair-within-the-fair's inaugural programme revolves around a central lounge, spotlighting Australian designers such as Adam Cornish, Christopher Boots, and Volker Haug Studio, and a series of talks exploring conscious collecting, design dealing, and what it takes to build a career in this shape-shifting field, led by NHO's Neil Hugh. The debut MAF × NGV Design Commission — a floating-in-the-air light installation by Anna Varendorff, supported by Melbourne Art Fair and the National Gallery of Victoria, its intended permanent home — will be on view, too, throughout the event.
Book your tickets to FUTUREOBJEKT.
Collect. London, UK
Where & When: Somerset House, February 27-March 1, previews February 25-26
Held annually at the historical Somerset House, Collect is the UK's leading annual gallery-presented contemporary craft and design fair, powered by Crafts Council. A personal favorite of mine within the global design fairs circuit, the event reunites up to 40 specialist galleries from around the world while remaining easily navigable. It is the ideal initiative to observe best-in-class works up close, from organic ceramics, textiles, and jewelry to furniture and imposing glass and metalwork. With prices starting from as little as £500, it also grants a head start to budding collectors.
This year, must-sees of the exhibitors sector count a solid wood, patchwork chair by Lewis Kemmenoe, Cara Murphy's thriving Long Grass Teapot, and a checkered marquetry vase by Sean Evelegh. At Collect Open, the fair's wing focused on bold, craft-led installations by leading artists and collectives, oversized vessels, densely woven surfaces, and surrealism take center stage, with sculptures like Chloe Lennon's Transmutation, Hanna Salomonsson's Inside Your Darkest Everything, and Jihyun Kim's Salty Fairy Ring — three pieces brought together by their totemic, multi-part form — magically defying gravity.
March
DW! Semana de Design de São Paulo. São Paulo, BR
Where & When: Various locations across the city. March 5-15
DW! Semana de Design de São Paulo is one of Latin America's most influential urban design weeks, having grown over 15 years into a major platform that celebrates design, architecture, urban culture, interiors, and creative innovation across the city's districts. Reversing a captivating series of exhibitions, talks, tours, workshops, and installations all across São Paulo, it transforms the entire metropolis into a living design showcase that reflects both local and global design dialogues. Much like rising gallerist Isabela Milagre's Bossa Furniture, the event strives to amplify Brazilian voices and foster the opportunity for international exchanges.
In 2026, DW! celebrates its 15th anniversary (DW!15) with a specially themed edition, Legado Criativo ("creative legacy") — a reflective programme inviting designers and audiences to consider how identity, memory, and collective creativity shape the future of design culture. The official 2026 roster includes an expanded array of exhibitors spanning showrooms, collaborative installations, and urban activations across multiple neighborhoods, making it an unmissable appointment for design-versed globetrotters looking for a reason to visit Brazil.
Plan your visit to DW! Semana de Design de São Paulo.
MATTER and SHAPE. Paris, FR
Where & When: Jardin des Tuileries, March 6-9
At just 3 years old, Paris's youngest design fair and salon, MATTER and SHAPE, might be smaller in size than its longer-established counterparts like the just-passed Paris Déco Off and Maison&Objet and PAD. But this doesn't make the Dan Thawley-directed event in any way less relevant — if anything, the opposite. An intimate exploration of contemporary design, hosted at the historic Jardin des Tuileries, the event captures today's ever-evident intersection converging of art, fashion, and crafts at its very best, with curated objects, industrial and interior projects, and an exciting publishing section all on view alongside other fashion-adjacent creations in the same space. Coinciding with Paris Fashion Week every spring, MATTER and SHAPE sets itself aside from traditional design fairs by leaning more heavily into thematic displays and interdisciplinary collateral activities, like the surreal culinary experience developed in partnership with chef Imogen Kwok for last year's edition. 2026 details to come.
Book your tickets to MATTER and SHAPE.
COLLECTIBLE Brussels. Brussels, BE
Where & When: Vanderborghtgebouw, March 12-15. Preview March 11
COLLECTIBLE Brussels is part of the international COLLECTIBLE design fair concept only recently landed in New York, too, and dedicated exclusively to 21st-century collectible contemporary design — meaning objects that are recent, conceptually strong, and positioned between craft, art, and functional creativity. The fair's curatorial focus emphasises unique pieces, bespoke commissions and limited editions, drawing on galleries, independent studios, and design makers from around the world.
