Dressed to Sleep
2027 ThemeFor its 10th edition, the prestigious Elite Design Awards, organised by Maison Elite, invites designers to draw inspiration from haute couture, dressing a bed just as a fashion house crafts a silhouette. Each candidate is invited to bring this couture vocabulary into dialogue with Maison Elite's upholstery craftsmanship.
The aim: to reveal a bed as a unique piece, where attention to detail, the sensuality of materials and the rigour of an inherited gesture echo everything that defines an exceptional garment.
For its 10th edition, the prestigious Elite Design Awards, organised by Maison Elite, invites designers to draw inspiration from haute couture, dressing a bed just as a fashion house crafts a silhouette. Each candidate is invited to bring this couture vocabulary into dialogue with Maison Elite's upholstery craftsmanship.
The aim: to reveal a bed as a unique piece, where attention to detail, the sensuality of materials and the rigour of an inherited gesture echo everything that defines an exceptional garment.
Why take part?
- Gain international visibility
- Express your creativity
- Bring your project to life
- Help shape the future of luxury bedding
Register now and give free rein to your imagination!
Prizes
Chiffres
Participating countries
The Elite Design Awards brings together talents from over 40 countries around the world.
Candidates
Every year, over 200 candidates submit their projects.
Winners
Since EDA's creation, 30 winners have been awarded.
Previous editions
Inspiring and innovative themes have been explored during those editions.
Registration
Try your luck! We look forward to receiving your application.
Maison Elite
Presentation
Elite is part of the craft tradition of Master Upholsterer Jules-Henri Caillet and was created in Yens-sur-Morges in Switzerland in 1895. Initially, the Caillet family specialised in upholstery and then went on to gain expertise in mattress manufacturing and build a reputation in the region. With the advent of automated tools, Robert Caillet, the founder's son, sought to integrate progress within his company by marrying craft and mechanisation. In his view, and indeed that of successive generations, progress was key to the manufacture of a good mattress.
Artisan production offers freedom of choice and the opportunity to use high-quality natural materials (Swiss wool, alpaca wall, cashmere, pure tail hair, camel wool, Tussar silk, etc.). Expertise in combining these different materials and rigorous design combine to produce exceptional bedding. “Fine materials for a good night’s sleep”. From the outset, the family business was careful to select only environmentally friendly, sustainable raw materials. Production, which still takes place in Switzerland, relies on a relationship of trust with partners, expertise and attention to details by the company’s employees. This leads to ethical, ecological and social responsibility both on the part of partners and customers as on that of its employees.
Elite house seeks to forge its own distinctive path and prioritise craftsmanship and well-being. It is alert to customer experience and offers bespoke solutions. It strives its utmost to ensure that its products are both sustainable and environmentally friendly.
From consultation to manufacture, Elite’s employees are constantly on hand to meet their customers’ every demand. A job well done, the pursuit of excellence – these are the values that Elite seeks to convey in designing its products. The company is defined not only by its quality guarantees and commitment to innovation internally, but also by its fine, delicate materials and the talents of its craft workers.
Elite is part of a long tradition of bed making and seeks to advance the design of premium beds. This competition looks to foster new ideas through the combination of design and traditional craftsmanship.
The birth of a mattress
The Boxspring, an ancestral know-how
The headboard, the bed's essence
Theme
Dressed to Sleep
The "Dressed to Sleep" theme invites designers to rethink the bed through the lens of haute couture. The bed base and headboard become the structure to be dressed, as if preparing to clothe a body. The task is to shape the bed's silhouette and master the hold of the chosen material. The upholsterer's gesture mirrors that of a couturier: precise, patient, never left to chance.
This method is directly reflected in the work of Elite. Since 1895, the master upholsterer has dressed the bed with the same rigour: exacting material choices, masterful assembly, entirely handcrafted execution. One condition remains non-negotiable: the line must never take precedence over comfort, which remains the Maison's founding promise. Participants are invited to design a complete bed, base and headboard, by applying this couture dressing method.
Context
Founded in 1895, Elite is a Swiss manufacturer that perpetuates a rare and refined craft: upholstered bed-making. Every Elite bed is handcrafted in its Aubonne workshops, with meticulous attention to materials, comfort and long-lasting quality.
