The inaugural interior design days cologne (idd cologne) took place from 26 to 29 October 2025, transforming the city into a hub for contemporary interior design. With 106 premium brands across 16 locations, more than 70 events, and approximately 10,000 registered visitors, the decentralised format brought design directly into the urban environment, combining brand presentations with curated tours, talks, and networking opportunities.
© idd cologne
"With idd cologne, we have started a new chapter together with the industry. The innovative format brought interior design there where it lives, in the middle of the city, to the people, into the urban environment," said Oliver Frese, Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse. "The premiere impressively demonstrated the potential to be found in linking trade fairs and metropolitan areas and sustainably reinforced Cologne's role as a furniture and design location."
The "urban-only" concept placed creative collections and design trends in architecturally distinctive locations such as Design Post Köln, the listed Stoff-Pavillon Moeller, and the machwerkhaus köln. Additional showrooms, flagship stores, and pop-up formats completed a city-wide interior design tour, showcasing solutions for residential, hospitality, and contract segments.
Highlights included the Urban Design Walks, offering immersive tours of central venues, and the Architonic Talks, where leading architects and designers discussed longevity, emotional spatial impact, brand identity, and material properties. The idd cologne Aperitivo at Stoff-Pavillon Moeller provided a relaxed networking platform for the design community. Across the city, workshops, live performances, and exhibitions reflected the event's creative diversity.
Leo Lübke, President of the Association of the German Furniture Industry (VDM), commented: "idd cologne has shown what characterises our industry: creativity, entrepreneurial spirit and the courage to embark on new paths. The need for an exchange of ideas, visibility and inspiration is great, and it is precisely here that idd cologne takes its impetus: as a platform combining encounters and design culture in a unique way, close to the market, close to people, close to the future of interiors."
Christian Haeser, Managing Director of the Federal Association of the German Furniture, Kitchen and Furnishing Trade (BVDM), added: "The focus on premium brands and high quality interiors in the urban realm had its finger right on the pulse of the times. Especially strong was the proximity and the experienceability, design was not only shown here, but was instead made tangible: spatially, emotionally and authentically. For the trade, idd cologne offered precisely what it needs, inspiration, exchange and a true overview of what is coming."
The event demonstrates the growing importance of flexible, urban-oriented trade fair concepts in response to evolving market dynamics, positioning idd cologne as a pivotal platform for interior design in Germany and internationally.
More information:
idd cologne
www.idd-cologne.com
