Design Nation Paris · 2027

Agoris analysis · updated October 2026

Key points

• Design Nation Paris is the first French edition of Design Nation, a professional interior design trade show focused on project and contract work: furniture, lighting, textiles, surface coverings, bathroom and kitchen products, shown to specifiers (designers, interior architects, project developers), with specialist retailers also invited.
• Next edition: Thursday 25 and Friday 26 February 2027, at the Grande Halle de la Villette, 211 avenue Jean Jaurès, Paris 19th arrondissement. Opening hours have not yet been published.
• Entry is by invitation only. The target audience: interior designers and architects, decorators, project developers and specialist retailers, with projects in hospitality, healthcare, offices, public spaces and boat interiors.
• Organiser: Xpo Group, the Belgian operator of the Kortrijk Xpo exhibition centre in Kortrijk. Easyfairs Belgium NV announced on 3 August 2026 that it had completed the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Xpo Group BV; the Design Nation website still displays “© 2025 Xpo Group”. The format was created in Kortrijk in 2023, then exported to Berlin in 2025; Düsseldorf is announced for November 2026, and Paris, in February 2027, becomes the fourth city on the circuit.
• Supporters named for the Paris edition: L'Ameublement Français, the Conseil Français des Architectes d'Intérieur (CFAI), the Institut Français du Design, Pôle Action, the UFDI and the UNAID.
• The dates have changed: the Paris edition was announced for 12 and 13 February 2026; the website now places it on 25 and 26 February 2027, with no explanation published, after a preview event on 10 February 2026. No attendance or exhibitor figures exist yet for Paris.

Who exhibits

Typical profile

Design Nation presents itself as a showcase platform for premium furniture and design brands targeting the project market. The product families listed cover furniture, rugs, carpets and textiles, lighting, bathroom and kitchen products, floor and wall coverings, and design objects.

The format is turnkey: the organiser describes a “plug & play” solution in a neutral setting shared by all stands, and offers three sizes, 24, 40 or 80 m². Exhibitors therefore have no stand to design: they bring their collections. According to the organiser, the products shown are selected by a jury of design professionals for their innovative character. This principle is described for all editions; its specific terms for Paris are not detailed.

Notable exhibitors

No exhibitor list has been published for Paris. Design Nation's July 2026 press release names, for all the upcoming editions in Kortrijk, Düsseldorf and Paris, Kewlox, Vitra, Pastoe, Polywave, MDF Italia, USM, Ondaretta, Gessi, DCW Éditions and Bomma, without specifying which will be present at La Villette. These names indicate the level of range targeted, not the Paris list.

Brands wishing to exhibit go through the exhibitor application form or the contact page, which lists sales managers dedicated to the French market.

Visitor quality

The show's bet rests on its access model: entry is by invitation only, so that exhibitors meet only interior designers, decorators, project developers and design retailers. The project sectors targeted are hospitality and catering, healthcare facilities, office spaces, public spaces and boat interiors.

For Paris, this profile remains a promise: the edition has not yet taken place, and no previous edition, in Kortrijk or Berlin, has had an attendance figure published. No third-party audit has been announced.

Activities & community

Programme

The Paris programme has not been published. At other editions, the organiser pairs the exhibition with a conference series: in Berlin in 2025, talks by Fabian Freytag, Sigurd Larsen and Svend Jacob Pedersen; for Kortrijk, on 15 and 16 October 2026, the organiser announces a stage called “Trend Stage”, where trend watchers and industry voices are expected to address materials, hospitality and the changing workplace; the speakers had not yet been announced in May 2026. Nothing yet guarantees an identical set-up in Paris.

On 10 February 2026, Design Nation brought together brands and industry players in Paris for a preview of the French edition.

Community & networks

The Paris edition relies on six French professional organisations: L'Ameublement Français, the Conseil Français des Architectes d'Intérieur (CFAI), the Institut Français du Design, Pôle Action, the UFDI and the UNAID. The backing of six professional organisations can weigh on the visitor quality of an invitation-only trade show.

Design Nation should not be confused with Paris Design Week, a city-wide route through showrooms and galleries, nor with Maison&Objet Paris, the home, design and lifestyle trade show at Paris Nord Villepinte, both organised by other parties. Its ground is narrower: design for fit-out projects, over two days.

