The most unsurprising thing about the COVID-19 pandemic is how it has acted as a catalyst. It wreaked havoc on trade shows, with many either being canceled or postponed. Maison&Objet—an important event on the international design trade show circuit is no exception. Its September 2020 event was online only, and its January 2022 edition was postponed to March. It returned last month with seven halls at the Parc des Expositions on the outskirts of Paris and Maison&Objet In The City (a new presentation in Paris that showcased nearly 90 prestigious showrooms), and the fair successfully brought together the entire industry, mixing iconic brands showcasing new products with carefully curated new companies worth noticing.
Photo courtesy of Maison&Objet ©AETHION
This year’s session attracted 51,656 visitors from 136 nations, who had a chance to see — in person — 1,811 brands from 53 countries, and how high-end design is changing. Its overarching theme, “New Luxury: from Uber Luxury to Lux Populis,” permeated the fair, which reexamined the idea of luxury, highlighting how craftsmanship is combined with new technology, being both rooted in the past and at the same time looking to the future. The idea of Lux Populis showcases the influence of new luxury consumers — Instagrammers and TikTokers — and how luxury is coming from the ground up, that it is defined by street culture and mixing genres, the precious and the ordinary, transforming the playful and the bold into the provocative.
This was especially evident at the fair’s “Signature” section, where high-end brands like Maison Dada, Milan-based textiles and wallcoverings brand Dedar, and classic fashion houses, like Missoni and Roberto Cavalli showed their latest introductions. Bold colors, refined materials, and smooth curves were in full force. The eclectic and sometimes quirky sensibility of French design houses were represented by selected pieces from the Edition Limitée Paris gallery, rooted in the tradition of the French decorative arts, pop surrealist offerings by Ibride, and hotel furnishings from KNGB.
If that wasn’t enough, the fair collaborated with the Invisible Collection, a new online platform that sells a curated selection of outstanding pieces — all handmade by some of the most talented craftsmen —by some of the world’s best interior designers (Pierre Yovanovitch, Kelly Behun, and Allegra Hicks, just to name a few).
The Domestic Reigns
During the pandemic, our homes were reinvented — beyond becoming a place of refuge and a place of care, our homes became schools, work, cinemas, offices, and spaces for creation. As we return to the workplace, the impact of the home — something that was in place already with the resimmercial trend of a few years ago — will no doubt have a greater impact as workers return to hybrid work spaces, co-working centers, and the corporate office. Think more living room than boardroom — one that reinforces the sense of “hygge” — incorporating coziness and comfort engendering a sense of wellbeing, and creating a place to socialize and bond as a team. Don’t be surprised to see a workplace near with your better accessories like well-crafted pillows, colorful candles in a variety of geometric shapes, and vases of all shapes and materials to bring nature indoors.
Photo courtesy of DesignStream
Throughout the fair’s areas, special attention was paid to pop-up restaurants where well-known designers were given carte blanche to create inspiring, restful, and entertaining spaces: Parisian interior designer Tristan Auer created The Beach Club, a restaurant co-produced with the Mariage Frères tea company which included a lifeguard chair and pontoon, and design duo Paola Navone and Daniel Rozensztroch created a fun café called The Spoon, decorated with museum-quality objects.
At any trade show, presentation is key. Products are displayed to be consumed and shared through social media. The fair was also an amplifier for brands which were not present with traditional stands via the What’s New? Trend exhibitions, curated by Elizabeth Leriche, François Bernard, François Delclaux and, for the first time, Julia Rouzaud, founder of GoodMoods. Brands registered on the MOM (Maison&Objet and More) digital platform or part of the Maison&Objet In The City itinerary were presented to visitors in an innovative and inspiring way.
Maison’s Designer of the Year award went to Franklin Azzi, the Paris-based architect currently working on the refurbishment of the Tour Montparnasse building. He heads up a 60-strong multidisciplinary firm, whose projects range from town-planning commissions to the design of a door handle, and have included some 60 boutiques worldwide for fashion designer Isabel Marant, the transformation of a warehouse into the Nantes Fine Arts School, and the creation of the Beaupassage-Grenelle lifestyle and housing complex in Paris’s 7th arrondissement. His installation presented his vision of the workspace through the ages with a scenic, immersive installation consisting largely of images and films.
The Rising Talent Awards which highlights a new generation of talents and promising names from a specific country, spotlighted young Japanese designers. The winners, chosen by a jury led by architect Kengo Kuma, created innovative designs, from textured fabrics with a dual-sided weave featuring an eclectic array of patterns, to natural bark and branches encased in acrylic resin. They are Yuri Himuro, Haruka Misawa, Satomi Minoshima, Yuma Kano, Baku Sakashita, and Kodai Iwamoto. The next edition of Rising Talents will be devoted to young designers from the Netherlands.
On the trade show industry circuit, Maison&Objet is a particular favorite for many American designers and editors because they get to not only visit the fair but experience what Paris has to offer as a center of culture and design inspiration. Maison&Objet 2022 In The City was an all-new B2B event in Paris, which brought together the top Parisian interior designers, galleries, and craftspeople, and offered visitors the chance to visit showrooms across the city. For example, the India Mahdavi studio opened its doors, on rue Las Cases in the 7th arrondissement
The producers of Maison&Objet understand that their event should be a total design experience, one that goes beyond trade show halls and connects with the living and breathing culture of the city (organizers of American trade shows like ICFF and NeoCon should take note). The next edition of Maison&Objet is September 8-12, 2022.
