Rock & Soar in Miami: Design Week Highlights, Fresh Connections, and Familiar Faces
Rock & Soar have been warmly received in the US, and this December we visited both our existing clients for bespoke projects and several new interior design studios. It was also a pleasure to experience Miami Design Week for the first time and to understand its global position in relation to other international fairs.
Design Miami was a well-curated, intimate fair dominated by leading galleries - many familiar faces, of British exhibitors, such as Adrian Sassoon, Charles Burnand and David Gill, were exceptional as always. This year’s theme, Make. Believe., explored the depths of craft through imagination and the spirit of fantasy. Each booth offered its own world of unusual forms, vivid colours and layered textures - from otherworldly botanical silhouettes to playful, abstract sculptural pieces. It was a visual feast of intricate craftsmanship and expressive creativity, with plenty of variety across exhibitors.
It’s worth noting that a ticket to Design Miami grants access only to that segment of the wider Design Week. It is a fair with a similar feel to PAD London, with the same type of galleries exhibiting. Other fairs such as Art Basel, require separate tickets on their respective days, so it’s important to check schedules in advance (public days typically run Friday to Sunday). Helpful resources for planning include Faena, Design Miami, the Miami Design District and Art Basel.
As with many design weeks, invitations for key events are often released less than a week before they begin, making it challenging to build a firm itinerary in advance. This added some difficulty when scheduling client meetings, especially when trying to avoid the inevitable traffic (Collins Avenue is certainly one to steer clear of!). Free water taxis and shuttle services are available to help navigate between locations, and staying close to South Beach is ideal, though prices understandably reflect the convenience.
What stands out most in Miami is the sense of play, experimentation and boldness - a city unafraid to embrace colour, character and the imaginative edges of craft. At Art Basel Miami Beach, Moniomi presented an immersive, nature-inspired room display for the Chubb VIP lounge, complete with hand-painted wallpaper, custom furniture and carefully considered lighting, all elevated by a daring palette of olive greens and golds that captured a richly botanical, Miami-infused essence.
There is a huge range of exhibitions and design talks to see over the course of the week and we could have easily absorbed ourselves every day if we had had the time. A few things we’ve taken away from our trip are:
Arrive the weekend before, rest, recover from the jetlag so you can gather your bearings and hit the road exploring on the Monday.
Design Miami & Art Basel are in the same area but need two separate tickets. Do this on the same day.
Try and keep your meetings to 1-2 full days with the rest of the days completely free to move around the city for research.
Driving to the water-taxi to get the boat and then the shuttle, isn’t necessarily faster or more convenient than driving yourself but is certainly slightly better for the environment.
Moniomi X Chubb VIP Lounge. - https://www.elledecor.com/life-culture/travel/a69613296/art-basel-miami-beach-2025/
