10 Things to See at MATTER and SHAPE — The Buzzy 'Design Salon' in Paris Propelling Creativity in New Directions

In town for Paris Fashion Week 2025 between March 3 and 11? Don't forget to save some time to peek inside the second edition of MATTER and SHAPE, a yearly exhibition dreamt up by Director and Founder Matthieu Pinet, Art Director Dan Thawley, and creative trade show organizer WSN's Director Fréderic Maus as a "design salon" for the haute couture-versed crowd.

Once an online-only platform, the rapidly growing celebration of 21st-century craftsmanship returns to the leafy Jardin des Tuileries, tucked between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde in the 1st arrondissement, under an expanded format following its successful launch in March 2024. Starting today, the newest iteration of MATTER and SHAPE (through March 10) will focus on "validating new perspectives from the establishment to emerging talents" across disciplines as varied as industrial, object, and interior design, as well as fashion and the decorative arts.

Of course, as an art and design-obsessed Lifestyle Editor, I couldn't help but dive deep into the programming of this year's event — which reunites 56 exhibitors and 43 partners in a four-day, transveral creative conversation — to identify the projects that make MATTER and SHAPE into one of the best cultural events of 2025. Naturally, selecting ten contributions from the dozens of artists spotlighted in it was an arduous task. Why did I do it? To demonstrate how, by looking back to see forward, these activations capture the evolution of global design culture as a whole.

Whether reinterpreting iconic pieces from the past, promoting a renovated connection between makers and nature, or emphasizing the inherently sensory value that lies in furniture besides financial transactions, each of the initiatives outlined revisits tradition to propel craftsmanship into new directions. As for the final pick, what better way to travel back in time than by throwing a 70s-style dinner party? Gathering IRL is trendy again, it seems, so if you're hungry to know more, make sure to reserve your spot at the MATTER and SHAPE table before they're all gone.

1. Lea Colombo's Mineral-Based Artistic Sculptures and Functional Designs

MATTER and SHAPE by WSN, La Caserne, 12 rue Philippe de Girard, 75010, Paris

As a long-term admirer of South African photographer Lea Colombo's visual storytelling, an artist I first came to love upon my discovery of her electrifying exploration of self, Colours of My Body (2021), I couldn't be more fascinated to find out her talent has more recently taken on new forms. Since the year in which that photo book was released, she has been crafting impressive functional designs realized with minerals such as sodalite and red jasper, both of which belong to the sprawling landscapes of Namibia and South Africa. In pieces like her Red Jasper Dining Table (captured above), Colombo incorporates these stones into everyday furniture items that, while seemingly contemporary, carry and rekindle the healing powers of these ancestral sources in a dialogue between the human and the divine that spans multiple generations.

2. Natalia Criado's Timelessly Minimalist Silver Objects

MATTER and SHAPE by WSN, La Caserne, 12 rue Philippe de Girard, 75010, Paris

A great deal of the relevance of the biggest interior design trends resides in their ability to outlive a fleeting moment in time. While Colombia-born, Milan-based Natalia Criado's 1970s-inspired tableware is part of the ongoing nostalgia-soaked hosting renaissance, the razor-sharp precision of her lines and the alien-ly aesthetic essence of her work aren't mere refractions of a distant, long-gone past. Rather, her design practice fuses the centuries-old artisanal heritage of her native land with the avant-garde approach to craftsmanship that, starting from the 1950s, has earned her chosen home the title of Italian design capital. A voyage in time and space, her shiny, sculptural creations marry the attention to detail and care of legacy arts with the flawless sophistication of 21st-century making.

3. India Mahdavi's "Project Room N°18: Another Grammar of Ornament"

India Mahdavi's Studio, 29 rue de Bellechasse & 3 rue las Cases, 75007, Paris

It won't take you more than a rapid glance at my coverage of Trondheim's newly inaugurated PoMo, India Mahdavi's first museum, and the designer's appearance in our Hidden Trails travel column to realize how much of a fan I am of her work. Similarly to the Iranian-French architect's practice, whose vibrancy of hues and inventiveness stem from the encounter between the rich heritage of her native land and the eccentric décor tradition of Paris, Project Room N°18: Another Grammar of Ornament is where past and present collide.

