Matter and Shape, the carefully curated design fair that’s quickly become a must-see during Paris Fashion Week, has returned to the Jardin des Tuileries for its third edition. The fair, which opened Friday and runs through Monday, March 9, is intentionally staged while the fashion set is in town to help open up the world of design to a new audience.
More salon than trade show, Matter and Shape offers a new vision for what a design event can be, and who it is for—meeting the moment as the fashion world increasingly turns its gaze toward interiors and the home. The crowd is a smart mix of stylists, hoteliers, shop owners, restaurateurs, students, tastemakers, and creative directors, alongside the usual magazine editors, museum curators, artists, and gallerists. The likes of Interview editor-in-chief Mel Ottenberg and German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans have been spotted perusing the fair’s textiles, tableware, lighting, scents, ceramics, and furniture from independent designers, architects, heritage brands, family-run companies, and galleries.
Photo: Mickaël Llorca
Of course, the cross-pollination between fashion and design isn’t entirely novel. “I think that great creative directors in fashion have always been curators,” says Dan Thawley, the Paris-based Australian writer, editor, and creative consultant responsible for the fair’s creative direction. “When you look at the homes of great fashion designers, you see their book collections, the furniture they choose to live around, all sorts of objects they place around them to be inspired… the best of them have always created amazing spaces, but now the cross between art, fashion, and design is communicated in a much more palpable way.”
Only in its third year, the fair has already more than doubled its exhibitors list since its first edition, leaping from 30 to upwards of 70. (The “Scale” theme for 2026 takes inspiration from Rem Koolhaas and Bruce Mau’s seminal 1995 architectural monograph S, M, L, XL.) Sculptural jewelry from Monies and recycled leather jackets fashioned into cushions for a Le Corbusier-inspired armchair by Julie Kegels are displayed alongside delicate seashell sugar bowls by Tavares 1922, dreamy fragrances from Frama, and geometric side tables by the architectural powerhouse Herzog & de Meuron. In addition to the exhibitors, Matter and Shape also includes spaces for pause and contemplation, including a reading room in partnership with Villa Hegra, a café from Parisian hotspot Dreamin’ Man in collaboration with Zara Home, and an ephemeral restaurant by the creative culinary studio Balbosté. “I like to think of Matter and Shape like a curated walk through the pages of a magazine,” muses Thawley.
“We live in a time when we think everything is accessible and known through the internet in seconds,” he goes on. “But the reality is there’s still so many loopholes and hidden trap doors of beautiful things to be discovered—archives are being dusted off by fifth-generation family companies, connections are being made between film and food and fashion and these wonderful disciplines. I want to celebrate all of them, because design is also the way you live your life.”