In the south of France this weekend, the granddaddy of fashion prizes—The Hyères International Festival of Fashion, Photography, and Accessories—marked its 40th anniversary by showcasing talents from around the world. On the fashion front, family ties informed strong lineups that incorporated military themes, gender fluidity, and intensive handcraftsmanship — and it’s fair to say that, to a person, the 10 finalists presented pieces that would be perfectly at home on the shop floor right this very minute.
On Saturday afternoon, Swiss-Chilean designer Lucas Emilio Brunner scooped the Fashion Jury’s Grand Prize for a collection called “A Bout de Souffle” (Breathless), based on the idea of balloons. The designer, who until last July had worked in the Martin Margiela Atelier studio, presented a red, white, and blue showpiece he wove from magician’s balloons in his hotel room on the eve of his presentation, as well as good-humored novelty items like a number 3-shaped gold clutch modeled after a foil party balloon—a collaboration with the Chanel-owned Desrues—and even socks with little balloon knots tied at the ankles.
The other winners included French designer Adrien Michel, who received the 19M Métiers d’Art Prize for a collection that hybridized technical sports gear into women’s wear, and Polish-Palestinian designer Layla Al Tawaya, who took home the Ateliers des Matières prize for a lineup that explored tropes of hyper-masculinity and femininity in laser-cut leather, tulle, lace, and a silver-edged ribbon tweed.
The inaugural Supima Prize, which includes a trip to New York and robust support with fabric sourcing, was awarded to Swiss designer Noah Almonte, who holds a day job at Loewe, for a cartoony-chic collection inspired by the Apple Vision Pro and life in the digital realm. And the Public Prize went to the Paris-based Lebanese designer Youssef Zogheib for men’s wear with couture leanings inspired by the work of Royal Air Force photographer John Topham during WWII. (See the full list of winners for fashion, accessories and photography here: https://villanoailles.com/en).
But Hyères is hardly immune to larger trends: the bigger story unfolding at the Villa Noailles is a Great Reset of its own. In June, it was announced that the festival’s colorful founder, Jean-Pierre Blanc, would step down amid a saga that unspooled with as many twists and turns as the switchback road leading up to the villa. If that left organizers scrambling, the festival opened as planned, albeit in a scaled-back version with a subdued, appropriately reflective vibe for straitened times. Elegant tributes to Blanc’s vision and the stature the city of Hyères gained under his watch were offered by Pascale Mussard, president of the Villa Noailles association; Jean-Pierre Giran, the mayor of Hyères; and Pascal Morand, the executive president of the FCHM.
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