Shanghai is China’s only UNESCO-designated City of Design. Its creative industries generated more than ¥2 trillion in 2025 (up from ¥1.64 trillion the previous year), highlighting the city’s expanding influence on the global sector. This month marks the return of Design Shanghai, Asia’s leading international design show, which runs from 19–22 March at the city’s historic Exhibition Centre. The fair will bring together in excess of 500 brands from over 20 countries, with a mission to “position Chinese creativity confidently within the worldwide design conversation.” What’s most evident this year is how centuries-old traditions are continuing to inform contemporary approaches, with craft meeting technological innovation.
In the fair’s main section, Shanghai-based 12h presents the Record Cabinet (bottom left), aimed at “a new generation of vinyl enthusiasts” and crafted from solid wood, with mid‐20th century influences. The studio follows a “slow design” approach, combining Eastern aesthetics with modern production to make furniture that is functional and lasting. Likewise, audiences will discover a sculptural lamp from PAST TO NOW (above left), a studio which works with historical designs, reintroducing them through careful editing and contemporary production. There’s a real feeling of post-war design revival in these pieces.
One of the most exciting areas of Design Shanghai is TALENTS, a presentation foregrounding up-and-coming designers under the age of 35. Curated by renowned designer Frank Chou around the theme About Time, it’s all about celebrating new voices shaping the future through innovation and creativity. Amongst this year’s ones-to-watch is Yilu Studio (below), presenting a new “parachute-shaped” lighting system that embodies ideas of weightlessness and diffusion. Other names to note include Liang Living Studio (bottom right), founded by ceramic artist Hong Zhangliang and known for its neriage (marbled clay) techniques. It contributes a study of classical Chinese vessels, realised in saggar- and jade-glazed marbled porcelain.
Elsewhere, JUN WANG STUDIO x Ziyuan Jiang, based between Tianjin and Kyoto, debut experimental lighting (top of page), and Yuya Zhou brings bioplastic table lamps. Yin Dahua sums up the theme of TALENTS 2026 neatly, introducing a copper and oak coffee table that contrasts organic wood grain with smooth, reflective metal. It brings past and present into dialogue, showing how principles endure even as materials and forms evolve. “We hope to view ‘time’ as an important yet often overlooked material,” explains Chou. “One that speaks to how design records its era and the meaning and value it carries.”
This same sentiment carries through the Beyond Craft section, which emphasises the contemporary value of historical craftsmanship. It features creations from over ten brands spanning furniture, jewellery, objects, optical devices and precision components. These works encompass methods like Nishijin-ori weaving, gold leaf application, lacquer art, washi paper, braided cords, ceramics, glass engraving and metal inlay. Kyoraku Kougei, which produces furniture and store fixtures using traditional craft techniques from Kyoto, is one of the key exhibitors. The message: heritage techniques are evolving and thriving in 2026.
TALENTS and Beyond Craft are part of Design Shanghai’s wider curated programming, which also includes a Materials First interactive lab, Collectible Design & Art, and Made in JDZ, which spotlights practitioners working out of Jingdezhen. Brand new for 2026 is A Courtyard in the City. The large-scale outdoor installation reinterprets the traditional siheyuan – a Chinese courtyard house – within the Russian-neoclassical-meets-Baroque architectural context of the Shanghai Exhibition Centre.
Over the years, Design Shanghai has played a pivotal role in fostering the rise of Asian designers, elevating both emerging talents and established brands onto the global stage. This 13th edition promises to be no different, bringing “now” and “then” together through a remarkable collision of styles and influences.
Design Shanghai is at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre from 19-22 March 2026.
Words: Eleanor Sutherland
Image Credits:
1. Flow Light by JUN WANG STUDIO X Ziyuan Jiang.
2. Lighting by PAST TO NOW.
3. Kyoraku Kougei.
4. YILU Studio.
5. Record Cabinet by 12h.
6. Liang Living Studio.
