2025 marked a year of remarkable achievements for Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC). Through our diverse flagship programmes, we continue to deepen our connection with the community and actively foster the development of creative industries in Hong Kong. In 2025, we further consolidated Hong Kong's position as a design hub in Asia, bridging East and West, elevating the international influence of local design while encouraging cross-cultural design dialogues that bring design thinking into everyone’s life.
The restored Golden Phoenix Grill Restaurant neon sign illuminates DX design hub in Sham Shui Po.
Culture and Heritage
The ‘Luminous Neon’ exhibition, which opened at DX design hub in December, has generated widespread attention across the city, drawing discussion from conservation, academic and cultural sectors, it has also inspired a series of professional and public guided tours, underscoring HKDC's influence in preserving local cultural heritage. The exhibition transcended mere preservation—it showcased how heritage has become a key topic in global design discourse. Co-presented with Tetra Neon Exchange, the exhibition featured restored neon signs including Golden Phoenix Grill Restaurant, Tai Ping Koon, Nam Cheong Pawn Shop and Lee Kung Man, the latter making its first public appearance since dismantling in 2023. These luminous symbols of urban memory have become recognised by international curators and design scholars as a distinctive visual language that embodies Hong Kong’s urban aesthetics.
'Urban Yarns', curated by Betty Wong, explored Hong Kong's textile heritage, elevating local craftsmanship as a subject for international design research.
Beyond neon culture, local traditional crafts equally demand preservation and transmission. 'Urban Yarns', curated by Betty Wong from the Laws Knitting Studio and presented from September to November, traced the historical context of Hong Kong's textile industry. These exhibitions do not simply document the past, they elevate local craftmanship to a topic worthy of study and research in the international design community.
Orchestrating Global Dialogues
Business of Design Week 2025 captured global attention as a premier design event. With Italy as the 2025 partner country, the Summit held from 3 to 5 December, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre explored the theme 'Curiosity Ignites Design Innovation', convening over 50 experts and business leaders from international leading brands, enterprises and architectural design firms, including Ron Arad, Patrizia Moroso and Angelica Visconti, attracting over 15,000 participants.
Business of Design Week 2025 brought the year's convergence into focus under the theme 'Curiosity Ignites Design Innovation'.
The Italian collaboration extended to multiple exhibitions at DX design hub, including 'FABRICa: Italian Textile Style and Innovation' and 'Engineered Reverie: Hong Kong Textile Futures’ from October to November, exploring the artistry of Italian textile craftsmanship; ‘The Challenge’, examining sports design innovation; ‘Salvatore Ferragamo Fashion Spotlight’, presenting five classic footwear designs spanning 1938 to 1947; and ‘QEEBOO Rabbit’ display on The Steps, showcasing the iconic rabbit chairs by Italian brand QEEBOO, with their playful design philosophy interpreting the joy that design brings. These exhibitions not only highlighted Italy's rich creative heritage but also infused Hong Kong's design community with fresh inspiration.
The ‘Beautiful Craft & Design Exchange’ Exhibition from the Czech Republic, held from August to September, brought 40 works combining traditional and innovative craftsmanship to DX design hub, demonstrating Czech heritage and transmission. The collaboration with the Netherlands produced two exhibitions—'Designing Circularity’ and ‘All Things Circular’—deepening Hong Kong's thought leadership in sustainable design practices. These cross-disciplinary collaborations fully demonstrate how HKDC helps Hong Kong leverage design and creativity as a medium, fulfilling its role as 'super connector' and 'super value-adder', strengthening its position as the East-meets-west centre for international cultural exchange.
The ‘Beautiful Craft & Design Exchange’ fosters cross-cultural design exchanges at DX design hub, establishing Hong Kong as a thought leader in sustainable design practices.
Strengthening Greater Bay Area Connections
‘DXGRAVITY: Design Connects GBA’ brought together the design power of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Curated by Kent Wong, a seasoned design entrepreneur and cultural curator, the exhibition presented the Greater Bay Area's most vibrant design lifestyles through five zones, showcasing the close connections between cities and cross-boundary creativity. From product design and architectural spaces to visual communication, the exhibition connect top design talent across the Greater Bay Area, uniting diverse creative inspiration to present outstanding works driving social progress. Running from December 2025 through March 2026, it establishes a deeper exchange platform between Hong Kong's design community and the Greater Bay Area, allowing the world to witness the extraordinary vitality of Greater Bay Area design.
'DXGRAVITY: Design Connects GBA' united Greater Bay Area design power through five zones, showcasing cross-boundary creativity and urban connections.
Nurturing Design Talent
HKDC remains committed to nurturing the next generation of local design talent, implementing various initiatives including the DFA Awards and a range of incubation programmes, providing resources for emerging designers to lead outstanding Hong Kong design onto the global stage.
Simultaneously, The Fashion-Pop at DX design hub has become an ideal platform for showcasing young fashion designers' creative work. Emerging designers and SMEs can display their innovative designs at The Fashion-Pop, engaging directly with the market and building brand recognition. Through exhibition projects by incubation programme graduates, The Fashion-Pop provides invaluable practical experience and exposure opportunities for young design talent, promoting the flourishing development of the fashion creative industry.
Reimagining Community
DX design hub has consistently strengthened community connections, continuously injecting new energy into Sham Shui Po. In 2025, we transformed this neighbourhood into a vital platform for exchange between the international design community and local creative sectors through over 200 exhibitions, events and workshops.
More than 200 exhibitions, events and workshops in 2025 transformed DX design hub into a cultural catalyst platform.
ARTA Architects, founded by DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award winners Arnold Wong and Tat-Lik Wong, created ‘Interwoven Realms’, a three-storey kinetic installation at The Atrium of DX design hub in October. The installation utilised fabrics from Sham Shui Po's textile market supplier Shun Cheong Piece Goods, establishing an emotional connection to this fashion area. ‘Plant Your Seat’, held from August to October, invited the public to draw flowers digitally, transforming imaginative ideas into unique chair designs, encouraging public participation in creation. The 'Drop In - Drop into the vibe of skateboarding culture' Exhibition, which opened in December, explored how skateboarding evolved from street culture to design aesthetics, presenting the vitality and creativity of skateboarding culture through interactive installations and multimedia displays, demonstrating how technology and tradition converge in public space.
Towards 2026
Entering 2026, DX design hub continues this momentum, driving innovation across different fields. From exploring emerging cultures to showcasing cross-regional design styles, design thinking permeates fashion, sports, lifestyle aesthetics and various other dimensions.
This year, Switzerland has confirmed as the partner country for the Business of Design Week 2026, further validating Hong Kong's position as the design hub in Asia. We will actively expand our international network through participation in overseas exhibitions, hosting design dialogues and other activities, promoting outstanding local designers and their works to the Chinese Mainland and international stages, allowing more audiences to discover Hong Kong design and fulfilling Hong Kong's vital role of 'bringing in and going out'.
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