Last week we had the biggest and most important fair of the fall season. Maison & Objet in Paris. Biggest and the best – at least in Europe. But this year, it wasn’t the best. Perhaps not even good. I will explain.
Let’s start from the beginning. M&O was small. Super small. The days I was there – very few visitors. Not a great energy in the hallways. And no news.
If we start to filter out what is what. I love M&O. And it was soooooo good in February. I even said that “M&O won”. Out of all fairs in winter – this was the best. So expectations were of course high for September. Secondly I blame the Paraolympic Games. When the city said they would do the fair and the games at the same time – everyone got a bit nervous. Would hotel prices go up? What about saftey? The uncertainty of it all made a lot of people question if they would exhibitor or even visit. So the fair was really half-empty. I want to say half-full, but I am not super optimistic.
I haven’t seen any official numbers from the September edition of M&O and that is always a sign that they are counting and recounting. Perhaps the numbers will increase if you recount one more time? In February there were 2 500 exhibitors and 70 000 visitors. September should be half the size. At the most.
And there were no news or curation. I talked to my friend Alina about the stands. The picture above is from Jonathan Adler. And it’s like they don’t have the selfesteem to curate and select. Instead it is all about adding, adding, adding. It’s like an ugly knick-knack store. This breathes of bad curation and no courage. Why select when you can show your whole catalogue?
And walking around at the fair – I saw really no news. Instead my camera reel is all about colour combinations. We have seen the poufs before, but perhaps not in this colour setting. Same thing with the notebooks.
I blame the Paraolympics (and the recession).
Also, it is important to state that the exhibitors I talked to were not super upset. A bit mumbling about lack of people and the layout of the halls. Again – just so you get the impression. Hall 8 was turned in to a sports arena. Hall 1 was closed and a looooooooooot of curtains shielding off unused spaces. I would say that this fair used 50% of the square meters as normal. Half the size. And still no people in the aisles.
No, back to the more positive things. I wanted to say that the exhibitors weren’t as upset as me. They were saying that they were doing the same amount of orders as last fall. There were business made.
But halfempty and no news.
Last negative comment. Even the trend installations lacked a bit of selfesteem. We have been swept away by patterns, colours and fun previously. Now it was all “meh”. Again – it is correlated to the whole esteem thing.
Staying optimistic
OK. Let’s go back to the content of the fair. As said, it was more about the smaller things.
It was actually pretty difficult to find anything new. The overall scene is that we are continuing the way we have since precious years. There are plates, there are lamps, and watches and socks etc, etc,
Do you remember when we all saw Stamuli at M&O? Mindblowing, might be a strong word, but we saw very little of that this year.
Anyway. Some things stood out as new and interesting for me. First picture is Thai designer Yoomoota. A whole new aesthetics with aliens and anime.
Second is Polspotten. I really like this candleholder. It’s like a combination of child’s play and art nouveau at the metro stations in Paris. Pretty expensive but fun.
Third is &Klevering. They are continuing to invite “proper” designers to their eclectic style. Here plates. When everythnig looks the same they do something really strange. Look at the trompe l’oeil effect.
Fourth is Isaac at Mineral Series. He takes ordinary objects and crystalises them. Fun!
And fifth are my friends at Transparent Speaker. When everyone is going round – they do a brutalist speaker.
Fun at Paris Design Week
Paris Design Week happen parallell to the fair, and it had 450 exhibitors. And it was pretty good. Again, you could sense that people held back because of fear for chaos at Paraolympics. But there were some great creativity.
First picture is from the young, unestablished exhibition with talents at Factory. I loved the sneaker shape mixed with vintage craft fabrics. By Zyva Studio.
Second from Swedish Institute that had five Swedish female designers do a magic fairy, forest tale. In the picture Aia Judes and Louise Hederström.
Third is Boon Room. Apparently it’s been around for a while but I have missed it. Great gallery.
Fourth a new French favourite I found in Milan for the first time. Aurelien Veyrat. He is taking waste constuction material and making new objects. Here he is working with old bricks and adding plaster.
Fifth a favourite. Amelie Maison D’art. Superlovely and poetic.
Sixth is Laura Gonzalez.
Greys
When it comes to colours at M&O and Paris Design Week, it was clear that grey is the colour “du jour”. It might not tick your box but it is happening.
At Muuto.
At Tarkett.
At Factory by Senimo.
Grey walls at Roon Room.
Grey at Serax
Grey and dusty pink at Bitossi.
Grey with orange and dusty pink.
Grey at Guaxs
Same as above.
Grey at Stackelbergs
Grey at &Klevering
Grey at Hubsch.
Grey at Sheyn.
Grey leopard prints – ar Pierre Frey.
Grey at Ichendorf.
And at Donkey Products
Dusty pink
Besides grey we saw a lot of dusty pink. Not Barbie, more of a softer hue.
Here at Serax.
I am specifically looking at the colour on the walls. At Bitossi Home.
Colour combinations with yellow and grey. At Bloomingville.
Lamps made of recycled plastics and in soft pink. By Originalhome.
At &Klevering by Diego Faivre.
Mineral Series again.
At Notem.
A bit of orange
It’s of course a retro and vintage colour but also continuing a terracotta hue.
At Tarkett
At Laura Gonzalvez
Merged, melted and vintage at
Chhatwal & Johnsson
At Manufacturi
Summary
Lots of pictures and lots of opinions. But to be clear. M&O in this September was not a winner. We blame the Paraolympics. And I am sure – really – that the February edition will be amazing.
When it comes to trends, we see a lack of selfesteem. We need to edit and curate better. At the fair we saw few things that stood out as trends. Too few to conclude in any trend thinking, so instead we look at colours. And the colours are grey, dusty pink and orange.
Does that tick your box? Does it tingle?
I give M&O a 3 out of 10. I know. Low scores but I am sure it will be better. And remember that brands said they were making the amount of orders as previously.