The yearly Design Parade Festival in Toulon and Hyères is back for its 14th edition in 2019, brought to us by Robert Mallet-Stevens’ early modernist Villa Noailles in the South of France. The festival continues the legacy of art patrons Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles by gathering contemporary artists, designers, press and the general public for a parade opening weekend and exhibitions that remain on show until later in the year.

If you haven’t heard much about this event, that’s probably because it’s rather elusive; the organisers don’t offer up much in the way of information, so we’ve rounded up all the bits and pieces we could find to bring you the most comprehensive coverage. Because we have to say, there are some pretty cool things going on over there, and we wanted our Yellowtracers to be in-the-know.

Under the guise of Villa Noailles Director Jean-Pierre Blanc and President Pascale Mussard, The Design Parade Festival is split into two sections across Toulon and Hyères. Toulon focuses on the latest in contemporary interior design with exhibitions running until November 24, while Hyères focuses on design more broadly with exhibitions on show until September 29. Along with presenting separate exhibitions, each section of the festival runs its own competition amongst ten finalists, who can enter solo or as a pair. Let’s dive in.

As well as heading up the jury for the Hyères design competition, French designer Mathieu Lehanneur presents his Particle Horizon exhibition. The show is a collective showcase of some of his most noted pieces. The title evokes Lehanneur’s continued interest in molecular, biological and technological influences on not just design, but also the human condition as a whole. The exhibition is set across the squash court, terrace, and swimming pool of Villa Noailles.

Within a pink-walled exhibition space elsewhere in Villa Noailles, Haddou Dufourcq curated a retrospective of the late French costume/set designer and artist Jean Hugo – sentimental given that Hugo was a friend of Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles. Hugo’s portfolio included surrealist depictions of Villa Noailles, with Dufoucq recreating one of his landscape sets for the installation.

The Hyères competition focused on new and exclusive projects by the entrants. The grand prize includes a one-year research scholarship at Sèvres – Cité de la céramique and Cirva in Marseilles, a personal exhibition at next year’s Design Parade Festival and a workshop by Vitra at the Domaine Boisbuchet.

Winners of the 2018 Toulon grand prize, French studio Haddou Dufourcq presented their solo exhibition Fenêtres sur Cours, a pebbled living room that combines cross-cultural and cross-century influences from ancient Rome to 70’s swag to North Africa. Parisian interior designer Francois Champsaur’s exhibition questions man’s relationship with nature over five separate scenes entailing rattan daybeds and wild suspended plant installations. In the Cercle Naval du Toulon, a monument that was once a gathering place for naval officers, Lucas Djaou created a blue-heavy installation honouring the 1930’s building’s archives and history.

For the Toulon competition, finalists had to design a room for a coastal villa by the Mediterranean, with architect François Champsaur presiding over the judging panel. The grand prize entails a 20,000-euro grant toward a new project to be exhibited at the 15th annual Design Parade Festival in 2020.

Our favourite entry is a Belgian duo Caroline Wolewinski and Sandro Della Noce’s ‘Triclinium’, named after the ancient upper-class Roman dining rooms where men feasted. Royal blue walls, gridded cushioned daybeds and ceramic fruit make for a bold and captivating space.

Iran-born, Paris-based architect and designer India Mahdavi curated an exhibition of over 60 items of furniture from the Centre Pompidou’s design collection. Organised in three sections, the exhibition covers the deckchair and chaise lounge, Pop Art furniture, and inflatables.

[Photography by Luc Bertrand, Felipe Ribon, Christophe Rihet & J.Oppenheim.]