Industry In-Sites Issue 2: The Niche Trade Shows: Matter & Shape and BDNY
Matter & Shape: A fair for a new era - backed by fashion. Plus: Is BDNY worth it for independent designers?
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In this issue, I’ll be recapping the new Matter & Shape trade show - it looked incredible, but I wanted to go beyond the surface and explore the real value it’s offering.
I also received an inquiry about the ever-polarizing hospitality fair BDNY and uncovered a wide range of opinions. Deep dive below!
Matter & Shape: Blurring the lines between design, fashion & commerce
I just spent a lovely five days in Paris, enjoying 60-degree weather and overlapping with Fashion Week. It was as perfect as a Parisian trip can be - fantastic people-watching, great shopping, and no French drama (aside from someone throwing a noodle at my head from a window - I later found it inside my tote).
My main reason for being in Paris was to check out the second edition of Matter & Shape, after hearing from friends about how unique last year’s inaugural fair was. For those of us tracking trade shows, it’s clear that major shows are losing their appeal for the younger crowd, while new fairs are emerging with a focus on the sexier category of collectible design. Traditional trade shows remain essential to the industry, but they’ve become less aspirational for young designers. And while not every fair needs to be selling $20,000 coffee tables - the mass appeal is crucial for a huge subset of design professionals - it’s exciting to see Matter & Shape and the upcoming Shelter in NYC bring a higher level of curation to the trade fair format.
For background: Matter & Shape is the “business-focused design salon” founded by fashion trade show operator WSN’s Frédéric Maus and directed by Matthieu Pinet with creative direction by Dan Thawley, presented in two temporary structures in the Jardin des Tuileries, designed by Canadian architect Willo Perron.
The Evolution of the Trade Show Model
As most of you already know, Trade shows are traditionally B2B, designed for brands to showcase and sell their work, secure wholesale accounts, and network with trade professionals. Design fairs, on the other hand, are more curated and exhibition-like, blending commercial and cultural aspects. While still business-oriented, they emphasize storytelling, collecting, and engaging design-savvy consumers alongside industry professionals. Matter & Shape seems to straddle both worlds in a really interesting way - appealing to both a wholesale buyer and collector.
The fair takes place in the Jardin des Tuileries, within two temporary structures facing each other. While I didn’t notice a major difference between the exhibitors in each structure, there were other key distinctions, which I’ll get into below.
A Highly Curated Mix
With over 30 exhibitors, the lineup included wholesale/trade furniture and lighting brands like Frama, Vitra, and Flos(the latter in collaboration with Formafantasma), along with flatware by Alighieri and glassware by Lobmeyr in collaboration with Gohar World. Most booths were minimally presented, and if a larger mass-production brand was involved, it was often in collaboration with a smaller, independent brand - creating a dynamic, highly curated environment. There were also solo booths of jewelry designers and independent furniture designers.
Walking the show during the opening night event was interesting - at most fairs, you see the same crowd making the rounds. This time, I barely recognized anyone in the sea of cool, all-black uniforms. My immediate thoughts: Who are these people? Are they architects? Designers? … Fashion People?! Who is actually buying here? And why does this show look so good?
Fashion’s Influence on Matter & Shape
Matter & Shape is owned and operated by WSN, the powerhouse behind ten highly successful fashion trade shows. According to a Paris-based architect who works with fashion brands like Chloe and Louis Vuitton, WSN is a major moneymaker, meaning Matter & Shape is mostly bankrolled by fashion (no surprise there). He described the audience as a cool crowd, with the show leaning more toward clout than commerce, and anecdotal reports suggested that sales weren’t a major factor. However, thanks to its proximity to Fashion Week, a strong contingent of NYC buyers attends, making them some of the fair’s biggest spenders.