Brussels Design Week: New identity for festival’s 20th anniversary

Anyone interested in design, art, furniture and jewellery can look forward to Brussels Design Week (BDW), the capital’s annual celebration of design taking place from 24 September to 4 October.

Formerly known as Design September, this festival, now in its 20th year and boasting more than 100 events and some 300 designers, pays particular attention to Belgian artists as well as to international craftsmen.

The festival’s new venue is creative company the Hub, hosted at AME – the new home of all-female coworking space WOMADE – at 3 Rue de la Grosse Tour, near Place Stephanie.

As well as possessing a working area, cafe and creative studio, the Hub hosts an exhibition by Brussels-born industrial design specialist Alain Gilles and three talks – one on teaching commercial design and two focussing on female and non-binary voices in the creative industries.

Despite its reduced format, Brussels design lovers can still enjoy exhibitions, conferences, talks and events showcasing the latest innovations in interior design.

Moreover, the new dates mean BDW coincides with pre-existing high-level events such as Curated at Mix Brussels. Under the direction of designer Lionel Jadot, this exhibition brings together the creations of more than 30 designers, artists, collectors and architects in the striking Modernist former headquarters of the Royale Belge, now a plush hotel, gym and work space.

Other highlights include ‘open doors’ opportunities (25-27 September) featuring around 20 workshops, studios and production spaces all around the capital, designer label launches, and the Commerce Design Awards – with the winner to be chosen from entries including The Standard hotel, the Atomium shop and Akko Café on 29 September at Trademart Brussels.

Key design shows are The Secular Chapel (pictured above) at Brussels’ first design hotel, The Dominican; monumental murals in Les Jardiniers du Vide (multidisciplinary artist Zélie Boulestreau); three projects at the Liszt Institute; a design, art and fashion pop-up at Mayfair/Filigranes; and a special exhibition at Kartell’s flagship store, Porte de Namur.

BDW also encompasses high-profile current exhibitions such as Liège glass mecca Val Saint-Lambert & Design at the Design Museum and spans the opening of new ones, like MAD Brussels’ retrospective celebrating winners of the Knack Weekend/Le Vif Weekend Designer of the Year award. MAD visitors can also see works from 14 Brussels’ design and fashion school graduates in the MAD Graduation Show 2026.

Continuing the education front, La Cambre is presenting Changement de voie/Spoorverandering’ at TRACK Brussels (North train station) and LUCA School of Arts is featuring work by its design students.

In addition, three Brussels Fab Labs (workshops offering digitally-made fabrics) will open their doors in Laeken, Evere and Anderlecht, along with Green Fabrick (Forest), Micro Factory (Circular Design, Anderlecht), Materiatek and Circularium.

Last but not least, to mark the festival’s 20th anniversary, the collaborative design exhibition Shifting Ground is returning to U Square – Ixelles’ former barracks - with A Garden Party, bringing together works by Belgian and European designers. The theme of the garden party, historically associated with privilege, is reinterpreted here in a critical and poetic way.

Art aside, on 26 September, the U Square hub will also welcome BDW’s big birthday party, complete with cakes and surprises.

Photos: Brussels Design September 2025, Palm Springs Splendor ©Arthus Gallery; Scar Cériaux Block chair, The Secular Chapel, The Dominican Hotel