HYÈRES, France — Turning over a new leaf for its landmark 41st edition, the Hyères International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Accessories officially entered an exciting new chapter under its incoming leadership team. Setting the tone for the week’s events, a high-powered fashion jury headed by Chloé creative director Chemena Kamali took center stage to select this year’s standout winners, championing an extraordinary wave of international design talent, material experimentation, and structural reinvention.
At the heart of the fashion competition, Chinese designer Yui Chen emerged as the triumphant winner of the prestigious Grand Jury Prize for her evocative collection titled “Food Cover.” Kamali was joined on the distinguished judging panel by last year’s grand jury prize winner, Lucas Emilio Brunner, alongside Harper’s Bazaar France fashion director Elodie David Touboul, Agency Maybe artistic directors Charles Levai and Kevin Tekinel, 10 Magazine editor-in-chief Sophia Neophitou, and the renowned photography duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.
Chen’s winning collection drew deeply unexpected inspiration from the humble domestic food cover. By deconstructing its geometric structure, the designer successfully created three-dimensional silhouettes that challenged conventional ideas of clothing through rigorous sculptural form, material experimentation, and a radical reinvention of the space directly surrounding the human body. Across the runway, familiar garments—such as sleeping dresses and shirts—were transformed into dynamic vehicles for exploring volume, sheer layering, and intricate foldability, moving with a distinct, springy bounce. Recycled leather offered yet another compelling approach to texture and form, materializing as an all-encompassing coat completely covered in sculptural bows.
Balancing domestic references with advanced technical innovation, Chen approached each garment as a wearable sculpture, thoughtfully paired with protective headgear. Explaining her overarching philosophy, she noted that her goal as a designer is to take familiar everyday items and encourage audiences to look at them in an entirely new way, ultimately seeking to change how society perceives the material world.
Continuing the celebration of creative excellence, the second annual Supima Prize was awarded to fellow Paris-based Chinese designer Xiao Xu for her provocative and tightly curated collection titled “Uncanny.” The honor comes accompanied by a sizeable endowment of premium materials and an exclusive trip alongside other finalists to the upcoming edition of the Supima Design Lab in New York. Xu’s collection explored the psychological tension between domestic familiarity and fetishistic sensuality. Inspired directly by the archival book “Dressing for Pleasure,” Xu cleverly juxtaposed everyday garments with unconventional materials, transforming ordinary sweaters and cardigans into latex constructions that revealed their jelly-ish strangeness only upon closer inspection.
Xu’s designs deliberately challenged conventional notions of masculinity, seamlessly combining commanding silhouettes with delicate ruffles, soft gathers, and ornamental details. Collaborations with specialist ateliers further expanded her material experimentation, yielding knit-like chain structures, embroidered latex, and inflated trench coats. Reimagining familiar wardrobe staples through a surreal, fetish-inflected lens, Xu remarked that her collection was designed to offer people a moment of joy, emphasizing that the playful nature of the garments outweighed any purely provocative intent.
The coveted Le19M Métiers d’Arts Prize, presented in partnership with Chanel, was scooped up by Mexican-German designer Dieter Vlasich Obermann. His collection, titled “Tiliches,” deeply explored the emotional and cultural value of handmade objects. Drawing inspiration from childhood memories of collecting "treasures" that his grandmother routinely dismissed as junk, Obermann’s work celebrated the unique imperfections, material qualities, and tangible traces of human craftsmanship that infuse such objects with deep personal meaning. Working closely with master embroiderers from Yucatán, Mexico, Obermann incorporated traditional regional techniques into contemporary garments, bringing together recycled leather, heavily textured fabrics, beadwork, and intricate embroidery. Naturally dyed raffia further introduced earthy colorways and subtle references to Mexican folk art. Notably, his collaboration with Le 19M’s renowned Maison Michel successfully reinterpreted traditional hat-making techniques into avant-garde footwear.
Paris-based Dutch designer Rachel Luurssen took home the Atelier des Matières prize for her striking collection, titled “Pandora’s Box: The Pursuit of Perfection.” Luurssen’s work explored the stark contradictions between the relentless pursuit of beauty and the ultimate impossibility of true perfection. Inspired by Robert Greene’s book “The Art of Seduction,” the collection examined a woman caught in the agonizing tug-of-war between the desire to be loved and the profound fear of vulnerability, all set against the idealized, glossy glamour of 1950s Hollywood. Luurssen juxtaposed this polished fantasy with the psychological distortions of body dysmorphia, directly questioning society’s rigid expectations of the female form. Starting her pattern-making process directly from a plus-size model’s body, she intentionally distorted silhouettes to create a cascading second layer that appeared to slip and warp around the wearer.
