Design Shanghai 2026 Unveils Its Most Ambitious Edition Yet
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December 2025 - Design Shanghai, Asia’s leading international design event, announces its thirteenth edition, taking place from 19-22 March 2026. After six years, the show will return to its birthplace, the historic Shanghai Exhibition Centre, where it will debut an enhanced programme and elevated visitor experience showcasing the most innovative and cutting-edge design emerging from Asia.
Design Shanghai brings together the world’s leading brands and professionals for a vibrant showcase of creativity, innovation and culture. The 2025 edition attracted over 76,000 visitors, reinforcing its status as a major international design event. The Shanghai Exhibition Centre holds a special place in the hearts of design brands and audiences alike, thanks to its prime central location and its distinctive architectural character. It was here in 2014 that Design Shanghai made its debut, opening a new chapter in the dialogue between Chinese and global design.
Visitors to the 2026 show will experience four sectors: Furniture & Lighting, Kitchen, Bathroom & Systems Design, New Materials & Applications, and Living & Lifestyle. The show will present outstanding works from more than 500 design brands representing over 20 countries and regions, creating a cross-disciplinary event that bridges nature, craftsmanship and human-centred thinking. Special curated features - including TALENTS, Made in JDZ, Beyond Craft, Collectible Design & Art and Materials First - will be showcased alongside two major industry forums: the KOHLER · Design Shanghai Global Design Conference and the CMF Conference. Together, they will offer a rich, multi-layered source of inspiration for design professionals and enthusiasts from around the world.
Above: Roche Bobois, exhibiting at Design Shanghai 2026
“As we enter our thirteenth year, we have come to appreciate that design’s true value lies not in grand statements, but in its ability to resonate with people, bringing comfort, inclusivity, and a better quality of life. At Design Shanghai, we aim to respond to genuine needs, exploring, with the public, new ways of living that are high-quality and in harmony with nature. We also hope to help Chinese design step confidently onto a broader global stage. Next March, as spring arrives, we look forward to the beautiful transformations that design will inspire. - Zhuo Tan, Show Director, Design Shanghai
Exhibitor Highlights
Design Shanghai 2026 presents an expanded roster of international and Chinese exhibitors, highlighting a nuanced dialogue between global craftsmanship and contemporary Chinese design.International names include Roche Bobois with French contemporary classics, Lasvit’s sculptural glass lighting, and Artisan Love Wood and Foxx Chair’s natural timber pieces. Miyazaki and Waldmann showcase precision furniture and lighting, while VIPP and Reflections Copenhagen bring Scandinavian minimalism and art deco glassworks. The Belgian Baobab Collection adds sculptural scented objects, and heritage brands Villeroy & Boch and Liebherr anchor the showcase with refined European lifestyle innovations.
From China, SHANG XIA expresses maison-style luxury and craftsmanship; FNJI and PUSU underscore material-driven contemporary design; LEEDARSON bridges lighting and smart technology; and PAST TO NOW captures the evolving language of modern Chinese living. Together, these exhibitors shape a narrative where Eastern tech meets Western craft in a shared sensibility of design and storytelling.
Above: Lasvit (left) and SHANH XIA (right), exhibiting at Design Shanghai 2026
Features
TALENTS, launched in 2020, is a key exhibition curated by renowned designer Frank Chou and dedicated to presenting exceptional creativity from designers under the age of 35. For the sixth edition, TALENTS presents the theme “About Time,” inviting ten emerging designers, Chinese and International, to explore the multidimensional meaning of “time”. For 2026, the TALENTS mentor system continues with global industry veterans offering guidance to the designers and the 4th TALENTS AWARD will honour emerging designers across business, art, and conceptual categories.