In 2026, COLLECTIBLE returns to Brussels' historic Vanderborght building as a key annual destination for designers, collectors, and galleries. It will be divided into sections, namely Main, New Garde, Bespoke, Architect, and Curated (this year, envisioned by journalist and editor Marine Mimouni), and a new Tablescapes zone I am, as both a foodie and a tablescaping lover, especially intrigued by, providing multiple lenses on material experimentation, contemporary craft, and artisanal expression in design.
Book your tickets to COLLECTIBLE Brussels.
April
Milan Design Week. Milan, IT
Where & When: Rho Fiera and various locations across the city. April 21-26
There's absolutely no doubt that Milan Design Week, the series of studio and brand-powered exhibitions originated around leading design fair Salone del Mobile over the decades, serves as an example of what a design week is and should be — and not just from a showcase point of view, but also in relation to heightening a sense of community and dialogue between its international visitors through collateral activities like cultural lates, hosted dinners and drinks, and interdisciplinary pop-ups. Again this year, MDW will return with its globally influential mix of furniture, product, material, and interior presentations, interspersed with just as many palazzo, courtyard, and industrial site-hosted activations.
Salone del Mobile will take over Rho Fiera as per usual, curated into thematic sectors across furniture, lighting, and specialist pavilions and complete with a captivating public programme and ad-hoc large-scale installations. This year, biennial showcases EuroCucina with FTK and the International Bathroom Exhibition are back alongside it, while debuting initiatives Salone Raritas. Curated icons, unique objects, and outsider pieces and A Matter of Salone promise to put one-off creations and emotional talismans "back at the center". Coinciding design festival Alcova and its multi-talent curation, powered by Joseph Grima and Valentina Ciuffi, are meanwhile scheduled to land at the Baggio Military Hospital and the never-before-opened Villa Pestarini by Franco Albini, inviting visitors to explore Milan off the beaten path.
Book your tickets to Salone del Mobile. Stay up to date on Alcova.
May
NYCxDesign and ICFF. New York, USA
Where & When: Javits Convention Center and various locations across the city. May 14-20 (NYCxDesign), May 17-19 (ICFF)
NYCxDESIGN is New York City's official design festival, functioning as a city-wide umbrella platform connecting studios, brands, showrooms, cultural institutions, and schools through exhibitions, talks and product launches. Its anchor trade fair, ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair), focuses on contemporary furniture, interiors, and product design, with a strong emphasis on North American and international manufacturers and emerging studios. Together, they make May a particular inspiring time to wander around the Big Apple. Some of last year's standouts from both events included British designer Faye Toogood's whimsical Lucid Dream solo presentation, showcased across Tiwa Select gallery and The Future Perfect's New York location; a retro-inspired revamp of Artemest Galleria; and the puzzle-like creations of Daniel Shapiro's Winkle Ceramic Design, which debuted at ICFF.
Plan your visit to NYCxDesign. Book your tickets to ICFF.
Lisbon Design Week. Lisbon, PT
Where & When: Various locations across the city. May 27-31
Conceived with craft at its heart, Lisbon's Locke de Santa Joana design hotel is enough for people to know Portugal has got what it takes to lead the charge in furniture making, interiors, and decor. But in case you needed further evidence of how the country is carving itself a reputation for heritage-infused yet experimental design solutions, Lisbon Design Week will give you what the confirmation you are looking for. A fast-growing city design platform dedicated to Portuguese and international collectible design, craft, and material culture, the event celebrates its fourth birthday this year, promising to expand its foothold even wider this time around. Guiding the initiative is a desire to capture how handmade techniques originated from the country have evolved over time across an open-studio format involving galleries, ateliers, and cultural spaces across Lisbon. In 2025, 250 makers at over 95 venues took part, with initiatives also spilling into the previously untouched districts of Ajuda and Marvila.
Plan your visit to Lisbon Design Week.