The jury also awarded a special mention to Spanish designer Brais Albor Rodriguez for his irreverent collection titled “Por Mis Santos Cojones,” an achievement he capped off by also capturing the public prize. Albor Rodríguez designed a squirrel-inspired collection specifically dedicated to "big boys" who are far too often overlooked in the mainstream fashion market. Inspired by the workwear of tailor Franz Reichelt and the tragic tale of his ill-fated parachute experiment, Albor Rodríguez translated raw concepts of risk and rescue directly into garments. A carefully tailored shirt evoked the billowing shape of a parachute, while velvet trousers featured double openings hinting at an interrupted escape. Sculptural hats and gloves further transformed the body, utilizing exaggerated proportions and thoughtful details to reshape traditional silhouettes. A striking green coat combined baby llama wool with discarded linen-production waste that had been dyed and repurposed, while vintage shearling scraps sourced via Vinted and intricate embroidered squirrel motifs extended the collection’s playful spirit.
In the accessories category, the jury was chaired by celebrated designer Cecilie Bahnsen, alongside last year’s accessories grand prize winner Amaury Darras, 1Granary founder and editor-in-chief Olya Kuryshchuck, journalist Susie Lau, casting director Emma Matell, and A Magazine Curated By managing editor Jemma Pinueva. The accessories grand prize was ultimately awarded to Sassa Ann van Wyk. Meanwhile, the inaugural AZ Academy award, established in honor of the late designer Alber Elbaz, went to Daniel Cheruzel, who will join the foundation’s prestigious accelerator program, while the accessories public prize was proudly claimed by Matteo Artuso.
New Leadership Streamlines, Refocuses
Beneath the glamour of the runways and showrooms, the festival’s incoming leadership team is making a clear, uncompromising statement about its core priorities—putting emerging talent first.
For Valérie Duport, who was elected president of the board of Villa Noailles in July, and Hugo Lucchino, who joined last year as managing director, this philosophy translates directly into concentrating vital resources squarely on the designers and photographers at the heart of the event, rather than diluting their efforts across a broader, more fragmented program of peripheral activities.
"What is important at the center of all this is creativity, freedom, young designers," Duport stated. "The idea was really to focus on the creation, their story, what they propose, and all the organization was done to make this happen and to give them a voice."
Echoing this sentiment, Lucchino emphasized a return to foundational roots. "We wanted to focus attention on the DNA of what the Festival d’Hyères is—supporting young creators, young designers," he said. "All the means of Villa Noailles, financial and human, are going back to the finalists and to the creators. So we have a team and partners dedicated to this support, who are really much more important than before."
This strategic shift has resulted in a leaner focus centered firmly on high-caliber exhibitions and the main fashion show, while simultaneously bringing in three associate artistic directors to work collaboratively alongside the festival’s established artistic director, Magali Guérin. The overarching aim is to grant finalists significantly more time, institutional support, and visibility, giving them the runway necessary to present their work and thoroughly develop their conceptual ideas.
This revitalization arrives as the festival and its parent association, Villa Noailles, navigate a period of transition following past financial hurdles and allegations of mismanagement that prompted the departure of longtime founder Jean-Pierre Blanc. The practical result for this year’s edition was a markedly streamlined, well-organized event featuring fewer parties and side distractions, with the main fashion show smartly relocated to the center of the city.
For Duport, whose impressive resume includes 27 years at Chanel and eight years at Kering, the leadership role represents a unique opportunity to channel decades of luxury industry expertise into an institution currently in a fragile yet culturally vital position. Armed with her luxury background and Lucchino’s extensive public affairs and museum experience—including a tenure at Paris’ Palais Galliera—the pair form a distinctly complementary leadership unit.
"We are a team, and for me that is more than important. It’s the key of the story," she said of the new administrative structure. "I believe in creation from the beginning. We need spaces where creativity, freedom, audacity, culture and creation can have a place where you can breathe and offer this young generation a place where they can create and express themselves."
