LOCATION: HYÈRES, FRANCE
WHAT: THE 33RD INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF FASHION, PHOTOGRAPHY AND FASHION ACCESSORIES WHO: DESIGNERS RUSHEMY BOTTER AND LISI HERREBRUGH The setting for this fashion-insider festival is the modernist Villa Noailles, which was built in the French Côte d’Azur in the 1920s by Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles. Being chosen for the curated festival, which launched in 1985, is an accomplishment. Winning it opens doors. Previous winners include Viktor & Rolf, Anthony Vaccarello and Christian Wijnants. When I attended, the Dutch design duo Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh won. (In less than a year, they were named co-creative directors at Nina Ricci.) In addition to the career boost, they received a 15,000-euro prize plus the chance to work with Les Ateliers de Verneuil-en-Halatte to create a bag for this year’s show. The atelier, which has been with Chanel since 1990, is where the iconic Chanel bags are created. Botter and Herrebrugh designed a satchel for men that they called an “upside-down bag” because it can be opened on two different sides.