MILAN — Osaka, with its proximity to Japan‘s textiles and artisan heartlands and its financial prowess, is positioning itself to become the world’s next design hub.
Osaka Design Week will make its debut Sept. 23 to Oct. 4, Italian design platform Fuorisalone said Wednesday during a press conference unveiling its initiatives for Milan Design Week in April.
The Osaka event is being promoted by Fuorisalone’s founder Studiolabo and Osaka-based companies Union, a clothing supplier, and Sanai, a manufacturing firm.
You May Also Like
Related Articles
“The idea is to bring a consortium of Italian design companies, especially artisan realities, looking to have a relationship or contact with department stores. We want to build a sales business model and this allows us to go beyond the event or the trade show,” said cofounder and creative director of Studiolabo Paolo Casati. Studiolabo manages the organization and communication of Fuorisalone.
Organizers underscored that the Osaka event aims to transcend the traditional trade show model as a cultural project and commercial platform with the aim of activating a dialogue between the two countries and opening new distribution opportunities through Japanese retail partners and department stores.
Fuorisalone first tested the potential of reciprocity between the two cities in 2019 with the Osaka×Milano Design Link. That initiative led to the development of Fuorisalone Japan: a platform that exported Fuorisalone’s identity and know-how to the region, as a vehicle to showcase and promote the best of Japanese design, creativity and lifestyle across its key cities, Tokyo and Osaka.
Fuorisalone.it is also the official guide to Milan Design Week. Since 2003, it has worked with companies and private entities on the conception, creation and promotion of events during Milan Design Week. In 2025, the platform promoted over 1,000 events in the city of Milan during design week. The 2026 edition of design week, of which Salone del Mobile.Milano is the anchor event, will run April 20 to April 26. Salone del Mobile.Milano will run April 21 to April 26.
Milan and Osaka have been sister cities since 1981 and since then have fostered exchanges in fashion, design, culture and business. Testament to this solidarity, organizers of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics unveiled the Olympic and Paralympic 2026 torch at the Italian Pavilion of Expo 2025 Osaka, and simultaneously in Milan.
The venues, curatorial details and calendar for the first Osaka Design Week will be officially revealed before the end of March. Osaka convention center Mydome Osaka has been listed as the tentative main venue, while Osaka Fuorisalone-specific events will take place in satellite locations, yet to be determined.