Ukraine Design Innovation Week: A New Voice for Ukraine in the Global Design Dialogue
Katia Koval, editor TG Form&Function, design brand manager
In 2024, Ukraine Design Innovation Week achieved another pivotal milestone in its journey toward international recognition, officially joining the World Design Weeks (WDW) global network—a prestigious community that encompasses over 40 initiatives across 30+ countries worldwide, including established Design Weeks in Helsinki, Tokyo, Milan, London, and Mexico City.
According to WDW organizers, the essential criteria for network membership include demonstrating a mature design community, a track record of at least three successfully executed design weeks, and a compelling program that showcases deep connections with the country's creative industries. Ukraine Design Innovation Week confidently fulfills all these requirements.
Milan Design Week
"We are delighted to welcome all Design Weeks that demonstrate genuine interest in the WDW community and maintain clear connections with the professional design environment. In Ukraine's case, we witnessed not only a high level of preparation but also strong motivation, openness to innovative solutions, and a desire to create positive societal change," noted Míriam León, PR and Communications Specialist at WDW.
WDW does not impose rigid standards, each team has the freedom to develop its own vision within the broader platform framework, provided it maintains professional excellence. Network participants regularly exchange experiences, research, and tools for building design ecosystems in their respective countries.
Ukrainian Design Innovation Week
"This was a breakthrough we hadn't even dared to dream of. People stayed until the very end, participants were thrilled, and many fully realized their exhibitions. The atmosphere, energy, and caliber of the audience, all of this became a gift to us. We are thrilled to be cultivating a design community that inspires, supports, and is already shaping a new cultural paradigm today," share the organizers, Anatoliy and Kateryna Roskovshenko.
«Design today is not merely form, but message. It is a symbol of change that inspires and instills faith in a better future.»
The event united not only local but also international market players, including representatives from Poland, Germany, France, Italy, and Great Britain.
"The 2025 season became compelling proof that Ukrainian design is strong, thoughtful, deeply rooted in context, and open to global dialogue," the organizers add. "Membership in World Design Weeks opens unique opportunities: experience exchange, adoption of international practices that have been developed over years, and stimulus for local industry development. This is a living platform for new collaborations, connections, and expanding professional horizons."
What does the exhibition offer participants? The founders of Tivoli and TVOI Studio brands shared their experiences.
Tivoli —Ukraine's largest manufacturer of wooden chairs and tables, participated in 13 exhibitions during 2023–2025 across Ukraine, Europe, and the USA. For the team, participation in UDIW represents an important strategic platform. The exhibition brings together the largest concentration of Ukrainian designers and industry professionals in one place, making brand representation here an essential component of domestic market positioning.
Exhibition participation consistently delivers tangible results for the brand: new sales, contracts, partnerships, and collaborations. However, effectiveness extends far beyond the event days, the team works comprehensively before, during, and after exhibitions, enabling growth of 15–30% depending on the host country.
"After each participation in UDIW, the brand records a noticeable increase in engaged audience—targeted followers, sales growth in our own showrooms and through the dealer network across Ukraine. But most valuable is the strengthening of the Ukrainian business community. For a brand, it's important to be part of a market that, despite the war, doesn't lose strength and strives to develop," shares co-founder Alla Lisovska.
TVOI Studio — a Zhytomyr-based home décor brand that manufactures custom wooden furniture. Participation in DESIGN HALL marked their first offline product presentation experience:
"Live contact with potential clients is invaluable. We don't have a physical gallery, so exhibitions are the only way to introduce Ukrainian audiences to our products in person. UDIW is a quality specialized event with our target audience."
For brands, this represents a unique opportunity to engage directly with their target audience, present new products, gather feedback, and establish direct contacts with designers, architects, and potential clients.
At the event, TVOI presented a line of bedside tables and a desk lamp, receiving positive feedback and validation of their market hypotheses. Following the exhibition, the brand's Instagram community grew by 200+ followers (half of whom are interior designers), and the team collected over 50 contacts from interested clients.