2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the Parisian design festival
It’s all happening in Paris this month. The two biggest events in the interiors calendar — Maison & Objet and Paris Deco Off — have just been held, and H&IS got an exclusive look at the emerging trends for the year ahead.
Held twice a year, Maison & Objet serves as a global platform for professionals, enthusiasts, and industry leaders to explore the latest trends in interior design, home decor, and lifestyle products.
With its origins dating back to 1995, M&O has evolved into a pivotal meeting point for designers, manufacturers, and buyers from around the world to get a preview of the upcoming trends.
The first event of 2024, held from Jan 18-22, showcased the works of brands such as Pinto, Honore Deco and innovative new concrete designers Tosco Studio, alongside a host of other design leaders.
This year’s theme was ‘Tech Eden’, which aimed to celebrate burgeoning technologies such as 3D printing and AI in the interior design world. “Tech Eden conveys a dream-like optimism through shape and colour, focussing this time on a futuristic biophilia, a new world of well-being,” the event organisers announced. As with Pantone’s Colour of the Year for 2024, the focus is very much on a new era of wellness.
As well as the tech, here’s what caught our attention at the January event…
Reduce and reuse
Sustainability is at the front of most designers’ minds these days and this year’s event highlighted innovative repurposing and upcycling of disused materials.
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La Rochelle-based designer Bobaril showcased this best with their metal chair designs, a delightful rework of industrial barrels.
Under the sea
The coastal trend took on a maximalist makeover at Maison where items from the natural world — coral, rock crystals, fossils, starfish and intricate pottery from the likes of Objet de Curiosite — were set on a huge mural backdrop combining illustrations of underwater plants in shades of azure, turquoise and coral pink.
The result? A surprisingly calming and stylish oasis in amongst the bustle of the festival. We’re not quite convinced it’d work as well in your typical tenement flat, but could provide inspiration for feature walls in bathrooms and hallways that need perking up.
To the tropics
The sea wasn’t the only inspiration for wall murals this year; the influence of tropical prints was clear too, and the lushness of the tropical colour palette was witnessed throughout the festival.
French brand Santano displayed giant palm tree floor lights, at their space, and deep forest green, leafy plants were a feature of many exhibits.
Surrealist shapes
Surrealism with a capital S was on the cards this January, with brands like Polspotten showcasing decorations in the shape of giant human heads and fingers, blown up to mammoth proportions.
The trend continued throughout M&O with home decor designer Werner Voss displaying gold rabbit lamps and a hand-painted vase featuring what we can only describe as a ‘lemon lady’ — reminiscent of the testa di moro vases featured in season two of The White Lotus.
Yes, fun and over-the-top outlandishness was very much on show this year.
Mid-century tones
Fancy Home Collection showed everyone that orange is the colour for 2024 with mid-century-inspired wallpaper prints and velvet chairs in the sunny shade. The bold hue is hyper-effective, instantly injecting a large dose of fun and retro cool.
Also fans of orange were Amca Oval, with their Aurora lamps sporting the bright hue, and Italian design house Pedrali with some more orange chairs if you didn’t get your fix with Fancy Home Collection.
Mathieu Lehanneur won the Designer of the Year 2024 award
M&O also celebrated their Designer of the Year 2024, French designer Mathieu Lehanneur, and hosted his project Outonomy at the festival, which he describes as an “ecosystem of life, both minimal and optimal. The history of civilisation and architecture is punctuated by attempts, solutions, and proposals for an isolated home: the igloo, the cabin, the hut, or the yurt. The challenge here is to combine our needs with current technologies. Far from being nostalgic or an attempt to return to the past, Outonomy aims to respond to the question: what do I really need?’”.
If you missed out this time around you only have to wait until September until the next round of Maison de Objet. Autumn in Paris? See you there!
