Isola Design Festival 2026

Details

The 10th edition of Isola Design Festival organized by the Milan- and Dubai-based Isola Design Group, and themed “TEN: The Evolving Now” will welcome visitors during Milan Design Week, from 20 to 26 April 2026.

Over the past decade, what started as a local event has grown into a full-fledged festival, became one of the key districts of Milan Design Week, evolved into a digital platform, and extended into a global network. TEN: The Evolving Now marks this milestone by revisiting some of the most successful past showcase formats, while introducing new collaborations with key figures who have contributed to Isola’s history. Isola Design Festival brings together different geographies, disciplines, and designers. Some participants who first joined as emerging talents return as established voices, while others join for the first time, continuing to shape the independent ecosystem that defines Isola. This 10th edition reconnects with the heart of the Isola neighbourhood, revisiting former exhibition spaces while opening new venues.

Isola was born from a simple yet radical idea: responding to a clear gap in Milan’s design landscape. Back then, young and independent designers had few opportunities to exhibit during the design week, often limited by a lack of available spaces and increasingly prohibitive costs. Isola emerged as an open, accessible platform to give these voices visibility and space. That founding spirit has remained unchanged. What began as a district-driven initiative has grown into an international design network, expanding first across Europe, and more recently to the Gulf region and Dubai where Isola Space opened the doors in November, while continuing to place people, stories, and local contexts at the centre of its curatorial vision. This 10th edition marks both a return and a continuation: a celebration of where Isola started, and of how far a community-led approach to design can travel.

This edition marks a symbolic return to Fabbrica Sassetti (via Filippo Sassetti 31, Milan), which reopens to the public as the festival’s main location. Originally built in the 1930s as a wool yarn factory, the multi-storey building was a local landmark and played a key role in preserving the neighbourhood as a hub for artisans and craftsmanship. Today, it stands as a fitting embodiment of Isola Design Group’s identity rooted in production, community, and the enduring value of making.

Alongside Fabbrica Sassetti, ten main showcases, under the guidance of Isola’s creative director Elif Resitoglou, will unfold across key venues in the district, including Atelier Kondakji, Copernico, Fondazione Catella, Stecca3, and ZonaK. Building on formats developed over recent years such as Isola Design Gallery, Isola Design Awards Winners' Showcase, No Space for Waste, Rasa – The Indian Collective co-curated with Nidhi Chandak and Varun E S, Rising Talents, and The Dutch Atelier, the programme continues to spotlight emerging practices, material research, and new design narratives. These exhibitions are joined by Archivi Futuri co-curated with Pietro Petrillo, a research exploring the future of objects beyond 2050, Ithra’s collective showcase focused on designers from the MENA region, a selection of state-of-the-art materials by Materially, and Shape of Belonging co-curated with Oliwia Maria Studio, an investigation into ancestral gestures and their influence on contemporary forms.