Karl Lagerfeld’s Photos, Lesage Embroidery, and More: Our 5 Favorite Things from the Hyères Festival in France Inline
Photo: Courtesy of Hyères1/5Karl Lagerfeld’s “Three Worlds” Photo Exhibit
With his magic touch felt across much of the festival’s rich program, Lagerfeld’s status as fashion’s greatest polymath was celebrated warmly. His diverse photographic oeuvre was displayed across the walls of the Villa Noailles, with both architectural and fashion images taking equal precedence. A recent series depicting the Eiffel Tower’s arcing steel curves was blown up across the walls of the villa’s squash court alongside expressive photographs of some of Lagerfeld’s perennial muses, Karen Elson, Stella Tennant, and actress turned fashion-juror Anna Mouglalis among them.
Photo: Courtesy of Hyères2/5French Artist Arnold Goron’s Installations
Whether naïve felt sculptures or swirling, spinning paper plates, the vibrant installations of French artist and set designer Arnold Goron lent a joyful design element to the Villa Noailles’ sun-drenched rooms: He showed a series of new suspended mobile works joining existing commissions created for the window displays of Isabel Marant boutiques around the world. “The spontaneity of his sculptures is a parenthesis to reality within a universe that is sometimes too digital,” says Marant. “Even the illustrations that he creates for my label are handmade. They are always full of humor and simplicity.”
Photo: Courtesy of Hyères3/5Chloé Prize
Alongside the festival’s overall fashion laureate Annelie Schubert, whose richly tailored and wrapped apron silhouettes wooed the jury for the grand prize, Chloé has made a tradition of picking its own winner, chosen from finalists who are invited to craft one look in line with the house’s spirit of perpetual lightness and femininity. This year German designer Anna Bornhold took the €15,000 prize for her breezy belted jumpsuit woven from sewing thread, which floated off the body for a sense of weightlessness.
Photo: Courtesy of Hyères4/5“Artefacts,” by Cécile Bortoletti
Combining the wow-factor of French architecture with contemporary fashion photography, Paris-based artist **Cécile Bortoletti’**s exhibition “Artefacts” was a trip down memory lane for many, as stylist Samuel Drira revived silhouettes from the festival’s 30-year history. Shown inside a thirteenth-century chapel, the photographs were inspired by elements of Noh theatre and 1930s art portraiture, and feature early looks designed by the likes of Charles Anastase, Paco Rabanne’s Julien Dossena, and Lacoste’s Felipe Oliveira Baptista.
Photo: Courtesy of Hyères5/5Lesage’s Embroidery Masterclass
One of the jewels in Chanel’s Métiers d’Art crown, the Maison Lesage is one of France’s most prestigious embroidery ateliers, famed for its flamboyant craft that stretches back to the days of Charles Frederick Worth couture; today Lesage counts everyone from Chanel and Valentino to Mary Katrantzou amongst its collaborators. Decamping to the restored Villa La Romaine in Hyères for the weekend, a handful of Lesage embroidery artisans conducted a series of master classes for guests, who had the opportunity to create their own ornate Lesage brooches, beaded on a gilded scrollwork frame with tiny glass pearls and Swarovski crystals.
