L.A. Design Week/end Doesn’t Want To Be Like the Rest

Words Tom BarkerDate 21 September 2026

Design fairs can be tough, and Holland Denvir knows it better than most. They’ve attended them, learned the ins and outs, and started Los Angeles Design Week/end as a community-focused alternative.

Holland Denvir founded L.A. Design Week/end the same way they began the majority of their personal projects: on a whim. “I'm quite impulsive. I’ve started most of my businesses from a small idea or an inkling and then run with it,” they say. “A lot of those have failed, but this one grew legs very quickly.” It started in February 2024 with Holland pinging out texts moaning about L.A.’s lack of a good design fair. Within two weeks, they had around 20 volunteers ready to start their own. Four months later, in June, the first L.A. Design Week/end arrived, comprising 46 partners and over 8,000 attendees, dwarfing Holland’s initial prediction that around 500 people would show up. 

“On the Friday night we hosted an exhibition, and then a couple of friends down the block had three parties in their building,” Holland recalls from the opening year. “That was the first moment where I thought, ‘oh, I have captured something that’s hard to do.’ In L.A., it's so unusual to jump from party to party. There was this energy, it felt spontaneous and free.” 

“The next morning, I saw people all over Chinatown,” continues Holland. “I went to an architecture practice, and people were lined up at 9:30am. I cried with happiness that morning.” Rose Zhang, a local creative director and designer, was also moved by the atmosphere. “I instantly felt something special,” she says, “the art was presented in a manner that was so grounded and community-oriented.”

For the following edition, Rose was inspired to get involved, hosting a group show connecting L.A.’s Asian-American community, and Design Week/end’s attendees grew to 12,000 people. Now, as we speak, Holland is deep in the planning for the third L.A. Design Week/end, where Rose is the curator of the tentpole group show, After The Tide, combining 19 artists and designers whose work is shaped by the forces of nature and were selected through an open call by LAD/W.

A true multi-hyphenate, Holland arrived in L.A. in 2012 to attend the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena (and dropped out after one semester). They’ve stuck around ever since, trying their hand at woodwork, interior design, owning a design showroom, and co-founding an exhibition series. At one point, were the first American employee of furniture giant Hem. Today, they split their time between being Head of Community and Partnerships for lighting specialist Gantri, running the custom rug manufacturer they co-founded, Nomadory, and, of course, LAD/W.

Over time, Holland has seen local design fairs come and go, and attended them all. “L.A. has not had a big design event. We’ve tried, and in my opinion, it hasn't succeeded,” they say. The goal is to change things, creating something that can be mentioned in the same breath as Milan Design Week, 3daysofdesign, and NYCxDesign, but without copying them. “When I visit other design weeks, often the focus is legacy brands and new things they’re doing. Our focus is independent designers, and then we layer in the more established brands. It’s the opposite of other design weeks,” says Holland. And that approach is palpable on the ground. “It’s the first organization to present such a high standard of art and feel inviting,” says Rose. “L.A. is home to many design fairs, but they always presented a perspective that felt distant and elitist.”

This year is LAD/W’s biggest yet. Starting September 30, it will incorporate over 130 designers, studios, galleries, and brands. Plenty of established names are included, from locals like the Silver Lake Pool & Inn hotel, who are hosting an exhibition with furniture studio Snyder DePass and Marta Gallery, which curated a list of the best things to see over the week, to international labels like Danish textile manufacturer Kvadrat and leading furniture maker Vitra, who are both hosting exhibitions. We're also getting involved, hosting a rooftop cocktail event in collaboration with Downtown L.A.'s Proper Hotel on the opening night. But these only make up a tiny percentage of the open studios, workshops, and talks.

“Our ethos is the more the merrier. If you want to open your doors and bring people in, you’re welcome to,” says Holland. “Some people think I’m too inclusive, that there should be some sort of standard, but I don't think I should be the arbiter of that. People can make their own opinions; we have this huge list of offerings, so just go where you want to.” The result is programming that extends from fashion design and jewelry to fine art. This year, there’s also a heightened focus on music through a partnership with local nonprofit radio station dublab, which is bringing performances and sound-driven programming to the festival as well as hosting two parties—one of which, in Holland’s words, will be “kind of like a rave in a bunker.”

Making sure as many people as possible take part in this five-day event is a personal mission for Holland. “When I had my brand, I felt that traditional design fairs like New York Design Week weren't the most inclusive to smaller brands and designers,” they say. “People claim to support emerging designers, but it tends to be untrue. This is why it was important to me to lower the barrier to entry with LAD/W.” The only restriction is that everything is on the east side, where Holland’s creative community resides. 

LAD/W focuses on industrial areas turned into design studios in the city’s east, making it walkable and accessible through public transport—a true rarity in L.A.’s infamously congested streets. After all, it was the local feeling, where everyone was running around visiting events on the same few blocks, that made the first L.A. Design Week/end so special. And even though the event’s growing rapidly, Holland is making sure that the community feel stays alive.