Salone del Mobile to launch "fully-fledged" Saudi edition in 2026
The world's most important furniture fair, Milan's Salone del Mobile, has announced plans to launch a satellite fair in Riyadh to "create a cultural and commercial bridge between Italy and Saudi Arabia".
Its debut edition, set to take place in the final quarter of 2026, will bring together a selection of Italian design brands and local Saudi designers, architects, developers and contractors.
"The city will host a fully-fledged Salone del Mobile," explained Salone del Mobile president Maria Porro.
This fair will be "at the service of Saudi Arabia's design ecosystem", Porro added, while aiming to bolster exports of Italian design in this key growth market.
Buoyed by new hospitality and residential developments, the local market for furniture, fixtures and equipment is expected to surge by almost a third by the end of the decade, reaching a value of nine billion dollars.
The developments form part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 plan, aimed at shifting the economy away from its reliance on oil, which includes the controversial Neom development and its flagship project The Line.
The strategy also includes the missions to bolster "both the quality and quantity" of the kingdom's cultural activity, with efforts to promote traditional architecture and local design.
"Saudi Vision 2030 is an idea of the future in which design, in its many different dimensions, is a key element – because design is a builder of worlds," said Porro.
"Today we are here to contribute with our experience, we are here to start a proactive dialogue for the organisation of a Salone del Mobile in Saudi Arabia with the aim of throwing open not just new business opportunities, but also new opportunities for cultural dialogue, putting companies, industry professionals and also universities and young talents at the centre."
Salone del Mobile's Riyadh edition forms part of a larger strategic partnership between the Saudi Ministry of Culture and the Italian Federation of Woodworking and Furniture, formalised by a memorandum in January 2025.
"This memorandum represents an extraordinary opportunity for the Salone del Mobile.Milano to create a cultural and commercial bridge between Italy and Saudi Arabia," Porro said at the time of the signing.
"Through our collaboration, we aim to valorise Italian design and foster a fruitful exchange of skills and creativity with the Saudi context," she added.
In advance of the full-scale fair in 2026, Salone del Mobile is also hosting a smaller three-day exhibition in the Financial Plaza of Riyadh's King Abdullah Financial District this month.
This will including pieces by 35 Italian furniture companies, including Arper, Cassina, Flos and Poltrona Frau, alongside work from emerging local designers.
The exhibition will be accompanied by an installation from Italian architecture studio Giò Forma, fresh on the heels of completing the Design Space AlUla gallery in Saudi's AlUla region.
Lissoni & Partners studio is also creating a business lounge for the event to host meetings and presentations with key Saudi decision-makers.
This isn't the first time that the world's most important furniture fair, originally founded in 1961, has hosted fairs in other countries. Previously, Salone del Mobile also held international editions in Moscow and Shanghai.
The top photo by Hufton + Crow shows Zaha Hadid Architects' King Abdullah Financial District Metro Station.
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