Design Parade 7 at the Villa Noailles, Hyères

Blue miniature vases with decorative elements in white, photographed against a grey background

An integral part of the Design Parade is '10 Designers' - a competition for young talent. Pictured are pieces by last year's winner Jean-Bapiste Fastrez, made during his residency at Sèvres, Cité de la céramique - his prize for being top dog

(Image credit: press)

By Lauren Ho

last updated 9 October 2022

in Features

Villa Noaille’s annual Design Parade has become a significant stopover on the design circuit, helped by its South of France setting. Now in its seventh year, the three-day festival offers a strong programme of exhibitions, talks and workshops, with a line up of leading names ranging from architect Patrick Bouchain to French designer François Azambourg, as well as a refreshing slew of young designers.

Set on a hilltop above the French coastal town of Hyères, the 1920s modernist pile, by celebrated French architect Robert Mallet-Stevens, was constructed by eccentric patrons of the arts, Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles, and has played host to everyone from Salvador Dali to Jean Cocteau and Man Ray. The villa and its manicured gardens became an arts centre in 2003, and it has remained a favourite destination for the creative cognoscenti.

Seeking out new talent is integral to the festival’s existence and this year's programme is business as usual, with the ‘10 Designers’ contest once again being full of names to watch, picked out by a judging panel comprising Paris-based designer Inga Sempé, Galerie Kreo director Didier Krzentowski and Design Parade 6 winner Brynjar Sigurdarson, among others.

Highlights among the designers work include a collection of shelving units by Fanny Dora, and some interesting alarm clocks by Marc Sarrazin and Sibylle Delclaux. And as with previous years, one of the prizes is a one-year research residency at Sèvres, Cité de la céramique- the results of which will be seen at next year’s Design Parade. Last year’s winners, Jean-Baptiste Fastrez and Brynjar Siguriarson have come up trumps with a dynamic series of accessories and furniture, which are also on display.

Other highlights at this year’s festival include the ‘Rugs Parade’, a collection of rugs by designers including Fernando and Humberto Campana for Nodus and a colourful offering by Erwan and Ronan Bouroullec. Of course, the permanent collection is always worth visiting, for the villa’s influential former owners not only spent a lifetime supporting the arts, but were insatiable collectors, amassing furniture and art by the likes of Alberto Giacometti, Max Ernst and Marcel Breuer.

Happily for those who can't make the three-day fair, the Design Parade exhibitions will remain open until 30 September.

3 mirrors in different shapes and sizes hanging on a white wall — Miroirs by Jean-Baptiste Fastrez, in partnership with Galerie Kreo (Image credit: press)

Cylinder shaped vase in shades of green — Vase by Design Parade 7 co-winner, Brynjar Sigurðarson, made in partnership with CIRVA International Research Center on Glass and Arts, Marseille (Image credit: press)

Stool with a metal tpp and timber base. Photographed against a grey background — Stool by Brynjar Sigurðarson, a work in process with Galerie kreo (Image credit: press)

Alarm clock, speakers and radio photographed against a white background — Alarm clock, speakers and radio from the 'Objets sans âge' collection by Sibylle Delclaux for the '10 Designers' competition (Image credit: press)

A hand adding a small white cermaic dish to a wood board holding 2 other white ceramic dishes. photographed against a white background — The speakers from the alarm clock (previous image) have taken the shape of small dishes, exploring the boundary between artisanal and technology (Image credit: press)

White shelf with brown frame on a white wall — 'Revolver' shelving system by Henny van Nistelrooy for the '10 Designers' competition (Image credit: press)

Multifunctional white shelf with brown frames , placed against a blue wall — The shelves have the ability to both display and store objects (Image credit: press)

Knitted shelter photographed against a white background — 'Net Cabane' is a modernised anglers’ shelter by Giorgia Zanellato for the '10 Designers' competition (Image credit: press)

Upclose view of a corner of th Knitted shelter photographed against a white background — 'Net Cabane' by Giorgia Zanellato (Image credit: press)

A wall-mounted shelving unit in a contemporary spiral designed shape — A wall-mounted shelving unit (backed by mirror) from the 'Daedaleas' collection of wall hangings by Fanny Dora for the '10 Designers' competition (Image credit: press)

Corner of a room with white walls featuring different variations on hanging fixtures: a shelf, a valet tray, a book stand, a magazine stand, and a peg with glass of water on a brown dressing table against the wall — The 'Daedaleas' collection includes different variations on hanging fixtures: a dressing table, a shelf, a valet tray, a book stand, a magazine stand, and a peg (Image credit: press)

