
For Toronto design lovers, there’s no time for winter hibernation — January is jam-packed. Each year, the city plays host to two major celebrations of design: the Interior Design Show (IDS Toronto) and the city-wide DesignTO Festival, which is marking its 15th anniversary in 2025. Below, our editors recap 11 eagerly anticipated highlights that we’ve added to our calendars — including Night & Day, a feature exhibition at IDS Toronto set to include a contribution by Rollout and Coolab that imagines a futuristic spa environment created inside of an amethyst (shown above). See you there!
IDS Toronto:
IDS Toronto takes place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (255 Front St W) from January 23-26.
Azure Leads a Day of Engaging Design Talks

On Friday, January 25, Azure Trade Day returns with a series of four must-see talks on the Main Stage. This year’s program kicks off at 10:00 am with The Future of Creative Practice, a panel of inter-disciplinary group practitioners charting out the business landscape of design, with a focus on the evolution towards self-initiated projects, social advocacy and civic leadership. Moderated by Azure’s Eric Mutrie, the opening 10:00 am panel discussion, The Future of Creative Practice features Heather Dubbeldam, Michael Leckie, Tura Cousins Wilson and Ashley Rumsey.
The conversation will be followed by an 11:00 am talk by Akb Architects co-founder Robert Kastelic, who will reflect on how a diagnosis of early-onset Parkinson’s Disease at the age of 47 has shaped his outlook on life and design. Moderated by Azure’s Stefan Novakovic, A Beautiful Life: Design as a Path to Resilience, is a celebration of the healing qualities of design, with an emphasis on spaces that accommodate the reality of an aging population with grace and beauty.
In the afternoon, a pair of talks will be moderated by Azure’s editor-in-chief, Elizabeth Pagliacolo. At 1:00 pm, SOM’s Julia Murphy and Irina Say will delve into the firm’s Urban Sequoia initiative, which re-imagines the built environment through the forest-inspired lens of carbon stores, combining wellness and biophilia with decarbonization. At 3:00 pm, Azure Trade Day wraps up with Maria Porro’s Made in Italy, a talk charting the evolving heritage of Italian Design. A fourth-generation leader of her family’s eponymous company — which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year — Porro also serves as the president of Salone del Mobile, overseeing the global yet distinctly Italian trade fair’s continued evolution.
IDS 2025 Trade Days are presented by Grohe. All keynote sessions taking place on the Main Stage are presented by Khayeri.
A Feature Exhibition Explores the Future of Hospitality

While the hospitality sector undoubtedly took a hit post-pandemic, IDS Toronto 2025 signals that the industry is back in a big way. Indeed, in recent years, typologies from residential to workspaces have drawn inspiration from high-design restaurants and hotels — and in turn, hotels have transformed from just a place to stay into multi-hyphenate destinations for dining, working and leisure. This year’s feature exhibition, Night & Day, looks to the future of hospitality with insight from some of the city’s leading players.
Take the bar, for instance, designed by Yabu Pushelberg in partnership with Ciot (shown above). Their take on the quintessential hotel hotspot draws on concepts of dichotomy and duality to create two distinct experiences within one space, highlighting the many possibilities of Neolith sintered stone surfaces. The bedroom, meanwhile, imagined by BDP Quadrangle, looks at how technology such as AI and environmental considerations will shape the future of hotel design. Evocative lobby, restaurant, spa and gym vignettes round out the exhibition. Together, the installations forecast the trends and ideas pushing the industry forward.
The Italian Pavilion Celebrates Bellissimo Design

With Maria Porro headlining AZURE’s Trade Day on Friday, the stage is already set for an infusion of Italian design wisdom. This sprezzatura carries on to the show floor, where architect Simone Michele (also a featured speaker, on Thursday) is creating a stylish set starring the brands Calligaris, egoitaliono, Cromolgy by Viero, Floema Cinova, Las Mobili, Londonart, Lumen Centre Italia, Moschella Sedute and Technogym. Sponsored by the Italian Trade Agency, this showcase is an all-in-one shop of made-in-Italy design inspiration.
A Canadian Lighting Brand Celebrates a Major Milestone

This past November, A-N-D marked 10 years in the design industry with a blowout Vancouver bash that adapted the lighting manufacturer’s Vale series into an entire wall of light. Needless to say, the installation (and the party) gave those of us in the Toronto design industry serious FOMO. Thankfully, A-N-D is following up that event with a January residency at Toronto showroom Standard Shop presented in collaboration with IDS Toronto. The glowing wall will be back as part of a sprawling, celebratory installation of A-N-D lights dubbed “10 Years Later…” — and Caine Heintzman, Lukas Peet and Matt Davis will all be in town for the unveiling. Perhaps they’ll even drop hints about what they have planned for this year’s edition of EuroLuce in Milan.
DesignTO:
The 15th anniversary edition of Toronto’s 10-day DesignTO Festival runs from January 24 through February 2 at various venues across the city.
DesignTO Throws An Opening Night Party for the Ages

Dancing, DJs and design. Kicking off this year’s edition of the vibrant, city-wide festival, don’t miss DesignTO’s Launch Party from 7-11PM on January 24th at the Harbourfront Centre. Sneak a peek at group exhibition “Revive” (running until March 30 at Harbourfront Centre’s Gallery 235) which dives into the materials of endangered storytelling practices, and catch Toronto-based artist Asli Alin’s one-night only installation, “Terrestrial Lace” — and more.
…Plus More Great Group Shows

