Dutch Design Week 2025 brings design schools and global brands to Eindhoven
Dutch Design Week 2025 returns to Eindhoven from 18 to 26 October, celebrating its 25th edition under the theme Past. Present. Possible. Over 2,500 designers, institutions and leading companies will participate across 120 venues, making the city once again an international meeting point for design and innovation. The nine-day event is expected to attract around 350,000 visitors, confirming its position as one of the most influential design gatherings worldwide.
This anniversary edition brings together a wide spectrum of participants, from established names to emerging voices. Renowned designers such as Sabine Marcelis, Stefan Diez, Piet Hein Eek and Kiki & Joost present work alongside graduates from 35 European design schools, including Design Academy Eindhoven, Swedish School of Textiles and the University of Applied Arts Vienna, featured in the Class of 25. The collaboration reflects the ambition of the event to link generations and disciplines.
The Van Abbemuseum will host Bridging Minds, an exhibition of 100 works curated by DDW co-founder Miriam van der Lubbe. The show includes contributions from figures such as Klarenbeek & Dros, Maarten Baas, Jalila Essaïdi, Formafantasma, Hella Jongerius and Marcos Kueh. The collection demonstrates how design connects with urgent cultural and environmental questions.
Across Eindhoven, Grand Projects will turn public space into an open-air exhibition. Monumental installations, some reaching ten metres high, will be presented by designers including Pauline van Dongen and Thijs Biersteker. The city itself becomes a stage where experimental works and large-scale visions invite audiences to reflect on future living environments.
Another key highlight of Dutch Design Week 2025 is Forward Furniture at De Caai, where curator Liv Vaisberg transforms a factory hall into a showcase for high-end collectible furniture. The exhibition examines the evolution of design objects that bridge functional and aesthetic concerns, providing a platform for furniture as both art and innovation.
Dutch Design Week has built its reputation not as a marketplace of finished products but as a place of dialogue, experimentation and possibility. The 2025 edition foregrounds urgent themes such as climate change, artificial intelligence and sustainable material innovation. As Dezeen founder Marcus Fairs once said of DDW, “I’ve seen the future in an ugly little town in the south of Holland.” That perspective continues to define the event’s role as a living laboratory.
Partnerships remain central to its impact. Leading brands including HEMA, Vattenfall, Brabantia, Sweco and Accenture will take part, alongside government ministries and cultural institutions such as Nieuwe Instituut and Waag Futurelab. Together they demonstrate how design is positioned not only as a cultural force but as a driver of systemic change.
All images courtesy of Dutch Design Week
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