The best debuts at Paris Design Week 2024
Product Preview | Jan 26, 2024
Product Preview is a weekly series spotlighting the latest and greatest debuts in the marketplace. Check back every Friday for what’s new and notable.
It was a whirlwind week in Paris. Design lovers from across the globe—including Business of Home editor in chief Kaitlin Petersen and yours truly—congregated in the City of Light on a mission to unearth the latest and greatest designs. From haute-couture-inspired wallcoverings to hand-beaded bar cabinets, here are the most magnifique finds we saw at Maison&Objet and Déco Off.
Mathieu Lehanneur—named Maison&Objet’s Designer of the Year 2024—unveiled his highly anticipated “Outonomy” exhibit. Inspired by autonomous homes (structures such as yurts and igloos that are independent of infrastructure support), the eye-catching installation showcased a bright yellow self-sustaining house crafted entirely from renewable materials, with features that include an integrated wind turbine, a solar-powered ceiling and a freshwater goldfish pond.
The Design Rendezvous pop-up—featuring new looks from Jiun Ho, Sarah Von Dreele and Parete—was teeming with of-the-moment design inspo. In addition to Von Dreele’s painterly floral-filled Metamorphosis collection, showstoppers included Ho’s hand-beaded Kabah cabinet and I Lost My Marbles, a charismatic wallcovering with glimmering metallic swirls from Parete’s collaboration with Caroline Lizarraga.
Arte’s Le Couturier collection was on full display inside the brand’s stunning two-story showroom. An homage to haute couture, the meticulously hand-crafted line features five fashion-forward wallcovering patterns outfitted with artfully executed accents, such as the elaborately embroidered, pearl-covered La Perle and Franges, a jacquard beauty adorned in an undulating eyelash-fringe motif.
Upcycled materials and iridescent finishes took center stage at the Pollack-Weitzner apartment. The former introduced Yarn Story, a 13-piece collection that includes the boldly banded Epic Epingle and six new colorways for the shimmery Psychic, while the latter launched the circularity-minded Imprint series, with wallcoverings such as the mulberry-bark-woven Natura and Up to Date, a tweedlike marvel composed entirely of cut-up magazines.
Zak+Fox’s Harvest collection is pure visual poetry. Founder Zak Profera crafted the anecdotal series after losing his beloved Shiba Inu (the inspo for his brand name) last year, and turned heartache into 89 profoundly beautiful designs, including the moody, sunrise-cloud-filled Aurora and the fox-clad, wool-tapestry-style Shinji.
Serax’s stand at the fair stopped me straight in my tracks. Along with an insanely chic new stone-and-bone china lighting range by Belgian ceramist Anita Le Grelle, noteworthy introductions include a series of sculptural papier-mâché pieces by Marie Michielssen and cool concrete-block-inspired egg cups by Catharina Bossaert.
Marmi’s Editions No. 2 Bath series is a monolithic masterpiece. The Atlanta-based brand previewed the collection at its pop-up showroom in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, which boasts vanities, washstands, pedestal sinks, wall-mounted basins and tubs carved from single blocks of 17 different stones, including Calacatta Violette, Arabescato Corchia and Picasso marble.
Holland & Sherry’s Highland Fling is a love song to Scottish folklore. The collection draws inspiration from the mythical tales—and majestic landscapes—surrounding Scotland’s most fabled mountain range, with highlights such as Cuillin, a flame stitch stunner with rugged lines that evoke a mountainscape; the woven leather Pringle; and a whimsical wool jacquard named Enchanted Forest.
South African furniture brand Lemon made a memorable debut at Maison&Objet. The curtain-enveloped display showcased a selection of fashionable hand-made designs, including a travertine dining table with a scalloped top and fluted base meant to mimic the folds of drapery, and a petite Arts and Crafts–style chair inspired by milking stools.
We admired Little Greene’s fourth collaboration with the National Trust over champagne and croque monsieurs at Maison Sauvage. The collection boasts eight wallpaper designs based on patterns found throughout the U.K.-based conservation charity’s historic properties, including the whimsical flora-and-fauna-filled Aderyn and the Arts and Crafts–style Spring Flowers.
