Wallpaper* Designer of the Year Pierre Yovanovitch had a stint as jury president of the 2018 edition of summer design soirée, Design Parade Toulon, sister event to Design Parade Hyères, now entering its 14th year. Following this, Jean-Pierre Blanc, director of the art centre Villa Noailles, has welcomed the Parisian designer back to realise a boutique inside the villa, that just opened during the annual international photo and fashion festival. Bringing the same level of charisma that he is known for, Yovanovitch has created a shop with plenty of energy. He has sculpted bespoke furniture and archways that compliment the villa’s modernist charm. ‘Playing off of Robert Mallet-Stevens’ architecture and echoing the villa’s Cubist garden, I created a series of arches and perspectives which I accentuated with bold colors,’ Yovanovitch explains. Primary tones are used to outline the display coves, geometric passages and frames throughout, complimenting the natural French Riviera glow that peers in, ushering the summer spirit.
The theatrical allure of Yovanovitch’s work is embedded into the space too. Wares on sale are dramatised protagonists in the set – a play on visual merchandising that is ‘in keeping with my love of the opera and set design,’ he muses. The project is a fitting follow up to ‘The Erotomania of Mademoiselle Oops’, an exhibition that Yovanovitch presented at Design Parade Toulon last summer. Here he narrated the story of the fictional Mademoiselle by staging an evocative abandoned apartment. As design troops start plotting their summer sojourn to Hyères, plans are in place for the 2019 exhibitions and prizes. Paris-based interior designer François Champsaur takes the helm as jury lead for Design Parade Toulon, meanwhile, for Design Parade Hyères, Mathieu Lehanneur has been appointed as guest of honour and president of the jury, promising another enriching showcase.
Photography: Jérôme Galland
Courtesy of Wallpaper