DISCOVERING HIDDEN GEMS, OUR FIRST PARIS DESIGN WEEK

words by MARIE-PAULINE CESARI

For the first time, Numéro Netherlands attended Paris Design Week, and it was an experience that left us inspired and energized. As the boundaries between art and fashion increasingly blur, design week felt like the perfect place to witness this intersection. The vibe was vibrant yet slightly overwhelming, with so many exhibitions to explore—but we loved that everything was spread across the city. Strolling through Paris, discovering galleries opening their doors to the public, felt like uncovering hidden treasures. There’s a quiet confidence in design; it’s often more discreet than fashion’s loud displays, but Paris Design Week is the perfect moment for designers to reveal their artistry, from product design and artistic activations to installations, premieres, and paintings.

“Compter les Nuages” – Galerie Six Elzévir

6 rue Elzévir

For this first collaborative exhibition, Camille Létoffé and Clémentine Long meet around ceramics. They explore materiality and transform it in a palette of abstraction and poetry, spanning sculptures, utilitarian objects, and furniture.

@camilleletoffe | @clementine___long

Design Disco Club – JTM at Lafayette Anticipations

9 rue du Plâtre 75004 Paris

On the occasion of Paris Design Week, the design magazine JTM presents DESIGN DISCO CLUB, a temporary exhibition at Lafayette Anticipations from September 5 to 12, 2025. Inspired by the free and vibrant energy of the disco movement and the iconic 1976 song Disco Inferno, the exhibition celebrates design as a space for emotion, sharing, and freedom, through the work of around thirty emerging creators. It was accompanied by talks and conferences on architecture, design, and fashion, turning the “club” into an invitation to collectively reflect on the creation of tomorrow.

  @pli_office | @jtm.revue | @lalibrairieanticipations

FRIENDS¹ WITH² BENEFITS³

2 rue Commines 7503 Paris

A group exhibition by Elvis Wesley, Lola Mayeras, Pleun van Dijk, Sigve Knutson, and Thomas Ballouhey. Emerging from a shared stay on an island off the coast of Norway, FRIENDS¹ WITH² BENEFITS³ draws inspiration from the rocky landscape and the unexpected bonds it sparked. Uniting five distinct design practices, the show celebrates the joy of collaboration as much as the individual outcomes.

Photo by @nahmlos
 @parisdesignweek | @mmmmmmatters | @p_l_e_u_n | @lolamayeras | @thomasballouhey | @sigveknutson | @elviswesley_

Design Week Factory at Espace Commines

17 rue Commines

We spent an entire day at Design Week Factory, which annually offers young designers the chance to show their creations for the first time.

Highlights included:

Age of Digital (AOD)

Introducing a new understanding of everyday objects, AOD’s limited-edition chair features an organic, visually striking silhouette. Produced in France, each piece is numbered.

@_ageofdigital

Alexandre Veillon

Drawing from existing objects, Alexandre Veillon evokes new emotions by creating tension between fragility and solidity, past and present. A Memory Is Forever 

Photo by @julias_void
 @alexandre_veillon_

Clément Pasquier

Paris-based designer blending material, space, and use to create objects carrying meaning, emotion, and poetic presence. Paravent “BRO”

Dana Elmi Sarabi / Studio Kishmis

Transforming discarded shoes into contemporary carpets inspired by Iranian garden motifs, exploring sustainability, cultural memory, and innovative craft. CARP-02//SPORT debut at Paris Design Week Factory 2025.

 @danaelm

Grains of Us

Founded by Emma Batsheva & Basia Pruszynska, the creative studio blends French-Polish roots with nature, craft, and play, bringing poetic sculptural forms to everyday objects.

@emma_batsheva | @beebasia | @grainsofus

Lucie Gholam

Exploring “hyper-ruin” as a meditation on the disappearance of architecture and memory, repurposing construction waste in her work Ancient’ish Ruin, 2024 (91 x 56 x 32 cm).

@luciegholam

Studio Vital Lainé

Crafting pieces between wood, light, and poetry, balancing use and ritual while responding to the natural forms of the material.

@futurforms

Selah Creative Office

A multidisciplinary agency exploring the magnetism between technique and poetry. Achille Anjoras & Théo Braghini develop projects across architecture, design, and scenography.

Attending Paris Design Week for the first time was inspiring—and it will definitely not be our last. With so many exhibitions and galleries to explore, we intentionally took this first edition slowly, allowing ourselves to soak it all in. It was the perfect warm-up to the craziness of fashion week, giving us a taste of Paris’s creative energy and preparing us for what’s to come…