June
3daysofdesign. Copenhagen, DK
Where & When: Various locations across the city. June 10-12
Since launching in 2013, 3daysofdesign has evolved into Scandinavia's leading (read: hippest) design festival, structured as an open-showroom, citywide exhibition platform center on furniture, lighting, and interior brands, alongside independent studios and experimental spaces. Known for pairing Danish and Nordic design heritage with forward-looking sustainability and circularity themes, it is even more notable for the countless, trend-setting lifestyle activations taking over the picturesque gader ("streets") of Copenhagen over its short but sweet timeline. Last year's edition, titled Keep It Real, encouraged both independent and legacy brands to share a slice of their world, of their vision, most authentically, preserving the city's reputation as "a sustainable and open-minded metropolis that celebrates diversity" across hundreds of shows pushing the limits of mindful creativity and design. The 2026 iteration, Make This Moment Matter, plans to be just as memorable.
Book your tickets to 3daysofdesign.
July
Nantucket by Design. Nantucket, USA
When & Where: Various locations across the island. July 13-16
Nantucket, in Massachusetts, has become somewhat of a design capital of its own in recent years, and the ultimate destination to immerse yourself in the charming, timeless look of Cape Cod style. Every year, in the heart of summer, this heritage-filled island transforms into a stage for interiors, decorative arts, and historic preservation with the return of Nantucket by Design. Championing design and antiques across residential and collectible formats, the event reunites some of the US' leading architects, designers, and decorators for a four-day of talks, panel discussions, workshops, and more.
Plan your visit to Nantucket by Design.
August
Helsinki Design Week. Helsinki, FI
Where & When: Various locations across the city. August 28-September 6
Helsinki Design Week is the largest design festival in the Nordic region. A multi-disciplinary design platform spanning product, furniture, fashion, architecture, and urbanism, it combines exhibitions, installations, and a strong discussion programme, often touching on themes of social impact and future living. The 2025 edition, its 20th, explored the dilemma, Happiness — can it be designed?, as did its main exhibition, Designing Happiness. Its participatory calendar of initiatives suggests so, as do the patchworky creations of local fashion and design studio Juslin Maunula, who filled us in on the best things to do and see in Helsinki in time for the next iteration.
Plan your visit to Helsinki Design Week.
September
Maison&Objet (September Edition). Paris, FR
Where & When: Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center. September 10-14
One of the top-rated design fairs for interior decoration enthusiasts, Maison&Objet is a major international appointment straddling furniture, lifestyle, and object design, taking place twice a year (January and September). Known for its trend-forecasting exhibitions, curated "What’s New?" spaces, and designer-of-the-year programmes — don't miss the numerous initiatives platforming the 2026 winning talent, Harry Nuriev of Noisy Oyster fame — that frame product discovery through highly curated, conceptual showcases. Each September edition introduces a central trend theme and curated focus installations, which function as early teasers for the next cycle's design directions heading into the following year. In 2026, Past Reveals Future, as embodied by the four overarching trends that shaped the fair's programming of the same title this January, namely Metamorphosis, Mutation, Revisited Baroque, and Neo-Folklore. More insights into the September edition will be shared closer to its opening.
Plan your visit to Maison&Objet.
London Design Festival. London, UK
Where & When: Various locations across the city. September 12-20
A city-wide celebration of craftsmanship, furniture, and material innovation, you can always trust London Design Festival to spark some joy as we venture back to our desks after a sun-filled vacation. Combining partner exhibitions, museum commissions, and landmark installations across multiple districts, it has got something for everyone: from institutional collaborations to unexpected, pop-up public commissions that test ideas at architectural and urban scale.
Last year's programme gathered over 300 events under the same banner, including the debut of Design London Shoreditch, a satellite design fair honing in on the flair of the next generation of makers and designers, with personalities like 2LG Studio as its protagonists. Outdoor activations counted Lee Broom's circular light sculpture Beacon, situated at the entrance of the Royal Festival Hall, and Paul Cocksedge's What Nelson Sees on Trafalgar Square among their ranks, and each initiative dealt with the future of design between tradition, technological advancement, identity, and ecological concerns. The full 2026 calendar will be announced in the coming months.
Plan your visit to London Design Festival.
October
EDIT Napoli. Naples, IT
Where & When: La Santissima. October 9-11
Call me biased because of my Italian upbringing, but few cities are more in synch with the latest sensations in collectible design than Naples, and EDIT Napoli, a fairly recent addition to the design fairs circuit, is ultimate proof of that. Now in its eight iteration, the event zooms in on limited editions, idiosyncratic craft processes, and the small scale production of design auteurs and independent makers. Hosted like the 2025 edition, on the distressed, characterful premises of La Santissima, the city's former military hospital, with additional projects staged at selected locations all across town, the event has rapidly become a new, go-to destination for aspiring designers and long-time insiders.
