Matter and Shape Bridges Fashion and Design in Paris

PARIS — As the only design event during Paris Fashion Week, Matter and Shape is benefiting from ongoing interest in design collectibles and bridges between fashion and interiors.

The second edition of the four-day event in the Tuileries gardens, held from March 7 to 10, was heralded as a strong success, with visitor traffic up 65.8 percent year-on-year to reach 13,265, according to organizer WSN.

“During fashion week, our mission with Matter and Shape was to inspire, surprise and attract creative professionals, who are increasingly mixing between universes, to find a territory that is at that crossroads,” explained WSN chief executive officer Frédéric Maus. “It’s much more than a trade show. I think it’s something the industry was waiting for, in terms of the mix. The majority of visitors are professionals, but there is also a proportion of the cool crowd.”

The show was directed by Matthieu Pinet with creative direction by Dan Thawley, with the space designed by Canadian architect Willo Perron of Los Angeles-based Perron Roettinger Studio. It was staged as a celebration of the centenary of the 1925 International Exhibition of Decorative and Industrial Modern Arts, which popularized the Art Deco movement, with an exhibition curated by Thawley featuring items from the era, including the exhibition’s catalog and memorabilia.

Matter and Shape said it drew inspiration from this pivotal moment in design history and the iconic Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau, designed by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Amédée Ozenfant.

With a relaxed ambiance focused on discovery and experience, the event was a far cry from the traditional trade show format, with spaces to hang out and dine and talks with high-profile industry figures.

Maus continued, “It’s an enormous business opportunity for exhibitors. We had 350 requests, and we selected 60 brands, of whom around 15 are returning exhibitors. It’s really an event that in two years has found its space in the ecosystem.”

The cross-disciplinary space combined industrial and object design, interior design, fashion and the decorative arts, with a mix of established names and emerging designers.

There were several gathering spaces, a boutique and bookstore, a pop-up restaurant in partnership with We Are Ona, a takeaway restaurant and café in collaboration with Sacai designer Chitose Abe, while Byredo partnered with the event, fragrancing the space.

The Jil Sander Design Talks, in partnership with Milan-based KoozArch, featured well-known design professionals and covered subjects including architecture, French craftsmanship and philosophy of the home.

There was a showcase for Joya, a new international jewelry fair, while Brussels-based design fair Collectible presented a selection of projects in a space designed by Heim+Viladrich, serving as a preview for its shows in Brussels and New York later this year.

Among visitors, Jenny D. Pham, a former fashion marketing executive who cofounded design studio Objects Are By with her artist husband, Phil America, in 2022, praised the concept. “The show feels image-first, rather than sales-first; it’s important to do that in this time of uncertainty,” she said. “We want to see interdisciplinary conversations, creativity doesn’t need to be siloed,” said Pham.

“It takes a lot to exhibit innovative design in a city like Paris, especially during Paris Fashion Week,” said Jasmine Lam of Manhattan-based Jasmine Lam Design Studio. “The Matter and Shape show at the Tuileries shows that they are making a big effort to establish an innovative design exhibition in Paris.  Considering there are so many design shows in Paris throughout the year, Matter and Shape produced a wonderful show that I hope expands and shows more innovative and emerging designers going forward,” she continued.

Lam praised the diverse nature of the offer, with designers from all over the world and a combination of major names, including Formafantasma, Lobmyer and Vitra, with more emerging creatives. “I was drawn to Daisuke Yamamoto’s (Japan) metal furniture made from building construction insulation materials in a wonderful iridescent finish and Shaha Raphael’s (Lebanon) cast concrete furniture.  I also liked No Ga’s (Sweden) retro inspired cast fiberglass polymer furniture and could see integrating this into a Manhattan residential project of ours.  The vegan leather materials by MycoWorks (U.S.) was an exciting new leather upholstery alternative made of fungi (reishi and other plant products).”

As the fair gathers steam, there were also a number of outside events from exhibitors and non-exhibitors alike across town, including India Mahdavi’s Project Room N°18: Another Grammar of Ornament, curated by Dan Thawley.

Pham and America of Objects Are By, for instance, were in town to present one of their latest projects, a sculptural hat stand made from recycled auto parts for Ruslan Baginskiy they were presenting in his showroom nearby. Next up for Objects Are By is a line of porcelain and blankets created for rapper Nas, due out in April.

Here are some of the highlights from Matter and Shape:

Fassen

Fitting with the Art Deco theme of the event, young design publishing house Fassen presented its reedition of Paul Poiret’s iconic armchair, the first time the seat evoking garden trellises has been reedited in its century of existence. French sculptor Sébastien Gschwind, who created Fassen in 2023, studied old photographs — mostly in black and white — and archival descriptions of the piece, notably from Man Ray, to faithfully recreate the specific shades of green and pink of the original design. The chair is made in France from oiled solid beech and is also available in a natural finish. Gschwind’s mission with Fassen is to revive archetypes from history, putting the emphasis on their narrative force. The designer grew up in Alsace and trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Nancy. He has taught art and architecture for 15 years, and was artist-in-residence at the Fondation Hermès in 2011.

