From 23-28th March, the global design community descended upon Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre once again for the highly anticipated return of Maison&Objet.

The second post-pandemic session, which was moved from January to March in order to be held under satisfactory sanitary conditions, left no doubt as to the communal desire to finally meet in person to exchange ideas, make discoveries and sense market trends. The decor, design and lifestyle fair welcomed an impressive number of visitors (51,656), with one in three attendees coming from abroad.

Under the theme of New Luxury, the fair put luxury in the spotlight and invited visitors to re-examine its various creative iterations. Echoing the emerging currents of Uber Luxury and Lux Populis, the March edition focused its premium offer in Hall 7, aptly named “Signature”, providing a showcase for the industry’s most creative brands and design houses, where signature pieces by international design stars featured.

Designer of the Year
At each edition, Maison&Objet names a Designer of the Year, celebrating the work of the most outstanding talents on the international design and decoration scene. Having been unable to present his installation on receiving the accolade in September 2020, Franklin Azzi took centre stage at the March 2022 edition with Retro Futur, an immersive exploration of his creative process.

The installation stages the architect’s day-to-day activities via a digital, modular and pared-back table in black lacquered metal: it diffuses, across a series of screens, a selection of basic and traditional tools specific to the trade (set square, rotring pen, tracing paper, light table etc.) as well as the various items required each day when developing a project: architectural models, materials, sketches, etc.

Rising Talent Awards
Having already been celebrated back in September 2011, Japan’s up-and-coming design talent took centre stage at the trade fair once again this March, with the Rising Talent Awards in Hall 6 focusing on six contemporary Japanese designers who are currently carving out a brand-new path in the country’s creative landscape. Each of the talented winners was hand-picked by a prestigious jury chaired by architect Kengo Kuma, accompanied by leading names in the world of Japanese design.

Carte Blanche
In Hall 7, Maison&Objet offered Carte blanche to iconic designers from a variety of stylistic universes to envision dining and rest areas and a memorable visitor experience. Attendees were invited to sip tea and enjoy light meals at The Beach Club designed by Tristan Auer for Mariage Frères, before enjoying lunch at La Cuillière, a restaurant designed by Paola Navone and inspired by Daniel Rozensztroch’s museum-worthy collection of spoons. Meanwhile, Instagram star chef Julien Sebbag took down orders himself and supervised the setting of the plates within a Seventies decor orchestrated by Julien Sebban at Uchronia Café.

The Talks
Across the four-day programme, the fair hosted a comprehensive programme of talks, offering interviews designers and trend breakdowns. For example, interior designer and founder Tristan Auer shared his thoughts on the concept of bespoke luxury as a hallmark; designer Linda Boronkay and founder of The Sircle, Liran Wizman discussed the future of the club in hospitality; and Yabu Pushelberg closed the show with a conversation charting their journey to becoming a global design house alongside Sleeper’s Editor-at-Large Guy Dittrich.

Maison&Objet In the City
This year, M&O welcomed an all-new B2B event designed for professionals, which brought together, in one circuit, the 65 spots that make up the Parisian ecosystem of excellence in decor: decorators, interior designers, galleries, great maisons and exceptional craftspeople.