Villa Noailles
The 31e Festival International de Mode et de Photographie à Hyères was held from April 21 to 25 at the Villa Noailles, with exhibitions running from April 28 through to May 22.
The Festival was chaired by Paco Rabanne artistic director Julien Dossena for fashion, and American–French photographer William Klein for photography.
Founder Jean-Pierre Blanc says, ‘Here we launch a competition, people take part. It’s demanding, it costs money, it takes a lot of energy and people want to come. They want to come more and more. That is what makes it such high quality, as first and foremost we take gifted, interested and interesting people.
‘It’s pretty impressive to see these young people evolving in such a tough world. We think we’ve grown up in a tough world, but for them it’s even harder, and despite it they are energetic, they are happy, they adore colour. I just love this genration.
‘Fashion has to be connected with life, and I hope the Hyères festival is. People say it is anyway, and honestly that is the most rewarding thing for me to hear, and the biggest compliment you could give me.’
One of the contestants in the photography section, Anaïs Boileau, says they could spend as much time with the jurors, including Klein, as they liked, even up to an hour.
Dossena says, ‘It’s great to be able to actually select and rank candidates that I believe in for different reasons.’
The Grand Jury Prize was awarded this year to Wataru Tominaga for the fashion section, for his colourful menswear collection.
Tominaga says he has been interested in colour in fashion from the 1960s and 1970s. ‘Young people did not care whether it’s women’s or men’s, they make [their own] styles.’
Vendula Knopova won the photography prize.