Since 2009, 1.618 Paris has been promoting a New Luxury, a luxury that is sustainable, innovative, committed, and more in line with its time. The flagship event of the agency, The 1.618 Biennale, a veritable platform of influences and inspirations, will be held from June 1st to 3rd, 2018 at the Carreau du Temple in Paris, opening the European Week of Sustainable Development.
This exciting, participative, and innovative event will feature five exceptional spaces and a series of round tables:
- The Sustainable Lifestyle Fair, which will give the opportunity to creative and committed brands, carefully selected by 1.618 Paris and validated by its committee of experts in sustainable development, to present their products and exchange with demanding consumers but also media, influencers and specialists of the sector. These companies will be nominated for the 1.618 X HEC Awards.
- The Contemporary Art Exhibition named“Pure Waste”will bring together the creations of artists - selected by our Commissioner Coal - who, with poetry, humor, or irony, sublimates waste by enhancing the rare beauty of the material and challenge visitors on nowadays’s issues, but especially on the challenges of tomorrow.
- The Innovation of the future space designed to create scenarios of a positive future and make us discover prototypes of the future and connected objects for the planet well-being.
- New this season, The "Emotion square", a space of experiences and performances designed to awaken unique emotions related to the issues of sustainable development.
- The Solutions Area will offer a selection of eco-friendly, innovative and alternative raw materials to accelerate progress and inspire the creative industry.
Finally, in the 250 seats Auditorium, round tables are organised on the luxury of tomorrow and our changing world.
What is the idea behind the event?
We reveal a few themes: "Responsible Finance, New Accelerator of Transition" "The Lab-grown Diamond, New Alternative", "Sourcings and Sustainable Solutions for a New Luxury", "The Future of Mobility", "Luxury and Biomimicry "," Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence at the service of the planet " (...) We will also receive five "New Heroes", inspiring entrepreneurs of change, who will share their journey, their challenges, their successes!At the crossing of a fair and exhibition, place of meetings, experiences, awareness and debates, The 1.618 Biennale, at its fifth edition of being an event rich in discoveries of targeted initiatives, will give birth to concrete, positive and desirable actions, for the future of men and the planet.
Barbara Coignet wanted to prove that beauty, creativity, and innovation were compatible with sustainable development.
Ten years ago, sustainable development was a mundane topic, something boring and guilt-inducing. The creative world didn’t feel in line with these issues as they feared the lack of two major concepts : dream and desire.
That’s when Barbara Coignet decided to prove them wrong by showing how the 21st century’s luxury, now called the « New Luxury », was evolving towards a brand new identity.
This new identity was the first but main step towards meeting the new and growing expectations of the demanding consumers among the creative world, who needed aesthetic, premium and quality alternatives to change their consumption habits. Indeed, the concepts of design and beauty were taking precedence on sustainability to make people switch their habits.
Nowadays, with a growing part of sustainability concerned customers, both world can be conciliated without altering any of them, without altering the dream. It is even the opposite : constraints force us to prove ourselves even more creative !
And this is how Barbara Coignet created an event that, renowned by its bold scenography, event contributes to changing consumers’ behavior by offering concrete alternatives and a different approach to sustainable development: raising awareness while fostering the sense of beauty.
Who is Barbara Coignet?
Barbara Coignet is the founder of 1.618 Paris.
Barbara began her career in communications in fashion, art and culture twenty years ago, working closely with a number of celebrated artists and brands in France including Muji, Korean designer Lee Young Lee and Peter Lindbergh. In 2009, inspired by the idea that luxury, driven by beauty and sustainability, was not only possible but essential for the future of our world, she launched the 1.618 Sustainable Luxury event.
Barbara’s vision has positioned 1.618 Paris as the official resource for consumers and professionals in search of a future that is defined by products and services that both luxurious and engaged.
She has received numerous industry awards, including being named as one of the top 100 pioneers in France who are changing the world and continues to be quoted in leading press and industry publications.
“I decided to start 1.618 Paris during a time when I was very concerned with the changes in the world and new economies. I began asking my PR clients in the fashion business about their commitment to sustainability. But the designers' attitude was that you can either be creative, or you can save the planet; they didn't believe it was possible to combine creativity and quality with sustainability. So I decided to find examples to prove them wrong: Look at this building, this bag, this item. In the process I began collecting attractive and sustainable brands from all over the world. That was the birth of the 1.618 project.
From then on, the core notion driving the process were the products out there which adequately reflect one's environmental and social conscience. It was a whole new world to us, so we decided to organize an event to show that an alternative economy and sustainable lifestyle is possible, even if you like comfort and quality.
Sustainability is both an obligation and an opportunity when it comes to the luxury industry.
The opportunity is first to reconnect with the concepts of pioneers and innovations. Above all, it's an opportunity to create a conversation with your consumer on universal topics. The values and virtues of sustainable development ignore boundaries, segments, ages, culture or social status. This is the true power of the message of sustainable development. That a brand that we love, which represents the beautiful and the rare, embraces universal values that are related to the human, the ethics, the respect, the environment, it is something that goes from now on. This makes it possible to reach younger targets, who will be the consumers of tomorrow and expect from luxury something completely different than their parents. We always want the same quality but our brands need to be committed, to make sense and be respectful...
I think we can only talk about luxury now if it is sustainable. Otherwise, we should not even have the right to use this term! I look forward to the term "sustainable luxury" becoming a pleonasm."
Welum will follow the event and display the work of the different creatives.