Black sofa chair and black swivel chair, photographed against a white background — 'Gamme flexible' is a comfortable, economical, and ecological collection of chairs by Fanette Pesch for the '10 Designers' competition (Image credit: press)

White net bag with brown leather handles, photographed against grey background — 'Balloo Collection' is a range of bags incorporating Spacer fabric, a three-dimensional textile, by Michel Giesbrecht for the '10 Designers' competition (Image credit: press)

White net bag with brown handles containing green vegetable and yellow peppers. Photographed against a white background — Giesbrecht adds leather straps and brass buckles borrowed from traditional leatherware, creating a contrast with the initial high tech fabric (Image credit: press)

A human resting on a map and sun shield on the sand by the river. photographed during the day — 'Beach carpet' by Maxence Loisson de Guinaumont for the '10 Designers' competition (Image credit: press)

A digital bedside clock , with a hand holding a book over it. — 'Rêveils' is a series designed by Marc Sarrazin which is devoted to the three major stages of sleep. Pictured is the 'temporary narrator' which is dedicated to the stage of 'falling asleep' (Image credit: press)

A hand hoovering above a black bedside clock — The second stage is the status of the object itself, dedicated to 'deep sleep' (Image credit: press)

Black folded spectables next to a contemporary designed glass voice recorder,. Photographed against a grey background — The last object in the series captures and records the sounds of its environment in order to repeat them the following morning and is dedicated to 'awakening' (Image credit: press)

A wooden object with multiple peach pillars photographed against a grey background — 'Persiennes, Les tirettes' is a piece of storage furniture by Lili Gayman for the '10 Designers' competition (Image credit: press)

Wooden waste paper bin and desk tray in the shape of a boat photographed against a grey background — 'Bouleau' is a waste paper bin and desk tray by Julie Richoz for the '10 Designers' competition (Image credit: press)

Blue and white desk tray and desk pot photographed on a white surface and a white background — 'Arrotolare' also by Julie Richoz is a desk set, halfway between a desk pot and a desk tray and is inspired by the movements of a crumb collector (Image credit: press)

Masquerade-like mask created using wood and palm trees, hanging from a wall — Masque by François Dumas and the ESA TPM students from the design department. It was created during the François Dumas workshop, in which students were challenged with primitive production methods (Image credit: press)

Stack of colourful paper and wood, placed on a brown board on a dark grey marble surface — 'Feu' by François Dumas and the ESA TPM students (Image credit: press)

bulb with a stick base sticking out of a grey wall — 'Eliou' lamp by Agora prize winner, Antoine Boudin, conceived as part of an ongoing project to design a stabile sculpture out of Provence cane (Image credit: press)

Sketch of a yellow boat-like item drawn against a yellow background — A sketch by Agora prize winner, Antoine Boudin (Image credit: press)

Light blue chair with marble style pattern photographed against a white background — Bugatti, chair by François Azambourg for Cappellini (Image credit: press)

Brown sofa against with large sized red apples photographed against a white wall with painted on black and white wall art. On the right of the wall art is a net bag filled with balls and placed on a red chair — Photograph by Morgane Le Gall, commissioned by Maison Française. It is part of an exhibition featuring Le Gall's images commissioned by designers and publishers (Image credit: Morgane Le Gall)

Two men sitting on a stacked pile of colourful big chairs — Photograph by Morgane Le Gall, commissioned by Série Limitée, Les Echos (Image credit: Morgane Le Gall)

Upclose image of a rug with spiral patterns in shades of brown — 'Sushi' by Fernando and Humberto Campana for Nodus - part of the Rugs Parade exhibition (Image credit: press)

Shapeless grey slate-like object with a cream center, photographed against a grey background — 'Trou blanc' by Robert Stadler (Image credit: Courtesy Galerie Triple V, Paris)

Rug with multiple colourful patterns hanging off the balcony of a 3 storey building — 'Losanges' rug by Erwan and Ronan Bouroullec (Image credit: press)

ABOVE: Front view of a red armchair; BELOW: Side view of a red armhair with a red footrest. All phographed against a grey background — Rubis armchair and foot rest by Sébastien Cordoléani (Image credit: press)

Two pink armchairs photographed against a pink background — Strates armchair by Sébastien Cordoléani (Image credit: press)

ADDRESS

Villa Noailles
Montée de Noailles
83 400 Hyères
France

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Lauren Ho is the Travel Director of Wallpaper*, roaming the globe, writing extensively about luxury travel, architecture and design for both the magazine and the website. Lauren serves as the European Academy Chair for the World's 50 Best Hotels.