As Downtown Design returns to Dubai Design District, we speak to its director, Mette Degn-Christensen, and round up the unmissable highlights from a roster of regional talent and global A-listers such as Kartell, Roche Bobois and Poltrona Frau.

So emphatically has Downtown Design asserted itself on the global design calendar that it’s hard to believe its first edition was just 12 years ago – or that it’s only 10 years since the launch of Dubai Design Week, which it anchors.

“The change in the past decade is immense,” says Mette Degn-Christensen, Downtown Design’s director. “We have witnessed Dubai transform into a genuine design capital, carried by the confidence of its own creative ecosystem. 

Degn-Christensen notes particular economic growth in the region’s creative and interiors sector, with the most significant change being the demand for contemporary aesthetics and quality products and materials. 

“We are observing a shift in intention and interest from the rest of the world.”

Mette Degn-Christensen, Director of Downtown Design

“We are observing a shift in intention and interest from the rest of the world. Brands, designers, makers – you name it – that just a few years ago were not very interested are now looking to crack the code of how they break into this market to access not only the UAE but the wider region,” she says. “Many are completely shifting their global objectives – some are even flipping them.” There is little doubt that Downtown Design is as much a driver of this shift as a reflection of it; and Degn-Christensen adds: “We are very hands-on in that process, and always have been.”

Global design heavyweights such as Kartell, Venini and Roche Bobois (top) speak to this sense of Downtown Design as a gateway to thriving new markets, while exhibitors from Turkey, India, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia highlight the fair’s increasing role as a regional hub.

And the fair’s appeal reaches beyond the commercial. “Dubai is known as a melting pot, with residents hailing from all over the world,” says the director. “What is unique is the global platform and creative hub that Dubai and the UAE have grown into, with a strong emphasis on cross-cultural exchange and on amplifying voices from West and South Asia, as well as the wider Global South.”

For visitors, that translates into a line-up that combines a distinctive blend of global brands, regional debuts, creative showcases and pop-up concepts – all with a strong emphasis on material craftsmanship and innovation. 

“Our audience is well-travelled, design-savvy, and culturally curious – often true aficionados – so our offering is carefully tailored to meet those expectations.”

Mette Degn-Christensen

“Our audience is well-travelled, design-savvy, and culturally curious – often true aficionados – so our offering is carefully tailored to meet those expectations, not just to mimic other fairs,” says Degn-Christensen. “There’s a consistent focus on premium interior design across hospitality and residential sectors, showcasing both global names and limited-edition works that visitors can explore, buy, or commission.”

Here are five highlights from across Downtown Design that visitors won’t want to miss:

1. UAE Designer Exhibition

Now in its sixth edition, Downtown Design’s UAE Designer Exhibition is a multi-disciplinary showcase of UAE-based creative talent, offering a significant platform to emerging designers. This year, it is expanding its curatorial vision to include mentorship opportunities, headed by the Lebanese designer Nada Debs.

Featured designers include Syria’s Ahmed Alkattan, whose soulful, tactile sculptural furniture is designed and created in the UAE. Dubai-based Emirati designer Alia Ghubash draws from the traditions, materials, and aesthetics of the UAE, and is exhibiting an unglazed terracotta candle vessel that features carved geometric patterns inspired by the traditional lattice screens that once filtered light into homes. And Mauhaus is a Dubai-based design startup founded by Palestinian-Canadian Mohammed El Shehry, with a debut collection featuring a collaboration with Saudi designer and professor Huda Al-Aithan – an original and highly desirable collection of acrylic lamps. 

UAE Designer Exhibition is exactly the kind of draw that should bring international buyers flocking – an opportunity to discover exceptional work they might not encounter elsewhere, by designers on the cusp of global recognition.

2. Bureau of Innovation at Editions

Making their international launch this year is Bureau of Innovation (BOI) – a curatorial platform founded by Australians Holly Lucas of Lucas Restaurants fame and Sam Henley of London-based stone studio Agglomerati. Describing themselves as “positioned between gallery, cultural salon, and digital curator,” BOI’s debut is at Editions – the fair’s showcase for limited-edition art and collectible design – and is presented as an exploration of how collectible design transforms when placed in intimate, lived settings rather than isolated display.

The collection includes works by designers such as Corpus Studio, Tom Fereday, Sho Ota (whose Surfaced Bench is pictured above), and the celebrated fashion and collectibles designer, Kym Ellery. With a stellar track record in both experiential communication and collectible design, we can expect exciting things from this nascent gallery, and it’s a launch well worth catching.

3. Stellar Works x Calico Wallpaper

Also making their Dubai debut this year are Japan’s Stellar Works, who are presenting alongside with New York’s Calico Wallpaper in a space designed by Emirati architect and designer Omar Al Gurg. Stellar Works is a contemporary brand known for blending Japanese and Scandinavian design sensibilities – making them a compelling partner to Calico’s experimental wall murals, which blend traditional art forms with digital innovation.

4. Jaipur Rugs

Jaipur Rugs are presenting a curated showcase by Paris-based designer Tatiana de Nicolay and the acclaimed Indian designer Vinita Chaitanya. Founded in 1978 by Nand Kishore Chaudhary with just two looms (they now have over 7,000), the family business works directly with artisans, with a stated mission to empower them and their communities with a sustainable livelihood. The showcase demonstrates exactly the kind of cross-cultural dialogue for which Downtown Design is making its name – underscoring what Degn-Christensen describes as “a platform to foster interaction, and a point of connection for the design industry in the Middle East, serving as a bridge between regional and global design.”

5. Poltrona Frau

Another major design brand returning to Dubai this year is the high-end Italian furniture maker Poltrona Frau, who will be unveiling a series of new collaborations at the fair. A leading voice in advocating for artisanal values associated with design and production, Poltrana Frau’s presence at the fair, with a show contextualised to the regional, demonstrates its growing commitment to the Middle East market.

Downtown Design, 5–9 November 2025, Dubai Design District (D3)