Paris Design Week 2020:
The Socialite Family’s Ideal Circuit

The 2020 edition of Paris Design Week has barely started and it already has a distinctive feel. It’s a 10-year anniversary this year, and the first act has been extremely strong, honouring the theme of being mindful and present! Unlike other major professional fairs celebrating lifestyle, design and decor – which have been delayed or simply cancelled – Paris Design Week is definitely going ahead. Proudly, and even smarter and more cheerful than its previous editions. Until 12 September, it is therefore with undisguised pleasure that we will walk the still sunshine-filled streets of the capital with the freedom to design our own programme. It will be 6 different addresses for The Socialite Family. 6 locations that are representative of the extraordinary diversity offered by Paris Design Week and which we have chosen to tell you about in more detail. The “ideal” route that you can follow to the letter or simply add to your own favourite locations for a unique experience in the heart of Paris.

1. (RE)NAISSANCE, for sustainable consumption. From 3 September to 14 November. Empreintes, 5 rue de Picardie (75003). 2. Hem x 6, 4-6 September. Institut Suédois, 11 Rue Payenne (72003). 3. Mobilier du XXIème siècle (furniture of the 21st century), where youthful creativeness invents the table of the Council of Ministers, from 3 to 12 September. Galerie des Gobelins, 43 avenue des Gobelins (75013). 4. L’objet, l’artiste et le designer. From 3 September to 10 October 2020. Galerie de Sèvres, 4 place André Malraux (75001). 5. Paris Design Factory Week, from 1 to 15 September. Espace Commines,  17 rue Commines (75003). 6.Home Good Home, The Socialite Family apartment for more eco-friendly design. From 26 August to 30 September. BHV MARAIS, 52 rue de Rivoli (75004).

1. First stop in the Les Halles-Marais-Bastille district at the concept store for crafts, Empreintes. It’s early, the sunlight is sublime and caresses the contours of the (RE)NAISSANCE exhibition sale, which showcases the use of materials from nature through the surprising achievements of 6 craftsmen. An approach that speaks louder than ever today and which proves – in addition to the fact that the Earth is overflowing with resources that are just asking to be polished and used – that the creative process and respect for the environment are far from being incompatible! Frédéric Mulatier, Claire Fréchet, Myriam Greff and others shares this overflowing love for what surrounds us with the Swedish Institute. Alone in the world.

2. Eager to make something spectacular out of the six apartments at the Hôtel de Marle which were leant for the exhibition (of artists or researchers based in Sweden), the inspiring institution led by its director Ewa Kumlin gave carte blanche to just as many designer duos as eco-friendly brands. So what’s the idea behind it? To import Swedish interiors to France in six different ways to make future tenants feel at home. The very illustration of the Hem concept – which is what the exhibition is named after, Hem x 6 – “carries with it a notion of ​​belonging, evocative of a place of safety and comfort with an emotionally positive charge”.We had to have a very good reason to leave this haven of peace at 11, rue Payenne, but we had one. We had an appointment (…)

3. And not with just anyone! Hervé Lemoine, director of Mobilier National, is waiting for us at the Galerie des Gobelins to tell us all the details of the Mobilier du XXIème siècle initiative. It’s an exhibition divided into three acts, a sort of journey between extremely rare archival pieces created by the greatest designers and the development of projects that culminated in 5 winners of a competition unlike any other. It was a challenge launched by the service in partnership with the Campus des Métiers d’Art et du Design, with the aim of inventing the future Council of Ministers table as well as all the furniture to accompany it. It was a real success according to the Mobilier National team (unanimous acclaim from them all). And we can only agree with them! By opening their doors for the first time to young creators, there have been some real gems of inventiveness. Furnishing official places and creating furniture that reflects the times has never made more sense than now. Reinvention, and coming up with something in keeping with the times is something we expect from an organisation as prestigious as this. The bet paid off.

4. The Manufacture de Sèvres did not wait until 2020 to go through with this. They wanted to stand out through their propensity to create for – and with – artists, so they created a space in the Opéra-Concorde-Étoile zone, in the Galerie de Sèvres, where we are encouraged to challenge ourselves with their “L’objet, l’artiste et le designer” (the object, the artist, and the designer) exhibition. Both in terms of design concepts in the strictest sense and in the artist’s approach to an object. In an immaculate white space, works that achieve real feats of dexterity coexist passionately, thanks to Cédric Petitnicolas.Centuries-old traits and gestures have inspired shapes, colours (more than 1,000 different enamel shades) and a clever interplay of materials, all by masters – Ettore Sotssas, Borek Sipek –, rising design stars – Arthur Hoffner – as well as the more cheeky – Adrian Saxe. It has been an opportunity to reaffirm the unique place occupied by La Manufacture de Sèvres, a key player in the artistic, design and decorative arts scene, which we will soon find showing a brand new exhibition: À Table!

5. To complete our loop, we return to the Les Halles-Marais-Bastille group. More specifically to the Espace Commines, one of the three locations the Paris Design Week Factory is using, formerly the OFF of the Paris Design Week, where the new wave designers are exhibited in a spirit of eco-friendliness and a fully recyclable minimalist scenography. It has meant cohabitation between award-winning creators (Rising Talent Awards from Maison & Objet, Grand Prix de la Création de la Ville de Pairs and the Radio Star Prize winner) as well as two examples to follow: the Collectible Fair, a Brussels fair specialising in 21st century furniture century with over twenty of its designers and their creations and Demain plus beau, a selection of “meaningful objects” by Hélène Aguilar, founder of the podcast Where is the beautiful. Formats which, in their own way, showcase the propensity of young designers to reinvent our way of understanding, creating and consuming decor. A fascinating journey where research serves the beautiful and, inevitably, the unique.

6. All these values are pro​​claimed loud and clear throughout our stroll, and we can’t stop ourselves thinking about the last stage. This is the stage dearest to The Socialite Family, since it is the apartment designed for the Home Good Home event on the ground floor of Le BHV MARAIS. Until 30 September, come visit us and discover a real global universe with a virtuous selection chosen by Constance Gennari from items – and exclusives – from our collection as well as a showcasing of popular lights, antique pieces and others with the Go for Good label. It’s a concentrated blend of the best from the department store and what particularly moves us. Creations by young designers, historic pieces and eco-friendliness, in all its forms.