Chanel augments presence at Hyères Fashion Festival and Villa Noailles

In the last 10 years, Chanel has become the main partner of the international Hyères Festival in France, sponsoring a number of prizes in its fashion, photography and accessories competitions. The French luxury group was even more visible at this year’s 38th edition of the festival, which ended on Sunday October 15, since Chanel was also the main patron of the centenary celebrations of the festival’s Villa Noailles venue.

Villa Noailles, the modernist mansion that hosts Hyères’s annual festival on a hill overlooking the city, was built in 1923 by architect Robert Mallet-Stevens for philanthropists Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles. The couple made their residence a hub for avant-garde art and culture, welcoming the likes of Man Ray, Picasso, Giacometti, Cocteau, Dalí and Buñuel, and funding many of their works.

Chanel has always emphasised its long-standing links with the villa, and especially with Marie-Laure de Noailles, who at the time used to wear the maison‘s creations. The label’s creative director Virginie Viard has even chosen Villa Noailles and its hanging gardens as the theme of the Spring/Summer 2024 collection, unveiled by Chanel at the latest edition of Paris Fashion Week.

“This year, Chanel is virtually everywhere,” admitted Pascale Mussard, president of Villa Noailles, who organises, besides the fashion festival, also the Design Parade event and various art-related initiatives. “[Chanel’s] support is huge. It’s very important, because they have sponsored the Villa Noailles centenary and the many events connected to the celebrations. Notably, an exhibition showcasing Marie-Laure de Noailles’s wardrobe, for which Chanel recreated three of her dresses, searching through its period archives” added Mussard.

“Chanel isn’t our only sponsor. We have many other partners,” underlined Mussard. The Hyères Festival itself has 44 corporate partners. Besides Chanel, they include Première Vision, which has been sponsoring the fashion category’s main prize since 2013; Mercedes-Benz, with its sustainable collection prize; Hermès, which sponsors one of the accessories prizes; French label American Vintage, sponsor of one of the photography category’s prizes; as well as LVMH, Kering, the Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp, and Galeries Lafayette. The Villa Noailles association indicated that 40% of the festival’s budget is covered by corporate sponsors, while 60% is covered by public institutions. Among the latter, the city of Hyères, the Var province, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regional authority, the Toulon Provence Méditerranée metropolitan authority, and the French government, with various grants.

Chanel has been the festival’s main sponsor since 2014. The following year, the label pulled off a major coup, taking centre-stage as the guest of honour of the festival’s 30th edition. Karl Lagerfeld was named creative director of the event, and his two most loyal collaborators were chosen as jury presidents for the fashion and photography categories – respectively Virginie Viard, at the time head of Chanel’s design studio, and Eric Pfrunder, who oversaw the label’s brand image. With this dream team at the helm, the festival’s 2015 edition rose to new heights in terms of visibility, participation and celebrity appeal.

Since then, Chanel has continued to exert its influence, expanding its presence over the years, notably with the two fashion prizes it sponsors. The first, dedicated to craftsmanship excellence, was introduced in 2019 and renamed in 2020 the 19M Métiers d’art prize, awarding the winner €20,000 for a new design project. The second, the Atelier des Matières prize, was introduced in 2022 and puts at the winner’s disposal a selection of dormant and recycled fabric stock worth €10,000.

Chanel also recognises the winners of the main prize in each of the festival’s three categories. In addition to the Grand Prix sponsored by Première Vision with a €20,000 purse, the fashion category winner is guaranteed a collaboration project with Chanel’s artisan houses worth €20,000. The winner of the accessories’ main prize too is guaranteed a collaboration project with Chanel’s artisan houses, also worth €20,000.

For the photography category, Chanel had until now given a €20,000 grant to the main prize’s winner, additional to the jury’s prize. The sponsorship continues, but Chanel is now the main patron: the award has been renamed the 7L Photography Jury Grand Prix, 7L being the name of the bookshop founded in 1999 by Karl Lagerfeld, which was bought in 2021 by Chanel. The bookshop will support the winner in creating a book that will be published by Éditions 7L, the publisher set up by Lagerfeld in 2001. 7L will also fund a launch event for the book and an exhibition.

Chanel’s support for the Hyères Festival is highly praised by all parties involved. The group has not provided details about its financial contribution, but most of those connected to the event believe that it covers a substantial part of the festival’s budget.

However, the label’s ubiquitous presence does raise some concerns for the organisers, who have always underlined how diverse the event is. “Until now, the luxury industry’s leading players have coexisted peacefully as partners of the event. The risk is that some of them may decide to withdraw,” said an observer close to the organisers. “At the same time, they have given great visibility to Villa Noailles,” he concluded.