History
The Hyères Festival has been promoting young talent in the fields of fashion since 1986, photography since 1997, and since 2017, the Festival has dedicated a competition and prize to fashion accessories. Each year, within the framework of Villa Noailles, the Festival revolves around three competitions, exhibitions, and roundtable discussions. The competitions bring together ten fashion designers, ten photographers, and ten accessory designers, selected by professional juries. The creations of the selected candidates are presented in the form of collective exhibitions and videos for the accessories competition, runway shows and showrooms for the fashion competition, and collective exhibitions for the photography competition.
Since 1997, Villa Noailles has organized a competition aimed at discovering and supporting young international photographers. Ten finalists are selected by a jury of industry professionals (artists, gallery owners, curators, editors, magazines, museums, etc.). The works of the ten competing photographers are presented at Villa Noailles in Hyères in a collective exhibition, produced by the art center and its partners. For the finalists, the 4 days of the festival are an opportunity to individually exchange with jury members who determine the winners, and to meet with the press, professionals, and the public.
The quality and diversity of the jury members contribute to the reputation of the competition. Previous editions have seen participation from figures such as Jean-Paul Goude, Peter Saville, Jeff Burton, Jason Evans, Marc Ascoli, Tyler Brule, Jörg Koch, Viviane Sassen, Craig McDean, Tim Walker, Melvin Sokolsky, Carla Sozzani, Peter Knapp, Oliviero Toscani, Walter Pfeiffer, Steve Hiett, Eric Pfrunder, Kamel Mennour, William Klein, Paolo Roversi, Bettina Rheims, Dominique Issermann, Pierre Debusschere, Luis Alberto Rodriguez, and Coco Capitán.
The festival has produced internationally recognized photographers such as Sølve Sundsbø, Charles Fréger, Camille Vivier, Cécile Bortoletti, Vava Ribeiro, Erwan Frotin, Luciana Val & Franco Musso, Amira Fritz, Anouk Kruithof, Lorenzo Vitturi, Sjoerd Knibbeler, Olivier Amsellem, Paul Rousteau, Anaïs Boileau, Louise Desnos, and Luis Alberto Rodriguez.
A true springboard for young photographers, the festival has become an essential meeting point for contemporary photography and fashion professionals who come to discover new talents. Encounters with major players in these professions are facilitated by the unique context of Villa Noailles, which offers privileged conditions for dialogue.