By Odile Hainaut, WantedDesign Co-Founder

Design Parade Hyeres and Toulon has always been one of Odile’s favorite design destinations to visit during summer time.

Every summer, Villa Noailles organizes the Design Parade festival in two events. Design Parade Hyères to share contemporary creations in design and Design Parade Toulon for Interior Design. Like every year, I didn’t miss the chance to visit one very inspiring destinations taking place south of France: Design Parade at Villa Noailles in Hyères, and Toulon with a main exhibit at l’Evêché. Additional exhibits at Hotel des Arts, Galerie du Canon, and the “Chez Monique” store’s École Camondo home for the Festival.

Design Parade Toulon

With a bright blue sky and the Mediterranean Sea background, this year didn’t fail in showcasing a great selection of young talents at both l’Evêché and Villa Noailles. The Festival includes a few exhibitions that are not to be missed if you are in that area, and on view until September.

L’Evêché

What particularly caught my attention are projects that are truly translating this South Mediterranean unique vibes, revisiting local materials and techniques.

It’s all about light, sun, shades, natural tones, and textures contrasting with bright colors. It’s poetic and joyful, it’s responsible and envisioned to be durable, it’s smart and sensible. It’s original and unexpected. It’s raw and sophisticated at the same time.

“Seconde Nature” exhibit at Hotel des Art

The festival has amazing partners which add a layer of incredible, exquisite, and beautifully crafted projects resulting from the residency that benefit each year the winners, including The Manufacture de Sevres, CIRVA, Mobilier National, and Chanel – 19M.

It’s a pure pleasure to walk all the exhibits, including the “Seconde Nature” at the Hotel des Arts in Toulon, and Ronan Bouroullec’s “Hands on clay” (coup de coeur for his work) at the Galerie du Canon, in Toulon as well.

Ronan Bouroullec Exhibit “Hands on Clay”

Design Parade Hyères 2023 jury: Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, Guillaume Bardet, Clara Le Fort, Marion Mailaender, Jean-Marie Massaud, Luca Nichetto, Astrid Rovisco Suzano, Bas Smets, Claire Pondard et Léa Pereyre.

Design Parade Hyères

Villa Noailles

Congratulations to 2 Villa Noailles winners who were my favorites: Lucien Dumas and Lou-Poko Savadogo, the “architect-artisan” duo who presented 2 pieces of furniture revisiting the use of material and traditional technique, as well as to Yassine Ben Abdallah for his powerful “Memoires of the Plantation” translated with ephemeral machetes made of sugar.

It was nice to see the work of Gala Espel, one of the nominees, and one of our recent French designer in Residence in Brooklyn.

Noe Duchauffour-Lawrence, President of Villa Noailles jury and designer guest, is taking over the Villa Noailles gymnasium and indoor swimming pool to present his latest collaboration with artisans from Portugal. His love for craftsmanship is mastered and translated in each piece, from his cork collection to black ceramic. 

To end the tour, a few rooms from the Villa Noailes house are revisited by Pierre Yovanovitch: “Les Nuits d´été” is an exhibition celebrating the centenary of Villa Noailes et the lives of its founders, Charles et Marie-Laure de Noailles.

I can’t stop thinking of that place, both the history behind it and how it’s transformed during the festival which is so stimulating and inspiring.

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Major Institutional Partners: Métropolie Toulon Provence Méditerrané, Ministère de la Culture, Region Sud, Le Dèpartement, Visitvar, Ville d’Hyères.

Main Partners: Chanel, le19M, Fondation d’Enterprise and Hermès.

Festival’s partners: Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp, Villebrequin, Tectona Paris, Fondation Camignac, CIRVA, SÉVERES, Vitra, Artek and Ravel.

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Design Parade Hyères Exhibit open until September 3rd, 2023.

Centenaire Villa Noailles Exhibit open until January 14, 2024.