“Healing Beauty”
Published on 5 April 2024
In alignment with the Take Care! outlook initiated on the occasion of Maison&Objet’s latest edition in January 2023, many design brands invest themselves with organisations working in different fields for a fairer, more resilient, and more beautiful world. Some, like Pôdevache, are even at the origin of this healing beauty revolution.
The film begins with a tunnel, a beacon of light at the end, but we're not there yet. “Together for the mental health of our teenagers.” This is the rallying cry of the Génération Mercredi organisation founded by Frédérique Faveron, Pôdevache’s founder, a symbol of hope for young people navigating the challenges of adolescence. Their mission is to guide these young souls out of the tunnel and back into the warm embrace of their families.
Frédérique Faveron’s approach (read the interview below) blends with the initiatives launched at Maison&Objet. Taking care of yourself, your mental and physical health, others, the planet, and your know-how is an approach that continues to grow. The notion of “care” embodies this necessity and sees examples multiplying. A marker of society and relay of the underlying trends that drive our times in search of meaning, the Parisian Salon seized this imperative two years ago to find concrete and positive answers alongside exhibitors mobilising for a better world, awake and engaged.
Partner brands are challenged to become “role models” in social, gender and disability equality, women’s rights, inclusion and environmental protection. The aim is to become better humans in general. This is the case of brands such as Moulin Roty, Artiga, As’Art, Ateliers C&S Davoy, Baolgi, Doudou et compagnie , Chehoma , Athezza, L’Indochineur, EA Déco, Marie Daâge, Le père Pelletier, or Mariage Frères which support Prométhée Humanitaire, a structure dedicated to helping street children for twenty-seven years. The creator of Pôdevache pushes kindness by going so far as to create her charity.
INTERVIEW WITH
FREDERIQUE FAVERON
Pôdevache’s founder, Frédérique Faveron, runs Génération Mercredi. This non-profit helps distressed teenagers by offering a safe, multidisciplinary space halfway between a clinic, a cultural centre, and a hybrid school. Frédérique Faveron tells us more about her salutary vision.
What was your background before the launch of Pôdevache and then Génération Mercredi?
Frédérique Faveron: I was a lawyer for local authorities and then an elected official employee before starting a fourteen-year career as a large-scale distribution supplier in the home and DIY sector. I did not operate on the premium home decor circuit but still had a creative hat, which led me to set up my company in 2017.
What secret has made your brand a success?
One of Pôdevache’s strong points is people. At 42, this is what I lacked the most in my career. I needed more affect and emotion. The positive energy of Pôdevache unites, and today, it has fifty employees and a thousand resellers in nineteen countries. It takes desire, work, sacrifice and remarkable resilience to reach this point. Once you have these ingredients, you become a fulfilled business owner. Anyone who doesn’t check these boxes should not go there.
How did you extend this “human” approach with Génération Mercredi?
The project affects me more personally. I started it a year and a half ago because one of my daughters is bulimic-anorexic. Following her therapeutic journey, I realised that adolescent unhappiness is a significant health issue. I am not the only one concerned about this situation; fortunately, the French Senate voted last January for a resolution that makes the mental health of young people a “great national cause”. By creating my structure, I position myself as a relay from families to official institutions.
What is the concrete goal of Génération Mercredi?
It is to act by raising awareness, encouraging research and offering suffering teenagers a home in which they can overcome their problems. Parents often find themselves helpless in the face of their child's unhappiness. In the “Maison Génération Mercredi”, they will see a welcoming health space for prevention, information, interdisciplinary consultations, hospitalisation and a floor for cultural and artistic care. To give meaning to an organisation like this, we must rely on the best, those already shining, like Maison&Objet. I am delighted to be able to count on such vital levers. In this specialised care, interior decoration plays a therapeutic role.
What is the importance of the visual in the adolescent’s journey toward healing?
The whole thing must be friendly, pleasant, welcoming and attractive so adolescents feel good. The premises must be judiciously decompartmentalised and bathed in a hope-filled natural light. The fear of the hospital must dissipate there.
What does the partnership with child psychiatrist Marcel Rufo’s “La Maison des ados” consist of?
My daughter was going to die at 12, but Professor Rufo saved her life. As a thank you, I decorated his clinic with Pôdevache. As he says – and this links us to Maison&Objet – “beauty heals”. At the same time, I created Génération Mercredi. “La Maison des ados” he created is a vital resource centre. The only similar organisation in France is “La Maison de Solenn” in Paris, created by Bernadette Chirac. I want to go further and integrate hybrid schooling to prevent children from dropping out.
What do you need now to move forward?
Political decisions. A health insurance program should be modelled on the already existing “M’T Dents” program (“Love your Teeth”) that detects dental problems. We would call it “M’Ta Tête” (“Love your Mind”). Today, nearly one in three teens experience mental problems. These young people will make up the society of tomorrow. I have no doubt we will get there. Today, I am looking for investments of 20 million Euros to found a first space. I want Brigitte Macron to participate as Bernadette Chirac did twenty years ago.
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