Avengers movies and the indie rock supergroup Boygenius are both built around the idea that it’s fun when people team up — and that same logic applies to design shows, too. Sure enough, this year’s DesignTO schedule has no shortage of exhibitions that place works by multiple designers in conversation with one another to tackle a bigger theme.
First up is Surface Impressions, this year’s edition of Umbra and DesignTO’s annual showcase of exciting homeware prototypes — some of which have gone on to join Umbra’s actual product catalogue. For 2025, nine studios were invited to pitch product ideas that make use of a specific material: a 0.6 millimetre-thick recycled uncoated leather (depicted above) that Umbra has recently added to its materials roster.
Meanwhile, over at Yabu Pushelberg’s east-end office, the studio is holding space for designs that are all held together in some way, shape or form. Presented in collaboration with the TMU Design and Technology Lab at The Creative School, the conceptual collection on display in To Hold will include contributions by local designers like Rebecca Sun Collins and Georgia Dickie as well as visitors such as Montreal’s Alexandre Guay.
Speaking of Montreal, another big group of creatives is crossing the provincial border for Ensssemble, an exhibition at the Plumb dedicated to highlighting emerging talents who are contributing to their city’s exciting design scene. (Case in point: participants smallmediumlarge were featured in last year’s edition of SaloneSatellite.) Early teasers promise plenty of refined steelwork.
Laura Carwardine Makes Art Out of Plastic Berry Baskets

Toronto industrial designer and textile artist Laura Carwardine takes a novel – and totally charming – approach to upcycling with her Berry Baskets installation at the newly opened Andreu World showroom on King Steet East. A ubiquitous site at farms and farmer’s markets, the cute green plastic vessels are intentionally designed to protect picked produce, allowing it to cool down when coming in from the fields. But what to do with them when all the fruit has been eaten?
Seeing an unconventional canvas within their tiny structural grids, Carwardine will transform the humble objects into a stunning 3D wall installation through an exploration of textile techniques and colour combinations. A study in repetition, Berry Baskets will incorporate lengths of vibrantly hued nylon rope – primarily off-cuts leftover from other projects – to showcase her process of experimentation and prototyping. On display from January 24 until February 2, the individual Berry Baskets will then be available for purchase, offering those lucky enough to nab one or two an opportunity to recreate a portion of the stunning display at home.
Mason Studio Leads Visitors on an Odyssey of the Senses

With its The Invisible Tide: Awakening Unseen Forces installation, Mason Studio will invite guests on a transcendent journey of the senses, one that “reimagines the boundaries of perception through light, sound, scent and touch.” The immersive installation – or sensory odyssey – begins with a slow and intentional barefoot wade through a reflective pool of water followed by a multi-layered experience of shifting light, rhythmic soundscapes, evocative scents and tactile sensations. Influenced by the principles of neuroarchitecture and sensory psychology, The Invisible Tide will encourage introspection and self-discovery through a merging of art, science and design.
Collaborating with Mason Studio on this unique transformative experience will be Othership (who will guide guests through ticketed mindfulness sessions), Mulvey & Banani (who will be conducting visual lighting explorations), Seeing into the Unknown (who will introduce visitors to cymatics, or the visualization of sound and frequency) and CBCB Fragrances (who will be provoking the sense of scent with a fragrance experience). Running from January 25 to 29 with both open drop-in hours and ticketed sessions (there is no fee but pre-registration is required), The Invisible Tide promises to be a welcome moment of respite and reflection.
Dennis Lin Studio Showcases Spectacular Mobiles

A visit to Dennis Lin’s studio, accessed via the Milky Way alley, is always deeply rewarding. The artist, who has contributed work to numerous spaces around the city – he crafted a wall piece for Nobu Toronto and fashioned scintillating mobiles for SickKids – has also been creating a series that is profoundly personal. Inspired by loss and a fire that destroyed his home, his works are also incredibly uplifting and life-affirming.
Two Designers Explore the Merits of Wood and Clay

Hosted at Bulthaup’s King East Showroom, this tactile exhibition by OCAD students Christina da Graça and Songshu Liu explores the raw processes of woodworking and ceramics. “From The Ground” reveals the natural imperfections and innate strength of clay and wood in a contemporary setting.
DesignTO Talks Address the Big Issues, from Labour to Climate Change

Following three days of stimulating content at IDS, DesignTO continues the momentum with a series of inspiring talks. Up first, on January 26, Material Expressions will bring together glass artists Nadira Narine and Lauren Rice to discuss their work, which touches on themes of identity, memory and emotion. Taking place on January 28, Ideas Forum: Labour in Architecture, organized in partnership with the Toronto Society of Architects, will explore the practice of architecture pecha kucha style, before launching into a panel discussion featuring the five presenters: 5468796 Architecture’s Johanna Hurme; Yvonne Ip, founder of Ontario’s first architectural worker co-operative; Reza Nik, co-founder of the Architecture Lobby’s Toronto chapter; Je Siqueira of Bernheimer Architecture, the first private sector architectural firm to unionize in the U.S. since 1930; and Hazel York, an architect, behavioural scientist and managing partner at Hawkins\Brown.
It all concludes with Net Positive, a half-day event at Ace Hotel Toronto focusing on the all-important topic of climate change. The speakers represent a wide range of disciplines whose work spans many scales — including Netami Stuart, a landscape architect, arborist and Senior Project Manager of the Parks for the Port Lands Flood Protection Project, and April Barrett, a design anthropologist whose work has helped to make digital heat tangible to a wide audience. The following day, an online “Drift” moderated by Judith van den Boom will build on these sessions, highlighting tangible design responses to the climate crisis from practitioners who embrace diverse ways of knowing and doing.
11 Places Our Editors Will Be During IDS Toronto and DesignTO
We round up all the can’t-miss events taking place across Toronto during the city’s design celebrations.