No bones about it, you can rely on the French to bring forth the best in design there is. Whether that’s in haute couture or architecture and interior design - there comes a level of sophistication that our neighbours across the channel have a penchant for that only they could conceive of. Case in point? The Design Parade, held in Hyères and Toulon in the south of France, organised by the contemporary art centre Villa Noailles, delivering the best in show across a multitude of categories.
Established in 2006 as the Design Parade Hyères, focusing on design on design only, the festival has since expanded into a large-scale showcase, awarding multiple prizes to participating artists each year. In 2016, Design Parade Toulon, founded in cooperation with Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, was added to official schedule, followed by the Centre Pompidou in 2019 and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in 2023.
Among the handful of disciplines, fashion brands have gotten involved, too. Chanel and Van Cleef & Arpels are sponsoring two of the prizes, contributing to the winning funds and offering for the winners to produce projects in collaboration with the luxury houses.
This year's winners include Sacha Parent and Valentine Tiraboschi, who took home the Grand Prix Du Jury Design Parade Hyères for their work 'Décor par le Sable’, Willie Morlon for 'Placo Studiolo', who won the Grand Prix Design Parade Toulon Van Cleef & Arpels, Romain Joly and Lisa Bravi who are the recipients of the Visual Merchandising Prize Awarded by Chanel, and Anaïs Fernon, who was awarded in a brand new category, the Prix Mobilier National.
