Bonjour!

We have just spent a crazily busy and totally inspiring weekend at the Maison et Objet Show in Paris, a city known not only for its great cuisine and wine but also as a place of great inspiration and Maison et Objet certainly does not disappoint!

One of the world’s leading interior and design trade shows with over 69,000 people visiting from all over the world and over 3,300 brands exhibiting it really is a hot spot of activity. Founded in 1995 it is now held twice a year, in January and September at the Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre next to Charles de Gaulle airport and just outside the centre of Paris. It is a creative platform where the best of both established brands and upcoming new designers from around the globe showcase their latest collections, all set within the backdrop of beautiful Paris – so what’s not to love?!

Following a new floor plan introduced last September, Maison et Objet is now organised into three clear areas, to quote from their website (in French-English!): “MAISON and its wide range of interior decoration; OBJET, the show’s concept store, ideal for retailers; and lastly LUXURY, DESIGN & INTERIOR DECORATION a new offer that has been created to facilitate communication and the unearthing of new products.”

Each season, the Maison et Objet Observatorie de la Maison (a committee created in 2002) define a theme ‘that catalogues new trends in consumption and emerging lifestyles’ and that theme is explored within the show as a whole. This year’s theme was WILD, as defined by and again we quote in a little bit of Franglais!

“The leopard cannot change its spots…Between threat of disappearance and hope for revival, nature takes over, expressing itself in all its first states, from the wild to the sacred. Confronted with a world formatted by technology, urbanization and excessive domestication, the imaginary gets wilder off the beaten tracks and finds refuge in the innocence of essential, preserved landscape, untouched. Contemporary creation convenes wild spirits. We return to the forest to reset. Forms and materials reconnect with elements to be in line with Mother Earth. The wild poetic gleans the elementary, the raw, the misshapen, the corroded, the burnt, the scarified. We reinject some nature into the urban space, in search of new wastelands. As shamans, designers call upon the magic of spirits and supernatural forces. ReWild Yourself.”

 

We spent our three days exploring the many delights of the show, especially Halls 6 and 8, meetings lots of exciting new companies as well as catching up with our existing brands and seeing first hand their exciting new SS16 collections!

First on our list was Hall 8, which housed the ‘Now! Design À Vivre’ and ‘Scènes D’Intérieur Gallery’ brands. We had two existing brands exhibiting in this hall: Pappelina, a Swedish interiors brand; and Blue D of Royal Delft, a Dutch Heritage brand.

 

Images from the Royal Delft and Blue D stand….

 

Pappelina chose the show to launch their colourful new SS16 Collection featuring their brand new design christened “FIA” to add to their ever growing family of Pappelina rugs! FIA is an opportunity for Pappelina to play with a smaller design of circles allowing them to experiment with more colours. In fact this new collection of rugs has the most colours of any, being available in 12 vibrant colours in 4 sizes, plus there are also 4 cushions and blanket colours to match. FIA is perfect for adding a dash of colour with the Pappelina spirit to your surroundings whether at home, at work or at play!

 

Pappelina have added eight brand new and carefully chosen colours this season to their existing collections: Turquoise, Denim, Petrol, Lemon, Piglet, Apple, Grass Green and Army. This is in addition to expanding the colour choices for their existing BOB (new: Army, Seagrass and Storm) and OWEN (new: Warm Grey) ranges. Pappelina have also added new rug sizes to the MOLLY, VIVA and EIRA collections, making sure you have the perfect size rug for any room in your house.

Keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming blog post on the new SS16 Pappelina Collection for more details about all the new exciting products for the upcoming season!

 

The next hall on our list was Hall 6, which housed the ‘Fresh, Fashion, Beloved and Kids’ brands and it was in this hall that our Danish homewares brand Miss Etoile was exhibiting.

To read more, and most importantly see more pictures, of the fabulous new Miss Etoile SS16 Collection and the launch of their brand new stationery and textiles lines see our blog post about Top Drawer with Miss Etoile.

 

In between the busy days of walking the ever-inspiring Maison et Objet, we managed to fit in a visit to the capital itself, and of course no trip to Paris is complete within seeing the iconic Eiffel Tower!

We had some great food, as you would expect from being in Paris! From a chocolate dessert on top of the George Pompidou Centre (which has amazing views of both the Eiffel Tower and the Sacré Cœur which look even more stunning if you visit at sunset!), to a lovely meal in the small town of Roissy and, of course, we had a macaroon or two, because when in Paris…

One of the highlights of our trip though was our visit to the quirky Derriere restaurant (yes that’s its real name!) which had been recommended to us by Pappelina. While the food was amazing, a great selection of typical French cuisine, it was the decor that we loved! An eclectic mix of styles – one side of our table was a bed and there was even a hidden room through a secret door in a wardrobe, just like in Narnia!

 

Overall we all had a simply fantastic trip with plenty of memories and ideas. Maison et Objet was as inspiring as ever and we found some really great new brands that we are super excited about and can’t wait to share with you – so keep your eyes open! The response from our existing customers (including those few who made it across the channel!) to their new collections was extremely positive and we are more than a little excited for the new opportunities that 2016 brings to the English market.

 

The next stop on our fair travel schedule is Ambiente in Frankfurt where we will be for the entire show, 12^th-16^th February, and nearly ALL of our great brands are exhibiting there making it a great opportunity to see all of their new SS16 collections in the flesh and in their entirety. You will most likely find us on the Pappelina or Bosign stands as, based on last year, they have the best selection of sweets and drinks! Only joking! We look forward to seeing some of you there, Auf Wiedersehen!

Thanks for reading 🙂