Join us for the official 2025 DesignTO Launch Party as we kick off our 15th Festival and celebrate DesignTO’s legacy of fostering belonging and sparking vital conversations about design’s role in shaping a better world.

This event brings together Toronto’s creative community and serves as a fundraiser for our non-profit Festival. Ticket proceeds will support our purpose of bringing people together to design a better future.

The Launch Party will take place at the Harbourfront Centre on Toronto’s waterfront! Experience a one-night-only installation by Toronto-based artist Asli Alin. Be among the first to see ‘REVIVE,’ a DesignTO-curated group exhibition in Gallery 235 featuring the work of seven local and international artists and designers. Additionally, explore three new exhibitions across the venue showcasing works in lighting, sculpture, glass, textiles, ceramics, and more. Dance the night away to music by DJs Fly Lady Di and Delicious.

Tickets

General Admission (until Jan 12, 2025): $24.99* + Harbourfront ticketing fee + HST
Members get 10% off and Premium Members 20% off until Jan 12, 2025, with promo code.

General Admission (Jan 13-24, 2025): $30* + Harbourfront ticketing fee + HST

*Ticketing price goes towards funding the non-profit DesignTO Festival.

This is a 19+ event. Please bring government-issued identification for access. Cash bar: cash, debit, and credit accepted.

About ‘Terrestrial Lace’ by Asli Alin

‘Terrestrial Lace’ draws inspiration from the elegant architectural structures inherent in natural systems, celebrating their intelligence and design. The installation features glowing clusters of interconnected polyhedral sculptures linked by illuminated fibers. As the colours of the formations shift, they cast dynamic reflections and shadows, creating an immersive and ever-changing visual experience for the audience.

Asli Alin is a dynamic visual artist whose creative explorations span a multitude of disciplines, including painting, and installation. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture, which brings a unique perspective to her approach to materials and forms. Her work has been shown in major art events and festivals throughout Ontario, including Nuit Blanche Toronto, Supercrawl Hamilton, Lumen Festival, Waterloo, and Lumière: The Art of Light, Toronto. In addition to her sculptural work, Asli is frequently commissioned by municipalities and corporations  to create murals in both digital and analogue format. Based in Toronto, Asli continues to push the boundaries of artistic expression, creating truly one-of-a-kind pieces that resonate with audiences.

About Fly Ladi Di

Toronto born multidisciplinary artist Diana Reyes, also known as Fly Lady Di, has DJ’d for elite entities such as Dior, Toronto Maple Leafs, eBay, Twitter, Jay Z’s D’Usse Cognac, Rihanna’s FENTY Beauty, Just For Laughs, SOHO House, Royal Ontario Museum, and Art Gallery of Ontario – to name a few. As a dancer, her credits include the film Honey (2003), Fall Out Boy’s Dance Dance video, as well as Jason Derulo, Ciara, the Clipse with Pharell, BlackSTREET, and many more. Diana has been featured on eTalk, CP24, CBC’s The National, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Chatelaine Magazine, Toronto Life, and Dance Current, amongst other media. She divides her time between Montreal and Toronto. 

About Delicious

DJ Delicious is an openly queer & trans DJ from Toronto. He has established himself as a dancefloor connaisseur, DJing various events across the city including InsideOut Film Festival Outbid, Skylight Brunch at W Hotel, Deep Inside, DFMO, Suds, Prance, HARDER and the iconic Yohomo presents Love on Top! Keep an eye out for Delicious playing electrifying, funky, disco and house in his sets and join him on the dancefloor!

About ‘REVIVE’

‘REVIVE’ is a group exhibition featuring the work of seven local and international artists and designers, exploring endangered creative practices and materials as vital expressions of storytelling and identity.

Featuring Judy Anderson, Delali Cofie, Justine Gustafson, Ji Hee Kim, Mari Koppanen, Roda Medhat, and Jessie Sohpaul, this multidisciplinary exhibition includes a broad range of works in sculpture, installation, photography, functional objects, and textiles that explore the intersections of tradition and innovation.

About Harbourfront Centre Exhibitions

Harbourfront Centre presents ‘Material Practice’, a series of exhibitions highlighting craft and design methodologies that explore the intersections between making and material, to investigate ideas of sustainability and resilience, risk-taking and legacy.

About DesignTO

DesignTO is a non-profit arts organization celebrating 15 years of designing a sustainable, just, and joyful future. From Jan 24-Feb 2, 2025, the DesignTO Festival features 100+ free events across Toronto, showcasing hundreds of artists and designers. Known as Canada’s largest annual design festival, DesignTO has welcomed over 1 million attendees, reached 2.6 billion people through media, supported 6,500+ artists, and generated $120 million in tourism impact. “DesignTO isn’t just a festival; it’s an anti-loneliness machine,” co-founder Christina Zeidler remarked, underscoring the organization’s power to foster belonging and spark vital conversations about design’s role in shaping a better world.

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The ‘DesignTO Festival Launch Party’ is organized by DesignTO in partnership with Harbourfront Centre, and supported by the Government of Ontario, the City of Toronto, and Weston Premium Woods, with media partner AZURE Magazine.