Garnering contributions from 20 artists and designers, including Mahdavi herself, the event, which is curated by MATTER and SHAPE's Artistic Director Dan Thawley and installed across her showroom's Project Room and Tiny Room as well as at n°29 rue de Bellechasse, marks the 100th anniversary of the French capital's 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts. Taking Owen Jones' seminal The Grammar of Ornament (1856) and Thomas Weil's contemporary answer to it, New Grammar of Ornament (2021), as its thematic pillars, it offers a unique opportunity to survey the full spectrum of ornamentation, from its abstract and most essential conceptions all the way to its most maximalist interpretations.

4. Marco Guazzini's Sustainably Crafted, Colorful Creations

MATTER and SHAPE by WSN, La Caserne, 12 rue Philippe de Girard, 75010, Paris

People who think environment-conscious design materials restrict the breadth of creative experimentation will be proven wrong by burgeoning Italian designer Marco Guazzini. At MATTER and SHAPE 2025, the creator of Marwoolus®, a patented, disruptive material obtained from a blend of recycled Carrara marble dust and discarded Prato wool fibers, will demonstrate how contemporary craftsmanship can simultaneously embrace tradition and sustainability with a presentation that brings his genius to the fore.

Born in Florence and now based in Milan, Guazzini showcases Motherboard, a series of geometrically cut home accessories whose delicate shades and bold shapes make them an ideal addition to the modern home. Entirely handcrafted in his native region of Tuscany, these slightly nostalgic, textural creations strive to echo the intricateness of computers' inner circuits, celebrating "the fusion of nature and technology". A play of contrasts juxtaposing the digital and the analog worlds, the simplicity of their silhouettes with the chaoticness of their surfaces, these pieces serve as a reminder of how, beyond the clean-cut appearance of the online dimension, both computing machines and the humans relying on them contain inexplicable multitudes.

5. Tavares 1922's Exquisitely Artisanal, Surreal Jewelry and Tableware

MATTER and SHAPE by WSN, La Caserne, 12 rue Philippe de Girard, 75010, Paris

Seashell décor isn't anything new, but it is thanks to pioneering tableware and fine jewelry brands like Virgílio Aristides Tavares' eponymous house, Tavares 1922, that this once-forgotten style trend is enjoying new traction in the dining rooms of retro-fueled aesthetes. Founded in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal, at the dawn of the 20th century, the label has stayed true to the surreally elegant vision that has distinguished its offering since the very beginning for over 100 years. Crafted with painstaking care, its jewels are as timeless as contemporary, with its serveware adding a whimsical, nature-inspired touch to every tablescape.

6. HOSOO's Striking Textile Collaboration With Toogood and AVOIR

MATTER and SHAPE by WSN, La Caserne, 12 rue Philippe de Girard, 75010, Paris

For 337, HOSOO has been taking the textile tradition and kimono culture of Kyoto's old city district of Nishijin to the world with fabric creations that stand the test of time, whether for quality or style. Drawing on the district's centuries-spanning silk-weaving practice, the brand has brought Japanese textiles to new heights with designs that wink at the past while simultaneously tapping into the future. The house's forward-thinking approach manifests in its latest collaboration with London-based furniture, homeware, fashion, and interior design studio Toogood, where a striking collection of fabrics conceived by the British firm for HOSOO bridges the gap between the East and the West, and in its partnership with Paris-based architecture and creative studio AVOIR, who crafted the brand's stall at MATTER and SHAPE.

