The autumn edition of Maison & Objet Paris, held in September over five days, was a rousing success. Design resonates throughout the French capital with Paris Design Week paralleling the show – with eight days of evening festivities, cocktail gatherings, presentations and events, uniting more than 120 locations and 250 participants. Galleries, showrooms, hotels, shops and institutions opened their doors to share their new designs for fall with professionals and the general public, simultaneously giving Maison & Objet’s international visitors the chance to sample genuine Parisian lifestyle.
In fact, the back-to-back planning of these two events motivated many visitors to extend their stay so as to draw inspiration from the city and forge business contacts in a less formal setting. This urban emulation was particularly beneficial for the young artists supported by the now! le off exhibition. This platform – at Les Docks – Cité de la Mode et du design – is a springboard for emerging talents and a key event in autumn’s design world. This year, it brought together 100 designers from 20 countries, all selected to compete for the Rado Star Prize France 2014.
The numbers speak for themselves. With a 55 per cent increase this year, admissions surpassed the 17,000 mark, while the evening awards ceremony for the Rado Star Prize drew 4,227 design aficionados, including minister of Culture and Communication Fleur Pellerin and first deputy mayor of Paris Bruno Julliard, bringing unprecedented visibility to the creative vanguard honoured there.
Now held four times a year – in Paris in January and September, Singapore in March and in Miami Beach in May – Maison & Objet is proving to be a design brand with legs.