When winter begins to bite in the northern hemisphere, there are worse places to be than Miami. Each year, during the first week of December, the worlds of art and design converge in the South Florida city for a cultural bonanza along the beach and amongst the palm trees.
What’s now referred to as Miami Art Week has grown around Art Basel Miami Beach –the vast contemporary art fair held at the Miami Beach Convention Center since 2002 – and its sister exhibition, Design Miami, which launched in 2005 and is now a highlight of the collectible design calendar. This showcase of avant-garde work was co-founded by developer and collector Craig Robins and designer Ambra Medda, and has since taken place annually and concurrently with the art fair – both in Miami Beach in December, and in the Swiss city of Basel each June.
Cut Out Easy Chair, 1980 by Forrest Myers for Superhouse.
(Image credit: Courtesy Superhouse)
Over the years, more fairs and events have joined the fray, including Untitled Art, which occupies a huge tent erected on the beach; NADA; and Art Miami and Context, all of which take place across Biscayne Bay in Downtown Miami. Add to that a wide array of independent shows, museum exhibitions, brand activations, temporary installations, pop-up retail spaces and, of course, countless parties hosted across Miami and Miami Beach.
While the wider Miami Art Week has become increasingly commercial over the past decade, Design Miami remains a thoughtfully curated showcase of high-quality collectible furniture, objects and functional artworks. And although the event does invite brands to participate, these typically involve collaborations with international designers who create installations that range from ethereal to highly technical – and everything in between.
This year, Design Miami is open to ticket-holders from 3–7 December, with an invite-only preview day on 2 December. In celebration of the fair’s milestone 20th edition, renowned American design curator Glenn Adamson is using the theme ‘Make. Believe.’ to look both back and forward at the world of collectible design and guide the direction of the event – which includes a special-projects programme of satellite installations and partner activations.
What is Design Miami?
Design Miami showcases some of the most innovative, artful and avant-garde collectible design by global talents, presented by galleries from the US and around the world. Over 70 exhibitors – including more than 25 debuts – will participate in the 2025 edition, with notable returning galleries including the Future Perfect, Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Friedman Benda, David Gill Gallery, Superhouse and many more.
The Lost Cloth Object, a special collaboration between Stephen Burks Man Made and Alpi in association with Friedman Benda
(Image credit: Federico Cedrone)
Alongside the 30 large gallery booths, a series of ‘Curios’ spotlights smaller or emerging galleries and their designers, providing a platform for new talent, while several brand-sponsored installations activate the venue. In recent years, the show has expanded its international remit, with new editions in Seoul (September) and Paris (October) joining the Basel presentation every June.
Where is Design Miami?
Design Miami is located in Miami Beach’s famed South Beach neighbourhood, close to the Art Deco district of architectural gems from the 1920s and 30s, and just a couple of blocks from the beachfront. The event takes place in a large temporary structure set up in Pride Park, right beside the Miami Beach Convention Center in which Art Basel is held, making it easy to hop between the two.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Visitors arriving by car are dropped off at Convention Center Drive and 19th Street, but since traffic is notoriously gnarly during this week – even by Miami standards – consider arriving on foot from the nearby hotels on Collins Avenue.
Top things to see during Design Miami 2025
Gargantua Thumb by Katie Stout
(Image credit: Courtesy the Gallery)
For its 10th annual design commission, the Miami Design District has tapped artist Katie Stout to create a playful public artwork that visitors can interact with – and, in this case, sit on. Her series of large-scale sculptural benches, named Gargantua Thumb, will be installed throughout the pedestrian alleys that criss-cross the popular retail destination. The fantastical pieces began as miniature clay animals that Stout hand-sculpted with intentional irregularities, before they were digitally scanned, enlarged and milled from durable outdoor-ready materials. The benches will remain on view through spring 2026.
Perfume Transformation by Clive Christian Perfume and Crosby Studios
(Image credit: Courtesy Clive Christian Perfume)
Designer Harry Nuriev’s Crosby Studios is partnering with fragrance house Clive Christian Perfume to create an immersive, monochromatic installation that interprets scent as a spatial experience. Visitors will be invited into the sensory environment to imagine what a scent might look like, free from literal association, with the journey beginning in a miniature cinema. The installation is intended to offer a first glimpse into the brand’s new creative direction ahead of its global flagship opening in London.
Design Miami 2.0 curated by Glenn Adamson
Trappist 1, 2024 by Jack Craig for David Klein Gallery.
(Image credit: Courtesy of David Klein Gallery)
To mark the fair’s 20th edition, curator Glenn Adamson has selected eight ‘compelling voices in design’ to present works that align with his theme, ‘Make. Believe.’ Each designer will unveil a capsule collection that showcases their imaginative practices and underlines the continued importance of experimentation in contemporary design. Highlights include Steven Young Lee’s surreal ceramic forms; Stephen Burks Man Made’s translation of Kuba textiles into wooden works; and Jack Craig’s ‘moulded carpet’ sculptures.
Fonderia Fendi by Conie Vallese
(Image credit: Courtesy FENDI)
Argentine designer Conie Vallese is celebrating fashion house Fendi’s 100th anniversary with a show exploring ‘feminine strength’ through Italian craft. Her collaborations with five ateliers specialising in bronze, ceramic, glass, carpet and leather have resulted in one-of-a-kind Fendi pieces in a Roman palette of rosy bronze, and shades of the brand’s signature sorbetto yellow and pale blue. The designs will be presented in a reinterpretation of a Roman saletto, or living room, alongside a limited-edition Fendi Peekaboo bag designed by Vallese.
Memories of the Future by Achille Salvagni Atelier
(Image credit: Courtesy Achille Salvagni Atelier)
Amongst this year’s Design Miami debuts is Achille Salvagni Atelier, a collectible design gallery and studio with locations in Rome, London and New York. Its ‘Memories of the Future’ installation will pair Italian midcentury works by masters such as Gio Ponti and Renzo Zavanella with contrasting contemporary pieces by designer Achille Salvagni. Housed within a futuristic setting formed by metallic walls and a deep orange carpet, highlights include a 1951 cabinet marking the first collaboration between Ponti and Piero Fornasetti, as well as a sculptural Zavanella armchair.