Phillip Jeffries’s latest launches, Tufted Tiles and Perfectly Plush, are a lesson in quiet luxury. The acoustic wallcovering collection is composed of sound-absorbing fabric tiles, and is available in two-dimensional styles—ribbed and unribbed—as well as a rainbow of sleek, monochrome hues, including silvery gray Stargazer and emerald green Midnight Pine.
Aux Abris’s Déco Off debuts are pure old-school perfection. Woodlands features fabrics and coordinating wallcoverings with pastoral designs inspired by early 20th century illustrations, while Marbled offers a variety of textural wallpapers, such as Time Shift and End Papers, with a striking antiqued marble effect.
At the fair, Ethnicraft displayed the Modern Shapes Editions, which was bursting with sculptural eye candy in the form of hand-crafted works designed by esteemed international artists. Standouts from the series include the black-tainted solid teak Graphic sideboard by Alain van Havre and Denis Castaing’s Claustra Echo, a totem-style room divider composed of geometric wooden pieces on a sliding steel rod.
De Gournay’s Byōbu collection is a bona fide visual feast. Presented inside the brand’s Maison Jansen–inspired apartment, the line pays tribute to the painted screens of the Japanese Edo period and features 10 fantastical, hand-painted and -embroidered designs, including the glowing harvest-moon-esque Tsukimi, rendered in gold leaf on a contrasting textured silk ground, and Four Seasons, a pearlescent beauty covered in chrysanthemums and peonies and cast on gold ombre Xuan paper.
Baccarat—which celebrates its 260th anniversary this year—dazzled visitors at the fair with an immersive exhibition called “Alchemy.” The atmospheric digital installation took guests on a visual journey through the legendary French brand’s ateliers, offering a firsthand glimpse into the scrupulous craftsmanship behind its highly sought-after glassware.
Tai Ping tapped Yolande Milan Batteau of Brooklyn-based surface art studio Callidus Guild for its inaugural collaboration. The collection features 18 hand-knotted wool-and-silk rug designs adorned in graphic, traditional applique-inspired motifs such as the shimmery, sliced mother-of-pearl-like Akoya I and the ancient Japanese woodcut-print-style Permia I Dove.
Jonathan Adler introduced four fresh designs into the characterful Rider collection. The jewel-toned series offers a modern take on early 19th century French Empire furniture styles, with additions including a two-tiered telephone table with teal lacquered tops and a velvet-upholstered lounge chair with a tubular backrest and brass sabot accents to boot.
Élitis’s collaboration with the Callidus Guild elevates texture to an art form. The impeccably crafted collection, called Matières à Réflexions, features three highly touchable wallcovering designs dressed in hand-painted, combed plaster-style finishes, and a rhythmic panorama with a graphic, loomed-silk floral motif.
At Fabricut, we saw two upcoming launches that made us late for our next appointment. The first, Kendall Wilkinson’s third collab with the brand, called Vignettes, offered everything from embroidered floral fabrics to striated ombre tapes, while The Vale London’s James collection featured an array of dexterous trims, including the laser-cut vegan-leather-clad Mademoiselle.
Fermob debuted three dreamy new hues at the fair, alongside a handful of new outdoor-ready designs. In addition to the olive green Pesto, the tawny brown Gingerbread and the lovely lilac Marshmallow colorways, introductions include the two-tiered wireless Ulli lamp and a two-seater bench named Bistro that folds up neatly when not in use.
After a long day of walking, Morris & Co. perked us up faster than a power nap. The soon-to-be-launched Morris & Friends line offers fabrics and wallcoverings based on works by Arts and Crafts pioneers such as John Henry Dearle and Kate Faulkner, while Bedford Park features punchy, super pigmented versions of some of the brand’s bestsellers, including Campanula and Pimpernel.
Untamed lines reigned supreme at Dedar, as seen in the brand’s new Contemporary Archives series. The collection reimagines a handful of old-school motifs in wildly modern ways with standouts such as the conspicuously striped This Is the Tiger Speaking and an embossed jacquard velvet charmer named Déjà Vu Jamais with an undulating labyrinth pattern.
Christopher Farr Cloth asked 20 esteemed designers to recolor its iconic Carnival pattern in honor of the design’s vicennial anniversary. Showcased inside the Popus Editions showroom, the celebratory series featured characterful new colorways—including the pastel-hued Fairy Dust and avocado-green-accented Summertime—by the likes of Ben Pentreath, Jessica Buckley, Clinton Smith and Thomas Jayne.
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