Eleven designers using surprising and sustainable materials at Design Week Mexico

From collaborations with fashion brands and oat milk companies to the use of everyday materials, designers during Design Week Mexico 2025 exhibited the best of material experimentation in Mexico City's scene.

Every year, the organisers of Design Week Mexico put together showcases to illustrate different aspects of creativity and function in the country and region.

It included showcases highlighting Mexican craft and exhibitions of cutting-edge design and full build-outs of houses, as well as several off-site exhibitions.

By far the most impressive aspect of the week was the yearly Inédito design showcase. Put on in a modernist pavilion in the Bosque de Chapultepec park, this year's addition saw a new layout, taking advantage of the recently renovated space.

Many of the designers below were featured there, with some showing in the annual Design House showcase.

Read on for 11 studios that stood out for their material usage at Design Week Mexico 2025.

Studio H Fernández

At Design House, Studio H Fernández created a structural panel system featuring self-standing stainless-steel posts and spikes to showcase a collection of its furniture alongside others, in collaboration with furniture partner Bo Concept Mexico.

The metal of the impressive panel-and-post system was echoed in the Mutualismo lights, made from painted stone accented by simple bulbs that appear extremely modern without losing the integrity of the stone's texture.

Drusch Design

Local design studio Drusch Design worked with Texas manufacturer Interceramic to create the Fragmentum coffee table for the Inédito showcase.

The coffee table features a metal framework with green tiles attached at the end to form a table, with gaps in between. This creates a "ceramic grid that balances tension and equilibrium" and explores "how fragments align and converge until accumulation defines a unified volume", according to Drusch Design.

Lynn Lin

New York-based designer Lynn Lin brought a series of sculptural lamps called Soll to the Inédito showcase, informed by Mexican modernist architecture and "merging contemporary design with traditional craftsmanship", according to Lin.

Drawing on the tectonics of the architecture, Lin used mulberry paper to clad the lights that sit on bases of volcanic stone, accented by powder-coated steel elements that form shelves at some points and flower holders at others.

Muntanya Lab

For the Inédito showcase, local studio Muntanya Lab showcased its bio-based furniture, including lamps, wall-hangings and a stool.

Central to the booth was the stool made from a matcha-based resin and wrapping paper made with oat milk residue, made in collaboration with oat milk company Oatly.

Daniel Couttolenc Studio

Local designer Daniel Couttolenc created a series of clean, geometric tables utilising several different types of wood. Combined, the pieces create visual interest while maintaining a subdued, natural palette.

According to the designer, the intention was to create a "balance between the rational grid and organic complexity of the materials".

Aileen De La Ree Valencia

Presented at an exhibition called Of Threads, where Mexican-American designers were asked to show pieces based on remembered or imagined ideas of Mexico, was the El Maguey chair by American designer Valencia.

The wood chair with a fibre back was created to "challenge Western dining postures" and Valencia said that its creation was led by asking how a more equitable collaboration with Mesoamerican and European culture may have looked if not for colonisation.

Sulkin Askenazi

Local design studio Sulkin Askenazi collaborated with local fashion studio Alterego, merging its interior design expertise with the material knowledge of Alterego to create a gym where many of the elements are made of denim.

Called Sutura, the exhibition was showcased at Design House. It was designed to "question the boundaries between physical effort and aesthetic expression" and to explore how design can alter the everyday and turn it into an aesthetic act, the studio said.

LCR-44 Studio

For the Inédito showcase, local outfit LCR-44 Studio decided to address what it views as a problem in Mexico City – bike theft. Its lock, called KL-08, was designed to be built into public infrastructure with a steel base that supports a concrete-and-steel mechanism.

It was designed to be used on multiple bike types and to secure the frame and wheels so that cyclists only need one lock.

¡pling!

At Inédito, local studio ¡pling! showcased a shelf from its Línea Cotidiano collection, which utilises "everyday construction materials and integrate[s] them with more refined touches".

The Gabinete Cotidiano features polycarbonate sheets commonly used in roofing with a structural system made out of elegant tzalam, a hardwood found in the state of Yucatan.

Daniela Ávila

Showcased at Inédito, designer Daniela Ávila's Indice coffee table showcases the continuing dedication and experimentation in Mexico to utilising post-consumer plastic in design.

Using recycled plastic sheets, the piece features a glass plate stacked over two columns made of vertical slats spaced in a way that allows for books to be stored, creating a playful and useful rebirth for waste.

Imanol Ortiz

Also at Inédito, Mexican industrial designer Imanol Ortiz showcased the Contra Luz collection, using polished metals, translucent resins, and fine woods.

"The designs encourage people to slow down and notice how light interacts with matter and how that interaction triggers memories or feelings," said Ortiz.

Design Week Mexico runs from 9 October 2025 to 2 November 2026. For more events, showcases and talks in architecture and design, visit Dezeen Events Guide. 

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