The Matter and Shape design fair has returned to the Jardin des Tuileries for its third edition during Paris Fashion Week. Curated to bridge fashion and design, the event features over 70 exhibitors showcasing ceramics, jewelry, furniture, and more. It runs from Friday through Monday, March 9, attracting a mix of creatives and tastemakers.
Matter and Shape, a curated design fair, opened on Friday at the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, coinciding with Paris Fashion Week. Now in its third year, the event has expanded significantly, growing from 30 exhibitors in its debut to more than 70 this time. The 2026 theme, titled “Scale,” draws inspiration from Rem Koolhaas and Bruce Mau’s 1995 book S, M, L, XL.
Organized as more of a salon than a traditional trade show, the fair aims to introduce design to fashion audiences. Attendees include stylists, hoteliers, shop owners, restaurateurs, students, creative directors, magazine editors, museum curators, artists, and gallerists. Notable visitors spotted include Interview editor-in-chief Mel Ottenberg and photographer Wolfgang Tillmans, who browsed textiles, tableware, lighting, scents, ceramics, and furniture from independent designers, architects, heritage brands, family-run companies, and galleries.
Dan Thawley, the Paris-based Australian writer, editor, and creative consultant directing the fair, emphasized the overlap between fashion and design. “I think that great creative directors in fashion have always been curators,” Thawley said. He noted that designers’ homes reflect their inspirations through books, furniture, and objects, and that connections between art, fashion, and design are now more visible.
The fair includes contemplative spaces: a reading room partnered with Villa Hegra, a café by Parisian spot Dreamin’ Man in collaboration with Zara Home, and an ephemeral restaurant by culinary studio Balbosté. Thawley described it as “a curated walk through the pages of a magazine,” celebrating discoveries in design amid digital accessibility. “We live in a time when we think everything is accessible and known through the internet in seconds,” he added, “but the reality is there’s still so many loopholes and hidden trap doors of beautiful things to be discovered.”
Highlights feature Lindsey Adelman’s Andromeda chandeliers and sconces in steel, marble, and quartzite for the studio’s 20th anniversary; a Lobmeyr installation by Luca Guadagnino with Guglielmo Ulrich pieces; Georg Jensen’s “Chance Encounters” exhibition of archival jewelry by female artists like Kim Naver and Nanna Ditzel; Ann Demeulemeester’s homewares with Serax, including carafes and a wall lamp; Petite Friture’s reissue of René Herbst’s 1927 Sandows collection; and Fondation Arp-Taeuber’s display of Sophie Taeuber-Arp works with contemporary interpretations by artisans like Sophie Toporkoff and Christopher Farr.
