Is 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen the new Milan Design Week?

A roundup of the best rugs and textiles at 3daysofdesign2025

It was interesting to note the number of times I heard people say, ‘I love this event, it’s so much nicer than going to Milan!’ during my two days at 3daysofdesign in Copenhagen last week. Obviously, the city is smaller and much easier to navigate than Milan, with the majority of design events taking place within a small radius of the centre. Always the show to be seen at, Milan has become a design event behemoth with every fashion and corporate brand wanting a part of the action. A visit to Milan in April now means queuing for installations, battling crowds and missing out on half the good stuff. By comparison, Copenhagen’s growing design event is calm, professional and manageable with a 3daysofdesign event app that guides you around the city.

The core of the event consists of showroom installations by one or several brands focused in 6 main central districts and two districts to the north. If you have energy, most of this is walkable and within a day I got my bearings. If not, the straightforward metro system covers the city well or you can always hire a bike and join in with the locals’ favourite way to travel.

Focusing on the central zone of Kongens Nytorv, Linie Design had an elegant display of neutral rug designs made in collaboration with Japanese brand Karimoku Case, in the company’s showroom on Palægade. Showing off new rugs by Yabu Pushelberg and artist Gregor Hildebrandt within beautiful room settings, Man of Parts took over the fabulous historic property of Harsdorff House as part of the Framing event. The elegant building, which is now run as a coworking space by Office Club, was a great backdrop for the latest design pieces. 

Within walking distance, Armadillo’s rugs looked great alongside furniture by Expormim and Saba Italia in The Conary and Layered showed off their new collaboration with artist Heather Chontos in the gallery space of the lovely Kismet Café. The installation comprised rugs, paintings and art equipment to give a creative setting. More inspiring work was presented by Japanese textile designer Yuri Himuro, who showed her COLORWAVE textiles for the first time outside of Japan. The striking collection has an innovative structure so that the pattern changes depending on the viewing angle.

Rezas are one of the rug brands stocked at the prestigious Illums Bolighus store on Amagertorv, and for 3DD the company decided, along with other stocked design brands, to have a presence in-store. This included a well-attended talk by Reto Aschwanden from Label STEP about the ways and purposes of ensuring fair trade practices in rug production.

Sizing up to the larger, multi-brand shows, Framing is probably the best-known and most respected of 3DD. For its sixth edition in 2025, New York’s Warp & Weft was one of the 40+ brands taking part, showing off a beautiful new collection to mark the firm’s 25-year anniversary (see COVER 79). The elegant space of The Odd Fellow Palace gave the various designs on display by names such as Maharam, Kasthall and Woodnotes, a sense of gravitas. Like many spaces in Copenhagen last week, there were thousands of people streaming through the building all day, every day.  

Further group events included the refined Texture of Time display, which comprised text-focused rugs by local brand Knothouse alongside art by Susanne Storm and Kim Richardt. Nanimarquina’s rugs were installed in small room settings in the open plan space of group show Past Forward in the Frederiksstaden district.

North of Kastellet and in the Armerikakaj district, Ark Journal’s Design Dialogue at Pakhaus 11 was a great space for creatvity in an industrial setting. Rug brands included cc-tapis— who showed the amazing jute dhurries by Destroyers/Builders—and Maison Rhizomes, who displayed Rhizomes 1 white by Charlotte Culot.

Held at photography studio The Lab Cph, slightly off city centre, Other Circle was a fun group show that launched in 2025. Aiming to encapsulate elements of design, art, music, food, and fashion, the work of small international design studios was combined to present a joyful and innovative mix of ideas. Rop van Mierlo’s colourful, shaggy Grandma Pattern rugs for cc-tapis were part of the blend.

On more exhibition worth mentioning was the French Fiber show of French textile artists at the French Embassy. Highlights included Simone Pheulpin’s stunning cotton sculptures, Aurélie Mathigot’s striking photo textiles and Mona Cara’s giant tapestry La Mer Poubelle.

For 3daysofdesign 2025, Copenhagen has never been so busy. The number of brands showing and visitors making their first trip to the design event was remarkable for those who had worked at a previous edition. Compared to the rambunctious Milan Design Week, Copenhagen may be a bit more sedate and intimate, but I see that the show is growing and will no doubt see changes in the next few years.