Let’s play a little question and answer game about luxury.
If I tell you luxury, you immediately think bling bling, pomp, rarity, wealth or superfluousness sometimes. The names of the great French brands come to mind and some pieces of dreams win your thoughts. But certainly not sustainable development, environment or organic products. And you would be right.
But let’s continue…
To the question what is 1.618, I see your left eyebrow raised in incomprehension. Gold 1.618 is the golden number, the key to harmony so much used in art from nature in the service of aesthetics. What does this have to do with luxury, you might ask?
And if I ask you what is the major concern of these last years, you answer me sustainable development, safeguard of the planet and a fairer consumption. But you keep wondering what I’m getting at.
Well, mix it up and you get the 1.618 Sustainable Luxury Fair.
This fair, whose second edition will take place from May 6 to May 10, 2010 at the Palais de Tokyo, is both a trade show and a contemporary art exhibition, open to the public. This annual event, supported by the French Ministry of Culture and the WWF, is an opportunity to discover a cross-section of products and services that combine art, creativity, innovation and sustainable development, in the service of a different kind of luxury, one that is more in tune with current concerns. For 1.618, luxury today is above all ethical, creative, aesthetic and immaterial. Of course, Luxury is above all in the appreciation of rarity, the notions of time and heritage, but it must also reflect the mutations of our society and the will to preserve and respect the natural wealth.
As you stroll through the aisles, you will be able to discover, for example, the new Luxury Hotel proposed by the Fouquet’s Barrière Hotel, showing that great hotels and environmental awareness can be reconciled in all simplicity. Or how the Six Senses SPA combines respect for the environment and organic care by producing the honey they use for their treatments. As for the Absolution brand, it offers organic skin care products that adapt to the different moods of the skin. Learn how the brand Cangiari, by offering an organic ethical fashion entirely handmade, fights economically against the misdeeds of the Calabrian Mafia. Travel with Fregate Islands, a private island practicing eco-tourism and nature protection. Rediscover Piaggio and its hybrid vehicles. John Paul, a private concierge service, is also on hand to provide green services.
Some thirty exhibitors from various fields of jewelry, fashion, high technology, cosmetics, tourism and design will be there to present their approaches, answer your questions and perhaps convince you that luxury and environmental awareness are compatible in a new definition of the luxury of tomorrow.
Art is not left out since contemporary artists, such as Electronic Shadow, expose their ideas and thoughts on their perception of consumption, luxury and sustainable development through an original and eco-designed scenography. Observe the angel detector of Albertine Meunier or the creations of Julien Levesque, to discover the nomadic art of the Atopic Festival 2010.
This year, two prizes have been created: the 1618 public prize, which will give visitors the opportunity to vote for their favorite product, and the HEC prize, for the most innovative and daring initiative in the field of Sustainable Development.
The exhibition itself follows these precepts by choosing a non-air-conditioned venue easily accessible by public transport with organic catering, paper stands with rented or loaned furniture.
1.618 Sustainable Luxury fair at Palais de Tokyo 13 Avenue du Président Wilson 75016 Paris
Schedule: Thursday 06, Friday 07 and Monday 10: 10 to 19 / Saturday 08 and Sunday 09: 11 to 20h
Prices: Full Price : 18 € / Reduced Price (students, disabled, -18 years old…) : 13 € / Children under 1 year old : free
www.1618-paris.com
Marie-Odile Radom
Cette publication est également disponible en : Français (French)
