Paris, Capital of Design: Highlights from Paris Design Week 2025

3 September 2025

Paris Design Week 2025: the future of design through regeneration and experimentation 

From September 4 to 13, 2025, Paris Design Week returns for its fifteenth edition, once again positioning the French capital as a global hub of creativity. This year’s theme, Regeneration, captures a time of profound transformation, where design acts as a critical tool to address cultural, environmental, and social challenges. The city itself becomes a vast stage, weaving together heritage and radical experimentation across its 375 venues throughout the city. 

New Releases

Alongside institutional and experimental exhibitions, Paris Design Week is also a platform for leading brands to unveil their latest collections.

Vitra introduces a refreshed edition of the legendary Eames Collection, now crafted in new European woods and color combinations inspired by the original palettes. The result is a respectful yet forward-looking tribute to two icons of 20th-century design.

Italian studio Giopato & Coombes debuts Scarabei, a site-specific installation exploring the metamorphosis of matter through light. After stops in Milan, New York, and Copenhagen, the work arrives in Paris as a choreography of light that turns the space into an immersive landscape.

During the event, Lalique presents its 2026 Collection, inspired by the element of Air. Lightness, movement, and transparency emerge as the guiding language of the collection, transforming the intangible into crystal. Decorative objects, furnishings, artworks, and jewelry converge into a poetic universe where artisanal savoir-faire meets innovation, reaffirming the timeless elegance of the maison.

LE 84: A New Hub of Experimentation

Among the most anticipated debuts is LE 84, a new shared venue at 84 rue de Turenne in the heart of the Marais. Here, twelve selected studios present a contemporary reinterpretation of the decorative arts. Highlights include blown-glass light sculptures by the Stokowski brothers, the hybrid works of Hugo Falaise that oscillate between archetype and ruin, and the radical vision of Charles-Emmanuel Deppierraz, where objects dissolve into performative gestures. Designed as a contemporary cabinet of curiosities, LE 84 is set to become one of the key destinations of this edition.

Factory: The Next Generation of Design

The Factory program once again represents the avant-garde spirit of Paris Design Week. Dedicated to emerging talents, schools, and independent collectives, it extends beyond the Marais into spaces such as Espace Commines, Galerie des Gobelins, and POUSH in Aubervilliers.

Here, design takes on hybrid forms: editorial coexists with collectible, craftsmanship engages with technology, and function gives way to storytelling. Notable is the collaboration between Monoprix and École Camondo, presenting collections by three recent graduates that merge retail with responsible design. Factory has established itself as an accelerator of ideas, challenging traditional production and consumption models.

Site-Specific Installations: Design Meets Heritage

One of the most evocative aspects of this edition is the dialogue between design and Paris’ historic landmarks.

At Place de la Bastille, artist Aude Franjou unveils a monumental textile installation in linen fiber, rising like coral formations toward the sky as a symbol of rebirth and resilience. At Hôtel de Sully, Lucas Huillet and Alexandre Helwani present Folie, a meditative experience blending scent and scenography, where a monumental chaise longue invites visitors to clear the mind.

These interventions redefine traditional perceptions of historic spaces, transforming heritage into a living stage for contemporary expression.

France Design Impact Award: A Visionary Debut

Another highlight is the launch of the first France Design Impact Award, to be announced on September 12. Created to recognize projects that integrate environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and circular economy principles, the award marks an important turning point: design is no longer seen solely as an aesthetic pursuit but as a strategic tool to address global challenges.

Chaired by Mathieu Lehanneur, the jury will honor thirteen projects with tangible impact on communities and the environment—reinforcing France’s position on the international design stage.

Paris Design Week 2025 shows how design can serve as a catalyst for cultural, social, and aesthetic regeneration. Through a citywide network of venues and voices, Paris becomes a vast urban laboratory where past and future converge, and innovation engages with history. This year, more than ever, the French capital reaffirms its role as a living city of international design—constantly evolving and inspiring new perspectives.

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