This year’s theme: Enjoy!

This year’s theme has finally been revealed! Maison&Objet wanted it to be a “North Star” for trends, which each of us can examine in detail and be inspired by. The experts at Peclers Paris deliver their analysis of major cultural shifts so we can stay a step ahead of consumer desires. What will we want in 2024? Joy! Open the windows, put on your rose-colored glasses once again, and breathe! In a word: Enjoy! Be happy: a wave of free-flowing, uncompromising pleasure is electrifying a society that’s hurting from conflict, pandemics, doom and gloom, and injustice. Are we going to let ourselves stay down in the dumps? It seems not, since a joyful resistance is coming together, as though to force the hand of fate. In 2022, the theme of Desirable Development highlighted the urgent need to adopt frugal and responsible collective behavior, though without losing our taste for enjoyment. With Meta-Sensible, 2023 underlined the influence of digital worlds on creative design, while reaffirming a deep attachment to craftsmanship. In 2024, bringing the magic back to everyday life will be less about collective action than a more individual, hedonistic attitude, an elevated way to affirm one’s uniqueness through bold and colorful creativity. In academic speak, this designates “a-normcore” behavior (out-of-the-norm), providing a contrast to the conformity that normcore has become. Have we lost you? Let’s simply celebrate the moment and take advantage of life’s pleasures today. Release all those marvelous energies! Let’s enjoy ourselves with total freedom and abandon! This new vitality takes on some of the following forms:

Seduction and sensuality exude a certain expressive allure. Here, it’s all about the pleasures of the flesh and an uninhibited relationship with the body. Out with dark and mournful passions! The “Extraglammers” proudly proclaim their in-your-face eroticism as a source of power. References here include the triumphant sexuality of Madonna or Thierry Mugler. Like a musical, the decor is extravagant, demonstrative, and theatrical. This type of interior reflects an outsized personality that’s precious and sensuous. Vinyl, glossy reflections, glitter, and puffed-up, massive volumes are the name of the game and the Life of the Party. 

Light-heartedness and humor set off a cascade of liberating creativity. This trend invites us to take an optimistic view of the world. There’s nothing subconscious about this approach, just a choice to improve our mental health during a tortured time. Fantasies straight out of a sugary-sweet dream, utopias, and eccentricity all refashion life in full color. “Poptimists” build their own world, in the manner of artist Yayoi Kusama, who was asked to scatter Louis Vuitton shops with colorful dots. This is also the flowery world of the Uchronia collective, who have just redecorated Sonia Rykiel's boutiques. 

And lastly, because the world now has its digital doppelgänger, we’ll have to contend with augmented surface sensitivity. In front of their screen, as within their home space, the “Meta-Hedonist” romances their private world using digital tools, much like the virtual interiors offered by British designer Charlotte Taylor. This new aesthetic is soft, organic, and futuristic. It feels as though we’re wrapped up in an emotional cocoon tinged with calming colors and opalescent transparency. Furnishings and objects take on a rubbery-smooth finish that’s silky to the touch. Enjoy…