Rebus by India Mahdavi

A result of the ongoing collaboration between India Mahdavi and Italian specialist rugmaker CC-Tapis, the Rebus collection is designed like a colorful puzzle, combining abstraction with symbolism like a hidden language in the designs. Produced in Nepal, each piece is knotted by hand, alternating wool threads in varying saturations to create graduated hues. The four different designs were previewed at Matter and Shape ahead of their official launch in Milan at the Salone del Mobile next month.

Willo Perron for No Ga

Swedish interiors retailer Nordista Galleriet (No Ga) partnered with Willo Perron to create a range of modular furniture, staging their launch at the event. Designed to be combined and reconfigured in a multitude of ways, the pieces are made from cast glass fiber, coated and polished by hand to create a high-gloss finish and available in five different colors. “Most of my designs start from identifying something that’s missing — either in a project or in my own life,” said Perron. “For instance, I’ve always found coffee tables problematic. If you change your couch or have a modular setup, a standard coffee table becomes obsolete. The idea behind the collection came from wanting something modular that could adapt as you move or reconfigure your space.” No Ga CEO Axel Soderberg stated, “The idea of this collection evolving over time fits well with our commitment to timelessness, and our aim to attract a younger generation to design.”  The Porthole mirrors, as well as being displayed on its stand, featured inside the We Are Ona restaurant.

Frama

Copenhagen-based lifestyle brand Frama, which creates what it describes as “future vintage” pieces highlighting brute materials, offers furniture, lifestyle objects, self care and fragrance. As well as a selection of bestsellers in an installation intended to highlight materiality and function, the brand teased its new stackable chair coming out this June, available as a full aluminum version for outdoor use, targeting the hospitality industry, for instance, as well as a leather-clad version designed to take on a patina over time. It was also highlighting its personal care and fragrance offer in a showroom elsewhere in the city.

Sacha Parent and Valentine Tiraboschi

Winners of the 2024 Design Parade Hyères, Sacha Parent and Valentine Tiraboschi created Stucco Pavilion, inspired by the 1925 Polish pavilion in Paris. The two young designers, who trained at ENSCI Les Ateliers and Les Compagnons du Tour de France, generally work on historic monuments. As a form of applied research, they link ancient crafts with current design issues. For their project for the show, they used staff and sand ornamentation to create interior pieces like mirrors and ornamental shelves, all in white, with sculptural volumes intended for domestic purposes.

Gabrielle Greiss

Former fashion designer Gabrielle Greiss — who worked at labels including Martine Sitbon, Sonia Rykiel and Chloé, as well as designing under her own name — recently returned to school, training in drawing and sculpture at the Beaux-Arts in Paris. Her Fables Etcetera collection, peopled with mysterious animals sculpted from bronze and staged like a curiosity cabinet, is part jewelry, part artwork, inspired by a childhood visit to Schatzkammer of Munich’s Residenz when she was a child and by La Fontaine’s fables. Her installation was part of the Joya exhibit.

Natalia Criado

The Milan-based Colombian designer presented a new collection of office accessories, “Escritorio,” intended to elevate the daily office experience. The 10 pieces, including a tablet holder, phone holder and paperweight, combine her signature geometric shapes inspired by a combination of pre-Colombian archaic art and modern architecture using techniques like metal turning in brass with a silver finish set with natural stones like quartz and lapis lazuli. Each piece is one of a kind.

Sanay1313

Ten-year-old Turkish design studio Sanay1313, founded by Enis Karavil, presented an expanded version of its 313 collection, inspired by the industrial heart of Istanbul’s industrial Maslak district, where the studio is based in a converted auto repair shop. A combination of boldness and minimalism, the pieces on show combine low, block-like profiles with dynamic forms and rounded edges, highlighting the marbled grain of ash veneer. Alongside chairs, coffee tables and stools, additions included a three-panel folding screen and new accessories including bookrests, jewelry boxes and stackable trays, all crafted from a combination of ash veneer and black lacquer. The studio also presented its first lighting piece, the 08313 floor lamp, with a pillar-like shape with an wood veneer body and fine veneer lampshade that produces a warm, glowing light.

Grun’ by Faina

Victoria Yakusha, the interior designer and architect behind Yakusha Studio, created an immersive installation reflecting her “live minimalism” approach. Her designs are intended to transcend the traditional role of furniture to become living entities, a concept called “animism.” Her Grun’ collection was inspired by the forests of Polisia, and included a round, flickering lamp intended to evoke light filtering through a canopy of trees. Her armchair was designed as a conduit between past and future, its broad base intended to channel the earth’s energy while its antenna-like back reaches toward the sky. The shape of a bench resembled a mythical woodland creature, while the Volyk bench, named after the Ukrainian word for freedom, was intended to evoke Ukraine’s independence and resilience.