At the heart of every great design event is the opportunity to connect with designers, ideas, and the future of our industry. This season, from London to Shanghai to Chicago, the ECONYL® brand engaged with global design leaders to explore how circularity, material innovation, and creativity are shaping a more responsible future. Across the world’s most influential design events at Clerkenwell Design Week, Design Shanghai, Neocon, and Design Days, we listened, learned, and contributed to the evolving conversation around what it means to design with purpose.
Clerkenwell Design Week: Connecting Emotion with Impact
Clerkenwell Design Week 2025 brought together over 400 exhibitors across London, with sustainability, inclusivity, and sensory experience emerging as key themes.
We partnered with customers to spark conversation and collaboration. At Milliken, we shared our eco-design philosophy and how material choices at the start of a project can shape circular outcomes. At Modulyss, we presented research exploring how color, texture, and form influence how people perceive sustainability and inclusivity.
Our team was inspired by a talk with David Oakey where he reflected on his decades of work in sustainable design. His story traced the industry’s evolution and reminded us that great design doesn’t just solve problems, it creates emotional connection and lasting environmental impact.
Design Shanghai: Blending Innovation, Heritage, and AI
Design Shanghai 2025 showcased how tradition and innovation are reshaping the global design conversation. The event brought together a diverse mix of brands and designers exploring new narratives around materiality, sustainability, and cultural identity.
At our booth, we debuted the ECONYL® Bespoke Collection alongside an exciting new collaboration with FULI where we introduced FULI Auto Pads, a line of premium automotive mats. Using a 3D interactive visual system, FULI offers an immersive, closed-loop customization experience, allowing users to instantly visualize and refine cabin interiors. Each handcrafted mat blends luxurious texture with modern performance, redefining comfort and style for more responsible vehicles.
Tech innovation was seen throughout the show with 3D printed fabrics and an interactive material library that blended physical samples and real-time modeling in an instant. Aesthetically, the show was defined by bold blues, raw finishes, and nature-inspired elements dominated, reflecting a desire for both futuristic edge and calming simplicity in design.
Chicago Design Week: Bold Ideas, Collective Impact
In the U.S., NeoCon and Design Days merged to form Chicago Design Week, drawing over 50,000 attendees to celebrate bold ideas shaping the future of commercial interiors.
The ECONYL® brand showcased the Bespoke collection and hosted a stunning Parsons MFA Textiles installation that visualized UN migration data through textiles made with ECONYL® yarn. We also partnered with Pantone and Ultrafabrics, to host a hands-on workshop exploring color, sustainability, and craftsmanship.
Across Chicago, raw textures, bold color, and themes of sustainability and equity dominated, reminding us that great design invites connection, creativity, and responsibility.
Three Continents, Shared Intention
Despite the geographic distance, Clerkenwell, Design Shanghai, and Chicago Design Week revealed a shared commitment to wellbeing, responsibility, and material storytelling. From curated color palettes to the resurgence of handcrafted techniques, designers across continents are prioritizing the emotional and environmental impact of their work.
Color and material choices emerged as powerful tools to influence mood and communicate values. Warm earth tones like ochre, terracotta, and beige remained prevalent, while deeper hues like anthracite, grey, and black made a strong return, often paired with raw, mineral-inspired finishes. These palettes underscore a continued desire to stay grounded in nature while embracing a refined, minimalist aesthetic.
Craftsmanship and tactile experience were central across all three shows. Hand-weaving, tufting, and other artisanal demonstrations highlighted the industry’s yearning to slow down and reconnect with the human side of making.
Finally, an exciting new thread is emerging: the blending of AI with handmade craft. From AI-generated custom car mats in Shanghai to digital tools that preview material applications in real time, the intersection of technology and tradition is unlocking new creative possibilities for designers.
No matter where you’re designing, from hospitality to luxury automotive, what you specify matters. These global design events offer proof that clients, manufacturers, and designers are aligning around a shared goal: great design is responsible design.
What inspired you most from this season’s design events?
Whether you’re exploring new design trends, working with circular materials, or looking to collaborate, we’d love to connect.
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