The Edition

New design salon Matter and Shape will make its debut in Paris in the Spring of 2024. Set to take place during Paris Fashion Week in the Jardin des Tuileries, the business-focused design salon was announced on 20 October by journalist Dan Thawley, who started the project with support from Milanese strategic consulting firm P:S.

The salon is ‘powered’ by WSN, a Paris-based trade fair sector expert, led by fashion veteran Matthieu Pinet as director, with creative direction by Thawley.

Matter and Shape, debuting Spring 2024

The model for the salon involves an open call to design companies, fashion houses, independent makers, new material innovators and contemporary galleries to show ‘meaningful displays of products’ that range from limited edition to industrial scale, with the unifying trait that each piece on show must be available for immediate and short-lead deliveries.

‘Why now? Why another fair?’ said Thawley introducing the initiative during an intimate lunch in Paris on 20 October 2023. ‘My answer is not simple. My answer is however that we are on the crest of a wave, and we are in a moment where there is a lot of noise.’ Hequestioned the white box model for fair, citing successful examples that include itinerant design fair Nomad and the recent debut of Design Miami/Paris inside the L’Hôtel des Maisons, or new blue chip fair disruptor, Contributions.

Thawley stresses however that Matter and Shape takes a different approach: ‘As someone who has spent years doing the rounds of Salone del Mobile, TEFAF, PAD and any number of prestigious design happenings around the world, I have often been faced with extraordinary objects in extraordinary settings, but left with little more than catalogues and photographs. I’ve also understood how the word design fulfils so many different needs and how the fashion world, an industry in a constant search for newness, continues to dance around design as the next frontier.

‘Positioning Matter and Shape as a business-focused design salon during Paris Fashion Week is a bold step in aligning the design world with the fashion calendar and allowing a greater cross-over of commerce between these two worlds.’

The event will take place in a 3000 sq m temporary space in the Tuileries (whose details are brought to life in the photographic series illustrating this story, shot by Marcelo Gomes for the occasion). Featuring a vaulted ceiling and transparent lateral walls allowing natural light to flood the space, the venue will include customised display stands for up to 50 exhibitors as well as a design bookstore and boutique, and a dedicated restaurant open for lunch and private dinner opportunities.

‘Matter and Shape is a reflection of design today,’ concludes Thawley. ‘It is diverse. It is eclectic. But it is also united and functional, accessible and aspirational. Bringing together projects from all over the world in a single room, we are creating a chance […] to discover something new, from different countries, and to walk away with concrete solutions and endless possibilities.

‘A young enthusiast may leave with a candle, a magazine, and ideas for their first home. A department store buyer could pick up 10 new brands to present to their homewares department. An architect or decorator might discover new suppliers or materials. And a blue-chip collector might just discover their next big thing.’

Matter and Shape will take place from 1-4 March 2024, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris

The first wave prospectus is now open for candidates worldwide, with first-round consideration closing on 15 December 2023