Brave new world: Moustache presents inaugural edition of 'Favoris'

From the 3–6 September, French design producer Moustache will present its inaugural edition of 'Favoris': an exhibition, auction and party, marking the birth of a new direction for the brand.

The name 'Favoris' was chosen for its double meaning in French: it means 'favoured', but also, fittingly, the word indicates sideburns – a ‘close relative’ and an apt addition to the Moustache. A step sideways, as the editeur calls it, 'Favoris' is a new venture into unexplored (for them) auction territory and a new experiment in working with designers from all over the world.

In a manifesto introducing the new project, Moustache mentions the changing habits of consumers, and a desire to own objects that are more unique and representative of their tastes and lives, clashing with the attempts of manufacturers to keep up with production. 'We are living this paradox as a publisher,' they say. 'To progress, serial objects must be produced at the best price to achieve the best sales.' They cite the many projects the brand had to abandon because they were not practical, too expensive or just plain risky to produce.

A year ago, founder Stéphane Arriubergé attended an auction at the artist-operated Örnsbergsauktionen in Stockholm, the event inspiring a new concept for his own design work. 'We immediately thought of holding an exhibition in Paris crowned by a sale to promote projects that we cannot always support and produce with Moustache, but which we admire,' he says.

A wishlist of designers and projects was put together, including those the brand hasn't been able to work with due to financial and manufacturing constraints. The result is a collection of 100 pieces by over 50 international designers, from tabletop items to furniture via lighting and conceptual objects. Participants include the Austrian duo Mischer'traxler, Studio Swine, Os & Oos and Inga Sempé, factoring a mix of newcomers and established designers with a diverse range of styles.

For the occasion, Arriubergé has gathered an impressive team, headed by Li Edelkoort (as the mistress of ceremonies) and including Jean-Baptiste Fastrez, in charge of the exhibition design as well as the hammer which will be used to auction off each piece (and will be auctioned off itself as the last item). Parisian auctioneers Doré & Giraud have also leant their expertise for the event, held in the vast halls of Studio Cassiopée in Paris.

'It's an exploratory notebook full of impossibilities which deserve to be shown,' is Arriubergé's definition of this ambitious project. 'Moustache’s ideal cabinet of curiosities.'

ADDRESS

Studio Cassiopé
11, rue des Arquebusiers 
75003 Paris

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