The work of six up-and-coming French designers is on show at the Maison&Objet furniture fair in Paris, revealing an emerging trend for handmade rather than mass-produced objects.
The Rising Talents exhibition shines a light on six home-grown designers and studios: Natacha & Sacha, Laureline Galliot, Mathieu Peyroulet Ghilini, Wendy Andreu, Julie Richoz and Adrien Garcia.
Among the exhibits are various experiments with craft processes in ceramics, furniture and electronics.
Return to craftsmanship
According to the judges, who included prolific designers Pierre Charpin and Pierre Yovanovitch, the showcase reveals that industrial design is falling out of favour in France.
"There are currently two main trends in the young French design scene," said Ecole Camondo director René-Jacques Mayer, who was also on the judging panel. "The first is that designers are developing stronger links with craftsmanship. They are distinguishing themselves less with industrial products than with objects produced in limited quantities using traditional savoir-faire."
More than just a chair
"Secondly, they are no longer interested in simply designing a chair, but develop projects that are much more societal," Mayer added. "Their overriding aim is to solve problems and come up with new uses."
Rising Talents is a regular fixture at Maison&Objet, always with a focus on one country. Organisers chose France for the January 2020 edition, to coincide wi...