7. FAINA's Ancient Crafts-Inspired "Live" Furniture Collection, Grun'

MATTER and SHAPE by WSN, La Caserne, 12 rue Philippe de Girard, 75010, Paris

There is a growing desire for softness in décor, and Ukrainian designer Victoria Yakusha's FAINA furniture brand puts that very urge at its core. Informed by her native land's ancient crafts, mythology, and nature, her homeware collection seems imbued with a life and an energy of its own. Standing out for their creature-like, whimsical shapes as well as for their inherently textural essence, these pieces epitomize the dramaticness of live materials — think malleable sources such as clay, wood, willow vine, and ZTISTA, FAINA's sustainable blend — proving that what you feel while sitting on a sofa is just as important as its looks. At MATTER and SHAPE 2025, Yakusha unveils Grun', a new line pushing the boundaries of authenticity and raw expression.

8. "SHAHA X TOUTIA" Redefines the Boundaries of Raw and Perishable Materials

MATTER and SHAPE by WSN, La Caserne, 12 rue Philippe de Girard, 75010, Paris

Food has never been more ubiquitous in culture than it is today, and what makes this intermingling of inspirations more tangible than an exhibition pairing metal sculptures with edible artworks? In SHAHA X TOUTIA, Lebanese artist and designer Shaha Raphaël and Paris-based culinary design studio Toutia join forces on an interdisciplinary investigation into the themes of form, touch, and taste that challenges "the limits of raw and perishable materials". An ode to the increasingly sculptural essence of both contemporary design and gastronomy, this MATTER and SHAPE presentation will expose how both of these fields act as a mutual source of inspiration, evoking memories and leveraging specific details to absorb visitors in a multisensory atmosphere.

9. Alighieri's Imperfectly Perfect, Present-Day Heirlooms

MATTER and SHAPE by WSN, La Caserne, 12 rue Philippe de Girard, 75010, Paris

Since stumbling upon Alighieri in 2019, I have always considered the London-based house synonymous with artisanal excellence and elegance. The secret to Rosh Mahtani's Dante Alighieri-inspired brand appears to lie in its heirlooms' ability to catch and trap light within themselves, making each buy into a shimmering talisman to be treasured for life. It isn't a coincidence that the founder decided to set up shop at a particularly challenging time: with Alighieri, she channeled the urge for vitality, wonder, and beauty into jewelry and home objects that, despite being made in the present, are charged with a sense of ritual that stretches back to the past. At MATTER and SHAPE 2025, the house reminds us of the hidden influence that the items around us play in our lives; how they can uplift us, inspire us, and even grant us a whole new life.

10. Round Off Your Tour With We Are Ona's Latest Culinary Pop-Up

MATTER and SHAPE by WSN, La Caserne, 12 rue Philippe de Girard, 75010, Paris

When it comes to giving food for thought, few realities are more apt for the challenge than Luca Pronzato's design-driven culinary platform We Are Ona. At MATTER and SHAPE 2025, a new, exclusive restaurant designed by Willo Perron will deliver a transportative dining experience.

Conceived for the occasion by London-based gastronomy disruptor Imogen Kwok, one of today's most sought-after culinary artists, this spectacularly crafted eatery, complete with retro-futuristic mirrored walls signed by Perron for NO GA and Frisbi lamps (1978) created by pioneering designer Achille Castiglioni for FLOS, will unfold as either as a 6-course lunch or 8-course dinner, but not quite like anything you've ever tried before. Instead, "every moment of the meal will be a performance: a dish plated before the eyes of the guests, a composition revealed under a cloche, or a precise gesture elevating each ingredient," explain the organizers. With day services available on March 7, 8, 9, and 10, and evening ones bookable on March 8 and 9 exclusively, we know the seats will go fast, so secure yours whilst you can.

If there's one thing that We Are Ona and culinary artist Imogen Kwok's contribution to MATTER and SHAPE reminds us, it is that the boundaries between the gastronomy and the art and design worlds have never been blurrier. To feed into this ongoing trend, why not indulge even further in the French capital's delicacies by visiting one of the most beautiful Paris restaurants?

Just like the best Paris cafés, they are an endless source of interior design and food inspiration, offering you the ultimate base to recharge before proceeding on your urban explorations.