The August Issue: Your 5-Month Design Guide
Where to go this year to see design, and thoughts along with it.
Hello Friends,
As I exist in the paradox of dreaming of the beach while avoiding Nightmare Summer Travel, a slow month at home gave me the perfect opportunity to update the upcoming year of fairs and festivals.
Before Leo and I started TDR, we would only read about design events in retrospect—through articles like “What You Missed in Milan This Year,” or on the rare occasion when we read a list published in advance—there wouldn’t even be links, addresses, or hours. Everything felt a gatekept or at least a little incomplete.
So as promised, I have here the [arguably] most important annual events listed below so you can plan your year of design & art tourism, with all the important details. And because I am a woman of opinion, I’ll give my thoughts when my thoughts occur. There is a lot so I will get to the second batch (Jan - Aug) around the holidays when things slow down again. (Most are up on the site, however).
Also on the site are regional fairs, one-off events, and exhibitions happening now, or soon. Read in your browser because this is a long one.
If I got something wrong or missed your amazing event, forgive me! But you can send me an email here for corrections, or submit your event below 👇 (but check our calendar first—it might be there already).
In this issue:
5 months of design 📅
Exhibition of the month 🎀
September 2024
COLLECTIBLE [NYC Edition]
Friends of TDR Liv and Clelie are the ambitious producers of one of the best fairs you can visit for contemporary design—Collectible Fair—taking place in Brussels every March. L&C and co have set their sights on filling the gap for this particular market in the biggest market for this category of design: NYC. Producing a show in NYC is no joke. Everything is tough, and even the challenge of finding venues with enough space, proper freight elevators—or ones that aren’t sinking into the Hudson River—has stopped many from trying and even killed some shows (speaking from experience 🥲). Well-timed during Armory Art Week, I know this show will be a great one. Although I won’t be there, I suggest you go (and you can apply for booth space here).
Paris Design Week & MAISON&OBJET
Paris’ bi-annual design week used to be a lot more dynamic, so there is room to grow here. The MAISON&OBJET trade show is huge and has everything, like an entire section for trash cans and toys, I would say this is the fair to visit if you own a shop or are a buyer.
Helsinki Design Week & HABITARE
Should you go? Yes, why not! I hear it’s lovely, and I want to visit Helsinki.
LDF is a tough one. I live in London now and I love it here! But the city is so enormous that the festival feels disjointed. I think they could do a better job organizing and marketing this thing. Each event day features openings in different neighborhoods which is nice, but last year, the only LDF activation in my neighborhood was a bunch of large triangles on the ground (🤷♀️). And every single trade fair that took place under the Festival umbrella has shut down (London Design Fair in Shoreditch is the most recent closure). Not a great sign for the festival, unfortunately. I would recommend visiting London in October instead if you’re coming in from out of town.
A big furniture trade show in Vancouver (and another later in Toronto, see January). Yes this is a good one, especially the Prototype section, which is a great platform for young designers. I like what these organizers do, and this is a great resource for USA and Canadian interior designers.
I am curious, so I’m going! Go if you’re curious too. Vienna is, of course, a design lover’s city, and the satellite exhibitions look interesting.
October 2024
Decorex [London]
A great resource for interior designers. I always like their selection of lighting and textiles. Out of towner? Come for Decorex, stay for PAD, leave for Paris.
Should you go? Absolutely yes. This is my favorite fair, and one of the most elegant, taking place in a temporary tent in London’s smart Berkeley Square, timed with Frieze London and Frieze Masters. If you’re thinking of coming to London, plan for PAD. Then swing over to Paris (see next).
Art Basel Paris & Design Miami Paris
Should you go? Yes, autumn is the second-best season in Paris, and it will be fun (and extremely scene-y if you’re into that).
Field + Supply [Upstate New York]
A tasteful and curated market of designs, textiles, home goods, and food, an hour or two outside of NYC in Kingston, NY. If you live close and you have a car, go! It’s a fun way to spend the day, and you’ll find beautiful items made by some of the best NY-area designers.
The best place to visit to discover new and exciting talent from Eindhoven Design Academy. Will I go? Maybe. I want to! It’s the design week to see the cutting edge in design and material studies.
An almost month-long collection of events in Mexico celebrating local and Latin design. Looks like an amazing itinerary of exhibitions are under the DWM umbrella including Vision & Tradition, a residency program featuring designers from Colombia, and TERRITORIO, a contemporary design exhibition curated by C Cúbica Arquitectos. I won’t be there but you should go.
November 2024
The Salon Art + Design [NYC]
A good thing about $40,000 coffee tables is that they pay for $20,000 gorgeous booths in gorgeous fairs. This blue-chip design fair is located in the elegant Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan. Most of the big design galleries will be here.
I have never been so I don’t know much about DDW, but the satellite events look great. I would love to go, someone please invite me!
December 2024
Design Miami & Art Basel Miami Beach
If you’re reading this, you know what to expect. It's always fun to go if you’re on the invite list; if not, work on that. The whole Miami art scene is exciting to attend but is more scene-y than ever, and feels a little too forced in its exclusivity, and I prefer going to friendlier events.
January 2025
January is a rough time to go to Toronto, but we are big supporters of DesignTO, Toronto’s excellent design week. Organized by some of the best and kindest in the business, they have done an amazing job creating a strong community year-round. IDS, the trade show, is unrelated to DesignTO, but it’s the main event of the week and brings the big interior designers to town. I always have a good time. It’s great for interior designers (IDS), and curators and design lovers (DesignTO). I love that it feels accessible, friendly, and you can easily meet people.
San Francisco’s fair is supposed to be a great one for exhibitors so I’ve heard. I think this is best attended by local interior designers working with the $$$ tech guys. I have no interest in going to SF at this time, so it’s not for me.
Ok that’s it for now!
Exhibition of the Month: Barbie®
Since most galleries are on vacation, I thought I’d spotlight the fun Barbie exhibition at Design Museum in London. As a miniature lover (who here isn’t) the timeline of Barbie’s homes, furniture, and interiors made this exhibition such a fun and nostalgic visit. There were a lot of references to the film, so I think one thing that could have really made it amazing would have been recreating one of the interiors. A great way to spend a Saturday if you’re here in London, and you can tie it in with the Design Museum’s Enzo Mari exhibition, which is still on view for two more months (and buy the poster too).
Thank you for making it to the end! I hope you are feeling good and informed 😌
Don’t forget to keep checking the site, we update it weekly.
Oh and if you want to get to know the people behind the newsletter, you can find me here, Leo here, and TDR’s Instagram can be found here.
You’ll hear from me again in September as we present select satellites at the major city-wide fairs happening in NYC, London, and Paris.
Enjoy your summer holidays and see you soon.
Julia
See you in Vienna! We'll be curating this year’s Fokus exhibition at Vienna Design Week 💕