Fashion and design have always wooed, chased, envied, ignored and admired each other in a continuous minuet of competition, love-hate, passion-indifference. In fact, more and more fashion brands are enriching their collections with lifestyle proposals – textiles, coverings and complements for furnishings, if not even furniture and upholstery – while multi-brand retailers are integrating their offer with ceramics, candles or household linen.
Now breaking the impasse is Matter & Shape, a new event dedicated to design that will take place from March 1st to 4th, concurrently with Première Classe. The location, the Jardin des Tuileries (La Caserne, 12 rue Philippe de Girard, Paris), will host in an area of 3,000 square meters a tent designed by Los Angeles designer and architect Willo Perron of Perron Roettinger Studio with a vaulted ceiling and transparent side walls that allow natural light to flood the exhibition space.
“We want to offer an international proposal, reflecting design inspirations from different continents,” explained the founder of Exposed Paris Matthieu Pinet, who last year joined the trade show organizer WSN Devellopement to lead the international lingerie trade show and who is developing the new project. “For us, fashion week is obviously the best opportunity to test this concept. Afterwards, it will be time to consider the possibility of replicating it on other markets and at other times.”
To support the project, Matthieu Pinet, who five years ago launched the Matter & Shape website on the theme of the link between fashion and design, has enlisted the services of creative director Dan Thawley, former editor-in-chief of Curated By magazine, as well as the specialized consultancy of the Milanese agency P:S.
Equipped with customized stands for a maximum of about 45 exhibitors, the show will include common areas, services, a design bookstore and boutique, a café and a dedicated restaurant with table service for private lunches and dinners.
