Red Dot Award: Product Design 2025 – The best designers of the year celebrate in Essen

Images of the award ceremony can be found here.

On 8 July 2025, Essen became the hotspot of the international design scene. Creatives, companies and design enthusiasts from all over the world gathered on Tuesday evening for the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2025 award ceremony. It was an evening full of emotions, exciting moments and impressive designs, which began in the iconic Aalto Theatre – designed by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto – and ended with the Designers’ Night in and around the Red Dot Design Museum at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Zollverein. Among the approximately 1,300 guests were renowned chief designers from world-famous brands such as Philips, Thule, Walter Knoll, KIA, BRP, Lamborghini and many more. For the first time, the Red Dot Gala was also streamed live – with commentary by Jova Zec, Vice President of Red Dot, and Freddie Schürheck, presenter and journalist.

International stage for excellent design

At 6 p.m. sharp, the spotlight turned to the stage of the Red Dot Gala 2025. Professor Dr. Peter Zec, initiator and CEO of Red Dot, welcomed numerous guests from the worlds of design, business, media and culture. This year's award winners travelled from all around the world, including China, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the USA, Brazil, Sweden, Italy and the UK. They were all honoured for their exceptional design achievements, which once again underlined the global relevance of the Red Dot Award. Essen’s mayor, Thomas Kufen, also praised the creative spirit that gathers in the Ruhr metropolis year after year.

“Best of the Best” for outstanding design

Together with jury members Kazuo Tanaka, Qin Li and Robin Edman, Professor Zec presented the coveted “Red Dot: Best of the Best” trophies to designers whose products impressed with their innovative strength, design precision and functional excellence. The winners, who accepted their trophies personally on stage, provided emotional highlights with their palpable joy and pride – and made the creative diversity behind the products tangible for the audience.

A choreographed interlude

The performance by the Aalto Ballet provided an atmospheric interlude: with an excerpt from Johan Ingers’ ballet “Carmen”, the ensemble marked an artistic turning point in the evening’s programme and elegantly led into the festive highlight. The story is told from the perspective of a child who witnesses a tragic obsession.

BRP named Design Team of the Year

The BRP Design & Innovation Team was crowned “Red Dot: Design Team of the Year 2025” to thunderous applause – an honorary title that has been awarded exclusively to outstanding design teams on the international design scene since 1988. In recent years, Apple, Ferrari, Grohe and, most recently, Thule have received this special recognition. The “Radius” challenge cup, which bears the name of each award-winning design team, was ceremoniously presented by Henrik Eriksson, Global Design Director at Thule, to Denys Lapointe, Chief Design Officer at BRP.

In a personal laudatory speech, José Boisjoli, President and CEO of BRP, praised the team led by Denys Lapointe for its creative excellence, passion and tireless commitment to actively shaping the future of BRP. “Design is a lever of growth and it has a seat at the table where strategic decisions are made,” said Boisjoli. The title recognises BRP’s ongoing commitment to forward-looking, user-centred design and its pursuit of creating a holistic and harmonious customer experience. BRP follows Thule as the new title holder.

After-show party with an industrial backdrop

The gala was followed by a celebration: for the Designers’ Night, the Red Dot Design Museum was transformed into a vibrant backdrop for conversations, encounters and a lively atmosphere. DJ CHRISSI D provided the perfect beats, while the beer garden, culinary highlights and exciting discoveries in the exhibitions ensured an all-round successful atmosphere.

A special highlight of the evening was the exclusive vehicle exhibition for the award ceremony: for the first time, all vehicles awarded a Red Dot: Best of the Best were displayed together. In a hall over 50 metres long and in the adjacent outdoor area, guests were able to experience the award-winning models up close, including highlights such as the Can-Am Pulse '73 Electric Motorcycle from BRP, the Ferrari 12Cilindri and the Ferrari F80, the Polestar 4, the Porsche Macan Turbo, the Lamborghini Revuelto, the Kia EV3, the Valtra S Series, the Jungheinrich EJC 112i and the BRABUS BIG BOY 1200, which was presented together with the BRP motorcycle in the outdoor area.

Premieres in the museum and exclusive outdoor exhibition by BRP

Three new exhibitions celebrated their premiere at the Designers’ Night in the Red Dot Design Museum: “Red Dot Milestones 2025–2026” showcases the 89 best products of the year from all competition categories until 31 May 2026. “Design on Stage 2025–2026” presents around 1,500 award-winning products on five museum floors and can also be seen until 31 May 2026. For the first time, the new One-Minute Design Challenge invites visitors to sharpen their eyes: on the second floor, a staged children’s bicycle by Woom challenges visitors to concentrate fully on its design for one minute – the solution, with surprising details, can be found directly on the back of the presentation wall.

In addition, “Adventure by Design – BRP Design & Innovation Team” offers deep insights into the creative world of the current Red Dot: Design Team of the Year until 9 September 2025. A special highlight is the extension of this exhibition to the outdoor area: until 13 July, visitors can experience an exclusive selection of 12 award-winning vehicles from the BRP Design & Innovation Team on the grounds surrounding the museum. These vehicles impress not only with their technical sophistication, but also with a powerful design language that combines a spirit of adventure, speed and precision.

Discover all the winners online

All the award-winning products of the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2025 are now available online in the Winners section of the Red Dot website – including the jury's comments, background information and images.