The modern integration of the Ukrainian state into the European scientific and educational space and the focus on improving the methods of teaching and training specialists in the field of design determine the need to study foreign pedagogical experience. In accordance with this, the purpose of the research is to identify the specific features and state of professional training of future designers in leading higher educational institutions in Europe. To achieve this purpose, the study used general research methods, in particular systems analysis, synthesis, and comparison. It is discovered that design education is characterised by qualitative features, including orientation to solving everyday problems, focus on the final result, and inclusion in the field of art. The authors consider the state of professional training of future designers in European higher educational institutions, which have the highest world ranking among universities in the field of “Art and design” according to QS 2019. The study identified the main trends of design education in Europe: professional training is applied and has a personality-oriented development area; close connection with actual production to provide students with work experience. Based on the generalisation, it is summed up that in these higher education institutions in Europe, multidisciplinary education and research are deeply integrated with applied education, design, and business thinking. Thus, the necessity of borrowing foreign experience of the functioning of higher educational institutions in the field of training future designers of higher educational institutions of Ukraine was substantiated. The originality of the study consists in an analytical comparison of the state of professional training of future designers in European higher education institutions, which have the highest world ranking among universities in the field of “Art and design” according to QS 2019