This theme offers the opportunity to explore a creative vision of the bed that reflects Elite's DNA:
- A bed conceived as a body to be dressed, with the same precision as a couture piece
- An exceptional piece, shaped by master upholsterers
- A material chosen and fitted for its hold, its drape, its texture
- A signature gesture
- A durable object, offering unmatched longevity and comfort
Submitted projects must:
Present a complete bed
Express Elite’s vision
Combine aesthetics and function
Bring craftsmanship and innovation together
A few keywords to guide your creation:
- Couture styling
- Fit
- Material
- Finishing touches
- Signature gesture
- Bespoke
- Craftsmanship
- Comfort
- Elegance
Conditions
Who
The Elite Design Awards is open to anyone belonging to one of the following categories
- Graduates from schools of design, architecture, interior design or engineering
- Practitioners without qualifications who can provide evidence of having worked in the areas of design, architecture or interior design
- Students of schools of design, architecture, interior design or engineering
- Any person wishing to innovate in bedding
- Individually or in teams (2 people max.)
What
The following criteria will be used to assess the proposals
- Consistency with the positioning of the company (craftsmanship, luxury, well-being)
- Quality of the presentation and narration (clarity)
- Aesthetic quality of the project
- Functional quality of the project (user experience)
- Technical and functional feasibility
- Creativity and originality in response to the competition theme and specifications
Technical characteristics and constraints
These constraints must be followed in order to combine style and comfort
- The base bed must be a minimum of 10 to 12 cm deep
- The reference mattress you shall work with is 180 cm wide and 200 cm long (Elite mattresses are 22 cm to 35 cm deep)
Disqualification occurs in the following cases
- If the evaluation criteria, technical characteristics and constraints are not met
- If more than one project is sent by team or individually
- If the project contains more than 3 pages or less than 3 pages
- If the team contains more than 2 people
- If there are multiple registrations
Calendar
Registration Phase
- September 1, 2026
Start of competition - November 1, 2026
Registration deadline
Submission Phase
- December 13, 2026
Project submission deadline - (Midnight Geneva time UTC+2)
Selection Phase
- January 2027
Selection of the projects by the jury - February 2027
Announcement of the 3 winners
Winners will be informed by email. Other participants will be informed via social media only. - 13 - 18 April 2027
Presentation of the projects and awards ceremony during the Milan Design Week
Jury
Once all projects are submitted, the jury will meet in January to select the winners. Be creative !
After a law degree in Zürich and her studies at École Camondo in Paris, Iria Degen worked for the French interior architect, Andrée Putman. In 2000 she founded her own interior design studio. Today she runs her office in Zurich and has realized numerous international projects. She is a member of the Association of Swiss Interior Architects and she is the Swiss delegate of the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers.
After her studies at ECAL and Design Academy Eindhoven, Laure Gremion gained professional experience by working in various companies before launching her own studio in early 2017. Stimulated by ambitious projects, she spices up her creations by collaborating with various specialized companies. Following her attempts to bring a new angle that will make you smile and dream while being functional.
Swiss designer and architect graduated from University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Fribourg and ECAL, Fabien Roy worked as an architect for over ten years before setting up his own studio dedicated to furniture and product design as well as interior architecture. In 2022, he founded RISOU, a project dedicated to the development of wooden furniture made and sourced locally.
Big-Game is a Swiss design studio founded in 2004 in Lausanne, known for simple, functional and optimistic products. The collective creates furniture, accessories and interiors for brands such as Alessi, Hay, Muji, Lexon and Nespresso, and has won numerous awards including the Swiss Design Award, iF and Good Design Award. Their work is held in major collections including MoMA and Centre Pompidou, and the group also teaches at ECAL. (École cantonale d’art de Lausanne).
Adrien Rovero is a Swiss industrial designer, a graduate of ECAL (École cantonale d’art de Lausanne, Master’s degree, 2006). He founded Rovero Studio in Renens the same year and has been teaching at ECAL since 2009. His work in furniture, lighting and scenography for Hermès, Droog, Pfister and Nanoo has been exhibited in Paris, London and Geneva, and acquired by institutions such as the Centre Pompidou and MUDAC (Musée cantonal de design et d’arts appliqués contemporains de Lausanne). His design is characterised by a conceptual and narrative approach, combining refined forms, cultural references and a strong sense of staging.
François Pugliese has an enterprising mindset and always wants to innovate in the bedding sector in oder to offer exceptional products within a focus on well-being and craftsmanship.
