Each November, D3 becomes a place with the best-dressed people. Italian, Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese — all languages one can imagine are present under one roof… I mean tent. The waterfront tent turns into a melting pot,  where ideas from around the world gather, collide, and evolve. Now in its 11th edition, Dubai Design Week 2025 returns on November 4–9 with its most reflective and future-facing programme to date. Held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and in strategic partnership with Dubai Design District (D3), this year’s edition explores how design can bring people together across cultures, climates, and generations.

Dubai Design Week has evolved into the region’s defining creative festival, bringing architecture, interiors, product design, material innovation, and visual culture into one open, accessible platform. What makes it distinctly Dubai is its inclusivity — emerging designers shown alongside global brands, cultural institutions mixing with independent studios, and the public moving fluidly through it all. Its core pillars anchor the experience: Abwab, Downtown Design, Editions Art & Design, Urban Commissions, major installations, gallery partnerships, and a busy public programme.

This year’s ABWAB invites visitors to look closely — quite literally. Responding to the theme “In the Details,” the pavilion repositions ornament as a form of cultural knowledge. The 2025 winning installation, Stories of the Isle and the Inlet by Bahrain-based studio Maraj, transforms the ecology and oral histories of Nabih Saleh island into an atmospheric textile structure. Layered embroidered mesh, created with Bahraini artisans, maps flora, fauna, and memory, turning the pavilion into a tactile meditation on place and fragility. Presented as a single, immersive structure, Abwab 2025 leans into nuance, material intelligence, and the poetry of detail.

On the Waterfront Terrace, Downtown Design returns as the festival’s commercial and cultural anchor — a meeting point for leading international brands and the region’s most dynamic studios. Global names in furniture, lighting, and high-end design appear alongside strong regional spotlights from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, and beyond. Programmes such as Tashkeel’s Tanween, MAKE’s Athath Fellowship, and Sharjah’s 1971 Design Space underline the depth of the local ecosystem. Visitors can expect immersive pop-ups, standout brand activations, and The Forum’s talks led by major international and regional voices. Downtown Design remains the place where ideas turn into collaborations — and collaborations into new creative directions.

Editions offers a more intimate counterpoint to the main fair, spotlighting limited-edition works, photography, ceramics, prints, and contemporary design. It’s where art and collectible culture merge, making it a favourite for both new collectors and seasoned ones. Exhibitors present sculptural lighting, experimental materials, and debut works by international and regional talents.

One of the highlights this year, RARARES Art Gallery brings a refined selection that bridges Middle Eastern voices with international perspectives. Their mix of hand-stitched textiles, ceramics, cyanotypes, and mixed-media works by artists such as Elnaz Javani, Ustina Yakovleva, Salim Al Kaabi, Zeina Abdullah, Asma Yousef Al Ahmed, Hadil Moufti, and Ruslan Gudiev explores themes of identity, memory, migration, and mythology. The presentation feels global yet grounded, positioning the booth as a vibrant conversation point within the Editions fair.

Whether you are a field player or a shopper — this is a one-stop-shop for anyone interested in improving their spaces or finding likeminded crowd.

One of the most anticipated moments of Dubai Design Week 2025 is the launch of Isola Space, the first permanent venue by Isola Design Group. Located at The Lana Promenade, the new space includes an exhibition gallery, design store, café, event venue, and workspace — a hybrid destination that reflects Isola’s cross-disciplinary community.

To inaugurate the venue, Isola presents three exhibitions:

Icons of Tomorrow — Isola Space, Business Bay, Lana Promenade

A curated showcase of collectible design and experimental furniture, presenting works that blend craftsmanship, material innovation, and contemporary aesthetics. And please come check out the space — the view, the interiors — stunning at every angle! 

Heart, Head, Hand — Double J Collective, Dubai Design District

An exploration of the emotional, intellectual, and tactile dimensions of making, presented with the UAE’s first gallery dedicated entirely to contemporary craftsmanship.

Living Forms — Sevil Dolmacı Gallery, Dubai Design District

A “white cube” exhibition where furniture becomes sculpture and design becomes cultural expression, featuring works that bridge heritage, art, and modernity.

With these launches, Isola deepens its dialogue between Milan and Dubai, strengthening creative networks across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

In Atrium 7 at Dubai Design District, ArtKōrero and Therme Art introduce one of this year’s most emotionally resonant installations: INTERLUDE: In Between Is Now by Swiss-born, New York–based artist Annabelle Schneider.

The installation is an inflated, responsive, sensorial environment animated by sound, scent, light, and subtle movement. It offers a counterpoint to the overstimulation of urban life — a soft, slow sanctuary that invites visitors to breathe, reconnect, and find stillness.

INTERLUDE arrives in Dubai following recognition at major design events and international awards, and includes a public wellness programme of guided meditations, sound healing, and conversations with the artist.

Tashkeel’s Tanween Collection returns to Downtown Design with nine new UAE-based designers whose work blends sustainability, material innovation, and cultural memory.

This year’s showcase ranges from sculptural lighting to furniture and collectible design:

Hessa Alghandi reclaims discarded palm wood in Lamah, a pendant light shaped by gravity and storytelling. 

Sarah Al Dulaimi transforms chiffon offcuts into Oculus, a wall light inspired by the abaya’s quiet power. 

Clock & Cloud’s Loodo table uses sand-based bio-composites to reinterpret majlis-style gathering. 

And Sketch and Space Studio’s Al Ghawas seating pays homage to the UAE’s pearl-diving heritage using reclaimed teak, metal, and naturally dyed fabrics. 

Together, the Tanween cohort presents a compelling snapshot of the UAE’s evolving design identity — rooted in place yet confidently looking forward.