Designers to Watch: Hyères 2023

We share the four designers that caught our attention at the 38th edition of the international fashion festival. 

Nestled to the right of Toulon is the French Riviera’s oldest resort, Hyères. Not only is it a timeless holiday destination boasting luscious vegetation, quaint cobbled streets and a crystal clear coastline, it’s also the idyllic backdrop to the annual International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Accessories – Hyères.

Recognised as the oldest festival supporting young fashion designers, the event was founded in 1986 by Jean-Pierre Blanc. Over the years, it has evolved to include the works of emerging photographers (1997) and accessory designers (2016), but maintains its iconic location at the venerable Villa Noailles, an early modernist creation of French architect Robert Mallet-Stevens.

From 12 until 15 October 2023, the thirty-eighth edition encompassed a variety of catwalk shows, upcycling workshops, masterclasses and live performances. Whilst the festival may be over, the exhibition will stay open for public viewing until January 2024.

What distinguishes this event from others is the emphasis on providing hands-on help for young designers that encompasses different pockets of the fashion industry from production to finance. In doing so, they hope to prepare well-rounded designers who can build sustainable brands of their own. Galeries Lafayette, Hermès and Chanel are just a few of the partners who are involved in facilitating these programmes. 

Petra Fagerstrom

The Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Prize celebrated its third birthday this year. Reflective of the move towards a more sustainable industry driven predominantly by the desire of budding designers, the award was established to push the competition into the future. Finalists were challenged to integrate luxury car materials into wearable pieces. This year, Swedish designer Petra Fagerstrom was awarded the prize. A jury favourite, she was also nominated for the L’Atelier des Matières Prize.

Fagerstrom’s collection, Flying Grandma, plays on the proximity of her grandmother’s softness and feminity, as well as her militant work life. Flowing plissé pieces, bejewelled bonnets and bow detailing were all notes to Fagerstrom’s grandmother who had a rather peculiar profession as a parachutist in the USSR. Storytelling through clothing, Fagerstrom’s designs really came alive on the catwalk, the fabrics taking off just as her grandmother would have.

Her brand, which is currently in the making will continue to place sustainability at the heart of every collection, and we cannot wait to see what is to come next from this promising young designer.

Tiago Bessa

Porto-native and Modatex graduate Tiago Bessa showed off their laudable sewing skills with their graduate collection, Hermaphrodite. Focusing on the orchid flower’s form and how it relates to ambiguous genitalia, Hermaphrodite invites us to think about inclusion and gender. How does society shape the idea of gender? And why do we follow those ideas so religiously?

Bessa wanted to express their frustration towards the pressure placed on non-binary individuals and the hostility they experienced growing up. Choosing delicate fabrics and romantic hues, we follow Bessa’s journey of discovering their femininity and the importance of the women around them who guided their path.

They said: “I was raised by my mother and grandmother – a pattern-maker and a seamstress respectively, in their own atelier and spent most of my time surrounded by beautiful gowns and silk mikados.” 

With an internship at Viktor & Rolf already under their belt, we look forward to seeing this designer flourish even more. 

Igor Dieryck

The name on everybody’s lips was Igor Dieryck. The 24-year-old Belgian designer and Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts graduate picked up an impressive three prizes over the four days: the Public Prize – City of Hyères, the le19M Métiers d’Art Prize, and the Grand Prix of the Jury Premiere Vision.

The festival has been within Dieryck‘s sights since a teenager. After graduating, he began working as a menswear junior designer for the festival’s partner organisation Hermès. Villa Noailles has been instrumental in supporting the designer carve out his fruitful career, marking of a full circle moment.

His unisex collection Yessir nods to his experience working as a hotel receptionist. From a bellboy hat and cropped jacket to chic office attire, the collection represents those from all walks of life, demonstrating that whilst a uniform can at first sight be telling, it actually tells us nothing at all about a person. Countering this construct, Dieryck‘s uniforms are full of personality and pizzazz, each outfit and character came alive on the catwalk. 

With a pocket full of prize money and coaching from industry experts, we can’t wait to see what Dieryck comes up with next. A clear choice for our designers to watch list.

Leevi Ikäheimo

Graduating from the Aalto University Of Art, Design & Architecture Helsinki in 2021, Leevi Ikäheimo has since been setting the Finnish fashion world alight. His ability to blend recycled cashmere, 3D knitted nylon monofilament, thermoset polyester and stainless steel with textile techniques is a talent that has not gone unnoticed.

For the festival, he presented his colourful and comic-like collection, No Pain, No Glamour, which plays satirically with social constructs of what the human body is supposed to look like. “With each look resembling a different character or an avatar, the distorted silhouettes and bright colours are there to evoke everyone’s child within – like a bodybuilding rave troll doll on steroids,” explained Ikäheimo.

Impassioned to create a more sustainable and inclusive industry, we have no doubt Ikäheimo will continue to defy the laws of knitwear and is on our radar as a designer to watch.