Some of the most praised presentations from last year's run include Nomadaria, a sun-soaked, housing module originally conceived by Paolo Scoglio, reinterpreted for the occasion by Milan-based designer Elena Salmistraro; multidisciplinary artist and designer Bethan Laura Wood's Terrazzo Quarry, presented by Poltronova at the Certosa di San Martino; and Paisaje de Reflejos, an evocative outdoor installation in lava stone developed during a residency at the foot of Mount Vesuvio by Mexican architect Diego Rivero Borrell and exploring the surface "as a living and narrative material", a bridge between the distant geographies and design languages of Naples and his Mexico City.
Plan your visit to EDIT Napoli.
Design Week Lagos. Lagos, NG
Where & When: Various locations across the city. October 18-25
Established in 2019, Design Week Lagos is a growing platform spotlighting African design, craft, materials, and innovation, with founder and director Titi Ogufere at its helm. The first global design fair of West Africa, the event strives to foster international visibility for practitioners active across the continent and the diaspora, further cementing the role that designers from Nigeria and the nearby countries are playing in redefining this field today.
Last year's edition, which featured contributions from the likes of photography and music trailblazer TY Bello, Confidence Onyema, and Juliet Olanipekun, among many others, made it easy for every visitor to see how West African creatives are recasting their pattern and material heritage into new forms, working cross-disciplinarily and producing pieces that sew the gap between present and past. While the details of the 2026 Design Week Lagos are yet to be revealed, we are impatient.
Plan your visit to Design Week Lagos.
November
Seoul Design Festival. Seoul, KR
Where & When: COEX Convention and Exhibition Center, Hall A, first floor. November 26-29
One of the city's most anticipated events, alongside Seoul Design Week, Seoul Design Festival is a long-running design fair focused on product, visual, and lifestyle design, widely coveted by Korean brands and emerging designers alike. Hosted by Design House and powered by the country's oldest design publication, Monthly Design, the showcase is your chance to catch some of the most inventive local practitioners — like Choi Jin-hyung and Heung-ryel Lee — at work. It's also an opportunity to witness how Korea's ancient crafts are being reinterpreted through the lens of technology with an eye toward sustainable practices.
Seoul Design Festival debuted in 2002, and is traditionally divided into four sections: Design Brand, or the commercial wing; Young Designer Promotion, which zooms in on innovation from emerging talents; Illustrator, platforming the work of illustration-based creatives; and Design Spot, a deep dive into the latest, biggest design trends. The 2026 programme will be announced further down the line.
Plan your visit to Seoul Design Festival.
December
Design Miami. Miami, USA
Where & When: Convention Center Drive and 19th Street. December 3-7, by-invite-only preview December 2
Wrapping up the design fairs calendar every year is Design Miami, whose pioneering programming and sun-filled atmosphere acts as the perfect close to a 12-month marathon of shows around the world. Helmed by Jen Roberts, who recently shared her insider guide to the Sunshine State's cultural capital with us, it coincides with Art Basel Miami, spotlighting museum-quality furniture, lighting, and objects from dozens of the world's leading galleries within an agenda dense with talks, interactive events, and off-site activations.
The 2025 edition of the fair, titled Make. Believe, traced cross-contaminations between the past, present, and future of collectible design to visualise its evolution across the decades. There were sinuously beautiful bronze, ceramic, glass, carpet, and leather creations by Conie Vallese, created along with a Peekaboo bag, for FENDI's 100th anniversary, a special re-edition of Gufram's spirited 1972 CACTUS® by Francesco Vezzoli for Dasha Zhukova Niarchos' residential lifestyle brand RAY, and a whimsical group exhibition by trailblazing residential gallery The Future Perfect, among many other unmissable projects. We expect the 2026 event to be just as thought-provoking.
Plan your visit to Design Miami.
I said it before and I'll say it again: if you feel like you've got no real motivation to travel somewhere this year, the top design fairs in the world will certainly give you one, or more. A comprehensive look inside the workshops of craftsmanship that are rewriting what homes, art, and objects look like today, design fairs capture the creative pulse of the whole globe under one roof, offering you a way into local practices and communities, too. Check out our edit of January art and design exhibitions in London as you wait for your next move.
