Seoul Design Week turns city into lifestyle destination
Visitors look around booths at the DDP Design Fair, part of Seoul Design Week 2026, at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Seoul Design Foundation
Seoul Design Week 2026 opened Wednesday, turning Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) and neighborhoods across the city into a showcase for design innovation, from life-saving devices to lifestyle products and student-industry collaborations.
DDP will serve as the hub for the 12-day program linking 150 design destinations across five districts of the capital through exhibitions, a fair, a conference and neighborhood walks.
The event runs through Oct. 25 under the theme “The Design Recipe,” hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Design Foundation.
“This year’s Seoul Design Week will showcase the potential of Seoul’s brands and K-design to expand globally,” said Cha Kang-hee, CEO of the Seoul Design Foundation.
The DDP Design Fair, the festival’s flagship program, features 79 lifestyle brands and a special pavilion of 20 young designers across four distinctively themed spaces: the Market of the Warm Gourmet, the Market of the Cheerful Companion, the Market of the Quiet Dreamer and the Market of the Attentive Homemaker. Rather than following a fixed category path, visitors seek out the space that best matches their own tastes and explore from there.
A visitor browses displays at Seoul Design Week 2026 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
The Seoul Design Conference brings together experts in design and lifestyle from Korea and abroad for two days of discussion. Wednesday’s session, themed “Seoul as a New Source of Inspiration,” examines how the city has become fertile ground for brands and lifestyle businesses, with speakers including Hongik University professor Yoo Hyun-jun and Seoul Metropolitan Government branding adviser Lee Ji-hyun.
Thursday’s session turns the focus outward, with Maria Porro, president of Salone del Mobile.Milano, Samsung Electronics chief design officer Mauro Porcini and design studio representatives from Paris, Hong Kong and London exploring global trends and the potential of K-design.
The DDP Design Exhibition presents curated shows on themes including designers’ creative practices and design exchanges between Korea and other countries, while the DDP Design Market, running from Oct. 16 to 18 and Oct. 23 to 25, features some 200 vendors offering home accessories, illustrations, fashion accessories, food and beverages.
Beyond DDP, satellite programs extend across the city. In eastern Seongsu-dong, “Seoulness” presents art and brand content that document and reinterpret the city’s spaces and everyday life. In Yeonhui-dong, “Design Open Studio” opens local design studios, architecture firms and exhibition spaces to the public. The “Seoul Design Road” program links design spaces and cultural venues across Dongdaemun, Yeonhui, Seongsu, Seochon and Apgujeong, connecting 150 spots through neighborhood walking routes.