Hyères Festival 2024 x Première Vision Creativity Wins

The yearly appointment that reunites experts, emerging talents, and enthusiasts from fashion, photography, accessories, and art in a dream-like villa in a town that still feels like summer and where the hidden architectural gems are in every corner took place during the weekend of October 10th to the 13th. Four days in which the activities were never ending; from exhibitions, performances, fashion shows, parties, cocktails, and talks, the energy was buzzing, everyone was excited, and the ambience couldn't be any better. The event founded by Jean-Pierre Blanc thirty-nine years ago has been on a steady and significant growth ever since its creation, not only in scale but in influence and impact on the industries it is involved with. The number of guests, the quality and professionalism of the jury members, and the interest amongst the press and public have always been a direct reflection of what Hyères means in our context, and this year was not the exception.

The three competitions that this festival is shaped around are the main course of each journey. The contestant in the three categories—fashion, photography, and accessories—have been selected amongst hundreds of nominees after a long process that makes the fact of just being a finalist an award on its own and the opportunity of having their work exposed in one of the multiple rooms at the Villa Noailles a unique chance to introduce themselves to the industry’s finest eyes. Thanks to the multiple partners of the festival, a good amount of prizes are awarded in each category, which results in an incentive to the contestants and a relief to us. The quality of the projects from each one of them is so high, it results in an almost impossible task to pick just one favourite.

Tal Maslavi from Israel got a Special Jury Mention for Sugar Rush, a collection that featured edible garments, temporary tattoo t-shirts, back massaging jackets, and “is it cake” inspired shoes. With all these creative ideas and concepts, what  Lucie Jeannot tells us makes sense. “I don't think the designers need us to be like you should do this or you should do that. They have amazing ideas; let's do them together. We need to adjust to them rather than them adjusting to the industry. We need to, in a way, be very pedagogic about materials, values, qualities, and know-hows. But that's something we trust them to educate; we need to find a way to support them in a 360º environment.”