Hyères, an autumnal fashion showcase

This should have been one of the great artistic, cultural and good-natured meetings of spring: the Hyères Fashion and Photography Festival has been for thirty-five years. But its 2020 edition had to be postponed to October, from the 15th to the 18th, for reasons that everyone knows. In almost daily contact with the Var prefecture, Jean-Pierre Blanc, founder of the Festival, was hopeful, on October 1st, that everything would go as planned. And especially that it takes place.

“We tried to do everything possible, and to maintain the quality of the programming. It was unthinkable to offer young people who compete a Festival at a discount. »Jean-Pierre Blanc, founder of the Festival

Even with a reception level reduced by 50%, the absence of the traditional Hyères public, concerts in very small groups, the presentation of the collections of the ten finalists projected on screen in the Villa Noailles for accredited professionals or even compulsory reservations for all events (inauguration, parades, award ceremony, workshops, performances, etc.). “The only questions I get are about health measures, he regrets. The biggest challenge is to mobilize people. We feel a general fear, softness too and a lack of enthusiasm, but, fortunately, we can count on a hard core of journalists and students. ”

In terms of organization and content, very little has been dropped along the way. Even if it is difficult to know how it will unfold in front of 200 people instead of 1000 … “We tried to do everything possible, continues Jean-Pierre Blanc, and maintain a quality of programming. It was unthinkable to offer young people who compete a Festival at a discount. ” There should be, at the opening, a dance performance by the Ballet national de Marseille and (La) Horde at Villa Noailles. And on closing Sunday, a “live” tribute, in front of a handful of guests, to Christophe.

The shadow of Marie-Laure Noailles

The singer, who died in April, gave a memorable concert, piano installed next to the swimming pool of the Villa Romaine, for the Festival’s 30th anniversary. This year also marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Marie-Laure de Noailles. The writer and photographer François-Marie Banier, who knew her well, found pictures, taken in 1969 and 1970, and a whole friendly, intimate and funny correspondence, in which the patron begins her letters or telegrams with ” So, brother,… ”. “When Marie-Laure died, I was 6 years old, says Blanc. I know of her official portraits. In these pictures, it was the first time that I saw her smile and laugh. As if she was alive for the first time in fifty years. “

A major partner since 2014, Chanel has strengthened its support for the Festival by creating, in 2019, a prize dedicated to Fashion Crafts. Renamed this year “Prix 19M des Métiers d’art de Chanel”, it refers to the new site – 19M – designed by the brand to accommodate, in 2021, Porte d’Aubervilliers, in Paris, eleven art houses as well as a place for exchanges and dialogues over 1,200 m2. “This award is part of the continuity of the house’s constant commitment to the preservation and development of historical fashion know-how, in the service of creation”, we specify rue Cambon. It rewards the best collaboration between the ten competing designers and ten of the houses belonging to Chanel’s Métiers d’art. Another novelty this year, alongside the faithful Chloé Prize, the Hermès Prize for Fashion Accessories will be awarded to the candidate selected for the creation of a leather jewel.

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