This Design Hub Debuting Kiko Kostadinov Chairs & sacai Cafés
There are many self-described "design salons" that purport to showcase all the best and newest from the worlds of architecture, interior design, industrial design, and all that. Rarely are they anything more than a showcase for labels wealthy enough to buy their way in.
But, with a progressive fashion twist, MATTER and SHAPE asserts that it has something fresh to say.
Born of WSN director Matthieu Pinet — that's WSN the trade-show organizer, not WSN the trend-forecasting agency — and shaped by fashion writer Dan Thawley, MATTER and SHAPE is only a few years old but its provocative mix of fashion talent, old-guard design, and "high-low" pricing has brought it ample acclaim.
MATTER and SHAPE is already looking to expand internationally, said Thawley in a recent interview.
For now, though, MATTER and SHAPE is still hosted in a giant Parisian garden, a placid balm to the rush of March's Paris Fashion Week. Its 50+ exhibitors include established names like FLOS and Byredo alongside some stylish surprises.
Bulgarian/British designer Kiko Kostadinov is here, for instance, presenting angular furnishings created with Slovenia's Soft Baroque.
sacai is too, having participated in the previous MATTER and SHAPE alongside folks like Rick Owens and Fendi heiress Delfina Delettrez Fendi. (Instead of tangible goods, sacai is lending its name to the event's restaurant)
And the shape of the 2025 season's space was overseen by Willo Perron, the much-sought creative director who recently guided the redesign of Stüssy's New York flagship store.
These are names that reach beyond the oft-insular design world, indicative of why MATTER and SHAPE attracts these talents and why it's timed for fashion week rather than, say, Art Basel.
Whereas many of these sorts of hobnob-y design happenings posture as cutting-edge but are really self-flatteringly stale, MATTER and SHAPE hones in on youth, newness, and an intriguing mélange of participants.
For instance, Zara Home, one of the most accessible names in interior, is weighing in on the on-site eatery alongside buzzy culinary outlet We Are Ona, which often works with luxury labels like ALAÏA. There's also an open-mindedness to fresh POVs, hence why Kostadinov's chairs are here alongside APARTAMENTO magazines, indie silversmiths, and the usual century-old European family labels.
This balance gives MATTER and SHAPE an edge.
It won't singularly introduce egalitarian warmth to conventionally exclusive design conferences — an issue inescapable for any industry associated with big bucks and bigger egos — but MATTER and SHAPE's mix offers it something better: Crossover appeal.
Who doesn't want to dine out, sacai-style?
