A Brief History of Italian Design Icons

The “IDI Italian Design Icons” exhibition that is “a unique celebration of Italian design, culture and excellence” is held every year during the period of Design Week, as many top Italian brands showcase their glorious, stylish products. As well as exhibiting some of the most iconic products of top tier quality Italian brands of industrial design, we organize many lectures - held by architects, designers, professors and representatives of the exhibiting brands - as well as a VIP cocktail party, with selected guests and a press conference, together with interviews in conjunction with some of the most famous local and international media outlets.

The idea of conducting IDI originated from DP Group, and in November from 18th to 20th, 2016, the first edition of IDI was successfully held in Shanghai at the Condé Nast Center, with a wonderful collection of many brands of design that celebrated the universal excellence in living: Italian design and the “Dolce Vita” lifestyle.  The exhibits were warmly praised by the audience, as they allowed Chinese people to learn more about Italy and Italian products.

In 2017, the second edition of the Italian Design Icons exhibition was held in Shanghai at the Magda Danysz Gallery on the Bund, with the themes of Travel – Journey. All visitors were ready to fly to Italy without ever having to board a plane as top brands deriving from various business sectors from furniture to luxury cars all showcased their icons.

In June of 2018, the first edition of Italian Design Icons South-West exhibition was held in Chengdu with the topic of “Environment and Sustainability” at EasyHome Top Design Center. We had the pleasure of hosting many great speakers, VIP guests and visitors in the Sichuan Capital. Later in the year, November, Italian Design Icons 3rd Edition 2018 took place in Shanghai at the M50 Art area in Liang Project Gallery which achieved great success with prestigious media partners such as  “ MilanoFinanza” and “Class Editori”.

In June 2019, we brought the Italian Design Icons exhibition to beautiful Chongqing, with the topic “Environment and Sustainability” at TestBed2, the art area of Chongqing. The anticipation was palpable as the gallery had lines of people waiting outside to come to see the iconic brands of Italy and join us for the lectures.

This year, the 4th edition of Italian Design Icons 2019 will be held from November 15th to 17th, in the ideaPod, on the Bund, which has been newly opened in September of this year. Some of this year’s exhibition brands are already very familiar to us, such as Ansaldo Breda, Ariston, Comau, Fincantieri, IGuzzini, Maserati, Pirelli, Poltrona Frau. There’s also a long list of brilliant companies that have their first chance to tell us more about themselves during the IDI exhibition, they are: Casappa, Costa Asia, Ducati, FAAM, Itema, and Targetti.

This year we  are  glad to proudly announce that we have many great partners, such as: Institutional partners – Consulate General of Italy in Shanghai , LUISS, SJTU School of Design, CICC and  Fondazione Italia Cina; Media Partners: Baidu, Milano Finanza, Class Editori, We and China; Supporting Partners: ideaPod the Bund, New Sky, Sun events and exhibitions, Vudafieri and Saverino Partners; F&B Partners: Mamma Mia, SinoDrink, Aperol and Pinto.

  • Mr. Ermanno Vitali, FAAM General Manager


  • Mr. Giancarlo Tintori, Art Director of ID &AA S.r.l.


  • Mr. Stefano Piontini, Head of Asia Pacific and Creative Director of VudafieriSaverino Partners


  • Mr. Per Erik Bjornsen, CEO of Morph Design Consulting Ltd.


  • Mr. Charly Cai, Baidu Key Account Department, Director of Cosmetics and Luxury Industries


  • Mr. Fabrizio Cazzoli, General Manager of Ducati China 


  • Mr. Dai Kun, Architect, Director of C Foundation, Founder of Easy-Home Interior Design Co., Ltd 

There is no doubt that everyone who visits IDI will be inspired by these products as they represent the outstanding design and cultural heritage of Italy, you will be able to experience the charm of this country in person. See you there!