Above: Zing Space | studio bay, NANZUOQI Silver Gallery and Moonline [Made in JDZ, 2025 show]
Made in JDZ is a curated feature programme by designer Ryan Ran, bringing together a rich blend of crafts including ceramics, metalwork, and lacquer art to explore the dynamic intersection of design and traditional craftsmanship. Jingdezhen is now attracting outstanding creators and brands from various craft disciplines, transforming it from the 'Porcelain Capital' into a burgeoning hub for China's young craft culture. Made in JDZ returns with the theme “Craft on the Stage.” Following last year’s theme “Craft Kaleidoscope”, this edition explores cross-disciplinary craftsmanship through a contemporary lens. The exhibition highlights craft as it steps beyond traditional contexts into fashion and everyday life.
Collectible Design & Art brings together a curated selection of limited-edition artworks and designs from across the globe, spanning diverse categories such as painting, sculpture, installation art, and photography, offering audiences a rich array of artistic forms and styles. Dedicated to fostering diverse cross-disciplinary dialogue and collaboration, this section continues to drive the vibrant growth of the creative industry ecosystem. This year, it will collaborate with galleries, artists, and designers such as Hugo Design (UK), EsArt Society and BRIGS.
Left Mingyu Xu；Right Hugo Design, [Collectible Design & Art 2025 show]
Beyond Craft (launched in 2024) explores the beauty of Asia through materials and craft and emphasises the contemporary value of traditional craftsmanship. The 2026 exhibit will feature creations from over ten brands spanning jewelry, objects, furniture, precision components and optical devices. These works encompass traditional handmade techniques like Nishijin-ori weaving, gold leaf application, lacquer art, washi paper, braided cords, ceramics, glass engraving, and metal inlay. From material selection and structural conception to surface treatment, the hands of artisans and artists vividly interpret the continuity and renewal of traditional crafts in a contemporary context for the Beyond Craft 2026 edition.
Highlights of Craftsmanship [Beyond Craft 2026 exhibitors]
In 2026, materials expert Chris Lefteri will once again create the "Materials First" interactive materials lab. Within three thoughtfully curated interactive sections – "Digital Speckles," "Colour Distortion," and "Pattern twist" – visitors can freely overlay interactive materials like lenticular films and colour filters onto various textured base materials. Through the immediate changes in visual and tactile perception, they will personally explore the infinite possibilities of material evolution and re-creation.
Conferences
The 2026 KOHLER · Design Shanghai Global Design Conference with its theme ‘Beyond Sustainability: Designing with Nature’ asks global leaders and pioneers what lies beyond sustainability and how they envision design’s future. A spotlight will show how China’s emerging cultural architecture pays a majestic yet delicate tribute to nature, whilst also exploring how design coexists with nature, lives for nature, transforms into nature and ultimately, returns to nature.
Design Shanghai’s CMF Conference aims to enhance product value through CMF design and create a better life. In 2026, the CMF Conference will center on “VITALITY”, responding profoundly to the question: “How can design become the foundation of confidence in life?” Building on last year’s “Feeling of Touch” - awakening people’s attention to the sensory experience of CMF - this year the conference will advance to “VITALITY as a Medium”, with the goal to transform the wonderful experiences brought by design into energy and confidence that support people in facing everyday life.
Design in the City
From 5-22nd of March 2026, Design Shanghai will launch Design in the City expanding into more than 100 creative locations across Shanghai. This expansion aims to spread creative energy across the city, forging closer ties between the global design community and the cultural heartbeat of Shanghai. Over 20 interactive experiences and satellite exhibitions - including installations, workshops, and talks - will extend the design journey beyond the exhibition venue, turning the city into an immersive design festival. Designers Sheen Tao, Roger Qian, Wang Deyang, and Zhang Yaotian will serve as regional ambassadors for Changning, Huangpu, Jing’an, and Xuhui, guiding the public through design narratives. A City Design Guide will be released simultaneously, featuring over 100 landmarks, cultural spaces, and lifestyle hubs for the public to explore Shanghai’s design landscape.
As Design Shanghai returns to its roots, it does so with renewed vision and international ambition. With a focus on curated excellence across all its Feature areas, immersive storytelling, and global design dialogue, the fair continues to redefine what it means to be Asia’s most influential design event.
Above: Design in the City Guide