On site: what you need to know

The trade show takes place at the Grande Halle de la Villette, 211 avenue Jean Jaurès, 75019 Paris.

By metro, line 5, Porte de Pantin station, or line 7, Corentin Cariou and Porte de la Villette stations. The T3b tram and buses 75, 151, PC 2 and PC 3 stop at Porte de Pantin. The Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est stations are 3.5 km away. Charles de Gaulle airport is 18 km away, Orly 25 km. By bike, Vélib' stations are located at Porte de la Villette, Porte de Pantin and allée du Belvédère, and a cycle path runs along the Ourcq canal. By car, take the Porte de la Villette or Porte de Pantin exit from the périphérique; three car parks are indicated by the organiser: Philharmonie de Paris, Cité de la Musique La Villette and Cité de la Musique Conservatoire.

To enter, you need an access code printed on the invitations. Design professionals who do not have one are invited to request it from the team; at the time of writing, the site's “Tickets d'entrée” button leads to an email address, not to an open ticketing system. The site also has an accommodation page.

How much does it cost to exhibit

No price list is published. The site only indicates the three stand sizes, 24, 40 or 80 m², and refers exhibitors to the sales team for registration.

The business model changes the usual structure of the budget: the organiser presents an all-inclusive concept, with a shared setting, and the exhibitor has neither a stand to design nor a stand contractor to hire. The main cost item becomes the space itself, to which are added the transport of collections, staffing over two days and travel. The price of each size must be requested from the organiser.

Planning your visit

For exhibitors

• Apply early: the jury selection and the three fixed sizes suggest a limited number of places, to be confirmed with the team.
• Choose products aimed at projects, hospitality, healthcare, offices, rather than pieces designed solely for retail: that is the show's positioning.
• Ask about invitations: as the show is by invitation only, ask the sales team whether exhibitors can have their own clients and specifiers invited.
• Follow the calendar: the announced Paris dates have changed (February 2026, then February 2027). Check the organiser's confirmation before committing non-refundable transport or accommodation costs.

For decision-maker visitors

• Request your access code in advance: there is no free entry.
• Come with a project in mind, hotel, offices, healthcare facility: the show is designed for specification, not for general discovery.
• The show lasts two days.

CSR policy & initiatives

The Design Nation Paris website has no section devoted to CSR; no carbon assessment of the event or ISO 20121 certification is published.

The organiser, Xpo Group, advertises an approach for its own Kortrijk site: a carbon neutrality target for 2035, heat pumps, LED lighting, solar panels on three halls, and the VOKA Charter for Sustainable Entrepreneurship, which the centre says it has obtained for the tenth consecutive year in 2026. These commitments concern the Kortrijk Xpo centre, not the Paris edition.

The venue, for its part, publishes a corporate social responsibility policy: La Villette, a public institution, highlights the reduction and recycling of its waste, a washing station for reusable cups and the energy modernisation of its buildings to comply with the French tertiary sector decree by 2030. These commitments concern the site, not the organisation of Design Nation; no ISO 20121 certification of the venue is mentioned.

The format does, however, have its own effect: with a shared setting and turnkey stands, each exhibitor does not have to build a bespoke stand for two days. The organiser presents this all-inclusive concept as a cost advantage, and publishes no assessment of its environmental effect.

The show's evolution

Trajectory analysis

Design Nation was born in 2023 in Kortrijk, at Kortrijk Xpo, which long hosted the Biennale Interieur. According to the organiser, the format aims to renew the way furniture is presented, with just two days, a single shared setting and invitation-only entry. After two editions in Kortrijk, including the 2024 one with 109 exhibitors, mostly Belgian, the organiser skipped Belgium in 2025 for Berlin, then announced Paris.

What follows looks more like a circuit than a fixed trade show: Kortrijk and Düsseldorf in autumn 2026, Paris in February 2027, Berlin in autumn 2027. The organiser states that the concept stays identical at each edition; in Paris, it is backed by six French professional organisations.

The change in Paris dates, announced for February 2026 then placed in February 2027 with no explanation published, is the point for an exhibitor to watch. A first edition in a market already occupied by major design events still has to prove that it attracts the promised audience. No subsequent Paris edition is announced at the time of writing.

All data that does not name its source comes from the organiser's website.

Unless otherwise stated, all factual data in this listing comes from the organiser's official website (paris.design-nation.eu).