Thursday June 11, a press release from Maison & Objet announced the cancellation of the September edition. Monday, June 15, in a virtual press conference, Philippe Brocart, general manager of the show, reviewed the arrangements made to ensure a meeting of another form, through a strengthened partnership on Paris Design Week and the holding of a Digital Fair based on the MOM online platform.
By giving the first announcements on the content, the organizers warned last May: several uncertainties still remained to be resolved by the time of the show, scheduled for September 4 to 8. The verdict was given on June 11, and finally, the Maison & Objet session will not be held physically in Paris Nord Villepinte, but will be replaced by a “digital show” spread over two weeks, relying in particular on its platform online MOM.
“Despite encouraging signs linked to the positive evolution of the pandemic, we consider that there are still too many uncertainties concerning the travel conditions of exhibitors and international visitors. In addition, the lack of clarification concerning the authorizations to hold major events, at the beginning of September, weighed heavily on our decision not to hold the September edition of the Maison & Objet fair, even though 80% of areas were still reserved in April 2020 ”, thus Philippe Brocart, Managing Director of Maison & Objet, explains that the September 2020 session of the show will not be able to be held in its traditional format, namely a physical organization within the halls of the Paris Nord Villepintes park. Exhibitors who have confirmed their attendance have the option of postponing their attendance to 2021 or of being reimbursed for 85% of the payments made.
To compensate for this cancellation, a “Digital Fair” will be offered, from September 4 to 18, relying in particular on the online platform MOM (Maison & Objet and More) launched in 2016. “Our teams have been mobilized, for several weeks, to imagine all the solutions allowing brands to present their new collections, and to continue their discussions with buyers and prescribers” explains Philippe Brocart. This operation will be based on 180,000 MOM subscribers, not counting spontaneous visitors. All exhibitors will have at least the opportunity to present a showroom and 5 products. A program of virtual conferences will be maintained, in line with the Summer Classes, e-conferences which begin this Thursday, June 18 and throughout the summer around the themes of Work, Retail, Trends and Innovations, specific to Maison & Objet.
In addition, the holding of the Paris Design Week having been confirmed, synergies will be developed with this event, which should take on a particular scale this year to support the resumption of activity of professionals in decoration, design and the professions of decoration. ‘art. It will also be one of the key events of the new France Design Week event, which was one of the recommendations made by the Assises du design last December.