The new leadership team also utilized the festival to send an unequivocal message regarding representation, appointing three prominent women to head the respective competition juries. Alongside Kamali and Bahnsen, French artist Camille Vivier oversaw the photography jury. Lucchino noted that this was an intentional signal sent to the wider fashion and creative industries.
"Villa Noailles needs to be prescriptive for the fashion industry, for the creative industry," he said. "Most of students in art school, in fashion schools, are women, and they need to have role models to identify with. It was a strong message to appoint three leading creative talents in the industry to chair the juries—and they are not only women; they are talented, and they are young. So it was a message that we sent to the fashion industry."
Looking beyond the immediate timeline of the festival, the leadership faces the ongoing challenge of ensuring that Villa Noailles can sustain its support for emerging talent over the long haul. Achieving this will require robust public and private backing, alongside new strategic partnerships. Duport stressed that any prospective partners must offer more than just financial contributions, providing practical support through materials, technical expertise, and advisory insights that directly help young designers build viable careers.
"It’s not only a question of finance; it’s a question of beliefs and it’s a question of the energy people will put in this project," Duport noted.
Furthermore, the team remains deeply committed to preserving the festival’s public accessibility. "It’s not a festival for a happy few," Lucchino emphasized, pointing out the importance of welcoming non-specialist local residents into the fold. To that end, the exhibitions remain open to the public for months following the conclusion of the official festival dates, allowing locals, tourists, and students to engage directly with the work. To reinforce this civic mission, the team is actively considering the establishment of a permanent exhibition tracing the building’s rich history as a hub for artistic experimentation, bridging its origins in 1925 with the contemporary works showcased today.
Young Designers Talk Reality of Building a Business
Providing a grounded counterbalance to the celebratory atmosphere of the competitions, the festival organizers brought independent designers Esther Manas and Alain Paul to the stage to discuss the unvarnished operational realities of running a young fashion brand. They were joined by 1Granary’s Kuryshchuk and Serge Carreira, director of emerging brands at the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode.
Amid widespread turmoil across traditional department stores, an increasing number of emerging brands are consciously stepping away from wholesale models. "I rarely see now anyone emerging who focuses on wholesale, and I would advise them against it," Kuryshchuk warned. "Definitely, wholesale is in crisis. To say differently would be naïve," Carreira added.
Kuryshchuk advised young designers to evaluate potential wholesale accounts strictly through the lens of profitability rather than vanity sales volume. Heavy production demands, chronic payment delays, and rigid operational costs can easily consume a young brand’s limited time and resources while yielding relatively meager returns, making one-off collaborations with larger, established brands a far more viable alternative.
Esther Manas shared her own brand’s dramatic pivot, revealing that she and co-founder Balthazar Delepierre made the decision to quit wholesale altogether in June 2024 to focus exclusively on direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales and strategic collaborations. According to Manas, the traditional wholesale model proved fundamentally incompatible with their small team’s capacity, citing persistent payment friction and retailer demands that directly conflicted with their creative identity.
Being at the bottom of the retail food chain as a small independent label proved exhausting, she explained. Compounding these financial hurdles were sizing issues; as a brand championing inclusive, one-size-fits-all garments designed to appeal to plus-size consumers, traditional department stores struggled to comprehend or merchandise the concept correctly, frequently skipping the larger size offerings altogether.
"So I mean it was a struggle for the money, but also for our community, our DNA, everything. So at the end, we decided to take the risk and to do B2C and to do collabs with big brands," Manas said. "We have a strong message. We can really help in a way to change the industry, but if we cannot do it with big shops because it’s too hard for us right now, we can do it with another way," noting her preferred direct channels like Instagram and Substack.
Conversely, Carreira offered a word of caution against abandoning traditional wholesale prematurely, arguing that established retailers still serve as crucial partners for broad customer acquisition, market visibility, and establishing a brand’s long-term commercial positioning.
Alain Paul echoed the continuing importance of retail networks for certain business models, noting that wholesale remains the absolute backbone of his eponymous label. Approximately 95 percent of his brand’s revenue stems directly from a dedicated network of about 35 stores, providing the vital cash flow necessary to finance new collections and runway presentations. Moving forward, Paul’s label is exploring ways to thoughtfully expand its direct-to-consumer business while cultivating deeper, more personal relationships with clientele through custom made-to-measure offerings.
