A table by Marte Mei and SolidNature.
Photo: Courtesy of SolidNature
At Matter and Shape, Vanguard Design Talents Make Their Mark
After last year’s promising debut, the Parisian fair has proven itself as one to watch thanks to a stellar second edition with bold-faced exhibitors such as SolidNature and UU Tiles bringing out their most innovative launches
The entrance to Matter & Shape’s temporary structure designed by Willo Perron in Jardin des Tuileries. Photo: Celia Spenard-Ko
As the fashion crowd descended on the City of Lights for another frenetic Paris Fashion Week, so too did the design cognoscenti for Matter and Shape. The business-focused fair spearheaded by Frederic Maus, Matthieu Pinet, and Dan Thawley returned for a second year to continue its mission of elevating vanguard perspectives within industrial design, interiors, fashion, and the decorative arts through a salon-style presentation in the Jardin des Tuileries. And inside a 43,000-square-foot structure—twice as big as last year’s fair—envisioned by in-demand designer Willo Perron that channels the atmospheric clarity of his interiors, the fair provided ample opportunities for discovering both up-and-coming talents and established voices.
That extends beyond the 50-plus exhibitors. Apart from the individually designed booths and imaginative installations, visitors were treated to an array of gathering spaces such as the Matter and Shape (Shop), We Are Ona restaurant, Zara Home x Dreamin’ Man Café, and sacaitering by sacai. This year’s edition was also envisioned as a celebration of the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts, which helped popularize the Art Deco movement and set the stage for modernist innovation in Paris a century ago. Galerie rounded up eight highlights from the fair.
UU Tiles. Photo: Stanislas Wolff
UU Tiles. Photo: Stanislas Wolff
1. UU Tiles
Thanks to a collaboration with a historic Normandy tile manufacturer, the Parisian studio Unknown, Untitled recently launched a full collection spanning plain tiles, ceramic hooks, and lamps that blend seamlessly into tiling due to their shape. Endless combinations of colors and functions are available, from burgundy and forest green to softer, pastel shades like peach and powder blue.
A table by Marte Mei and SolidNature. Photo: Courtesy of SolidNature
A table by Marte Mei and SolidNature. Photo: Courtesy of SolidNature
2. SolidNature
The purveyor of natural stone discovered an inventive way to salvage offcuts by partnering with Dutch artist Marte Mei, who integrated them into creative compositions for architectural surfaces and furniture. After developing a technique to scan and rework broken fragments into seamless new patterns, Mei meticulously devised a statement bench and coffee table crafted from disparate stone pieces supported by solid oak frames.
Gioiello luminaires by Hauvette & Madani and Marine Breynaert. Photo: Antonin Roy
Gioiello luminaires by Hauvette & Madani and Marine Breynaert. Photo: Antonin Roy
3. Hauvette & Madani x Marine Breynaert
The elegance of jewelry and captivating power of light come together seamlessly in Gioiello, a dazzling collection of luminaires by Parisian studio Hauvette & Madani and designer Marine Breynaert. Spanning two sconces and a lamp available in a playful palette ranging from light pink to amber brown, each piece combines a solid steel structure with sumptuous Venice-made glass rings that transform light into subtle reflections and precious sparkles.
Marie-Antoinette chandelier by Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert. Photo: Courtesy of Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert
Marie-Antoinette chandelier by Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert. Photo: Courtesy of Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert
4. Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert
The French-American talent has dedicated over 20 years to mastering freehand glassblowing and shaping liquid glass into eye-catching furniture and sculptures. Long fascinated with how chandeliers embody nobility, Wintrebert brought his latest work—named Marie-Antoinette in reference to the queen’s pearls and the fair’s location at Jardin des Tuileries—down from its traditional elevated height to eye level. In doing so, he reveals a once-inaccessible space to fairgoers and allows them to see his mesmerizing glass creations up close.
Rebus rugs by India Mahdavi for CC-Tapis. Photo: Mickaël Llorca
Rebus rugs by India Mahdavi for CC-Tapis. Photo: Mickaël Llorca
5. India Mahdavi x CC-Tapis
If the Rebus collection for CC-Tapis is any indication, India Mahdavi’s bold embrace of color translates beautifully to rugs and floor coverings. The prolific Iranian-born designer envisioned an intricate puzzle that transforms words, phrases, and ideas into unexpected graphic forms that cleverly meld abstraction with symbolism to create a rich figurative language. Produced in the company’s Nepalese atelier, each hand-knotted rug features a soft fade effect that emerges from a meticulous artisanal process of alternating woolen threads in varying saturations.
Glass Objects by Verre d’Onge. Photo: Celia Spenard-Ko
Vases by Verre d’Onge and FR AR. Photo: Maxime Bony
6. Verre d’Onge x FR AR
Fans of Montreal artist Jérémie Sainte Onge’s dusky hand-blown vessels were treated to a sweeping array of his rigorous creations—and a newly unveiled collaboration with Parisian creative agency FR AR that dials into their shared industrial design expertise.
Soft Baroque and Kiko Kostadinov’s booth at Matter and Shape. Photo: Tom Dagnas
7. Soft Baroque x Kiko Kostadinov
Presented in collaboration with Bulgarian-born fashion star Kiko Kostadinov, a series of 60 royal blue hooks in whimsical shapes and sizes by Soft Baroque speak to the Ljubljana-based studio’s penchant toward disrupting what’s considered an accepted furniture typology.
Cover: A table by Marte Mei and SolidNature.
Photo: Courtesy of SolidNature
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