Valérie Duport appointed president of Villa Noailles (Festival Hyères)
Hyères (France) - After 28 years at Chanel, image and communications specialist Valérie Duport has been elected president of Villa Noailles by its board of directors. This appointment comes as the ties between the luxury brand and the cultural institution, which organises the International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Accessories in Hyères, have gradually strengthened over the past ten years.
Who is Valérie Duport, the new president of Villa Noailles?
Valérie Duport has built her career in communications for luxury houses. After a postgraduate degree in contemporary history from Paris Sorbonne University, she began her career at Chanel in 1988 in the press department of the Perfumes & Cosmetics division.
In 1994, she joined the Watches and Jewellery communications team, becoming head of the department in 1997. In 2008, she was appointed international director of press services and external relations at Chanel.
In 2016, François-Henri Pinault recruited her to Kering. She became the group's director of communications and image and a member of the executive committee. From October 2016, she also oversaw the communication strategies of the group's houses.
Since leaving Kering in 2024, Valérie Duport has been working as an independent strategic consultant for major institutions and companies.
A career in line with the ties between Chanel and Villa Noailles
Unlike her predecessor Pascale Mussard, a creative profile from Hermès who remains a member of the board, Valérie Duport represents a generation of female leaders who have built their careers in luxury communications and international influence strategies.
She also embodies the closer relationship between Chanel and the Hyères International Festival of Fashion. Having become a major partner in 2014, the house created the 19M Métiers d'art prize in 2019, designed to promote collaborations between the finalists and its Maisons d'art.
In 2023, the luxury brand became the main patron of the Villa Noailles centenary and created the Photography Grand Prix of the Jury via the 7L bookshop. This was before it took over the endowment for the Fashion Grand Prix of the Jury from 2025, replacing the Première Vision prize.
Villa Noailles' programme refocuses on the Hyères festival and Design Parade
This new governance comes as Villa Noailles continues its financial recovery. After the revelation of a supplier debt that had reached almost 2.9 million euros, the institution has indicated that it will continue the debt reduction plan initiated in 2025.
While maintaining a programme centred around the Hyères festival and Design Parade, Villa Noailles intends to reaffirm its public service mission to support contemporary creation and young talent. It also aims to strengthen its local roots while continuing its national and international influence.
Furthermore, the villa is strengthening its board of directors by bringing in figures from fashion and creative institutions: Pascal Morand (FHCM); Hervé Lemoine (Manufactures nationales – Sèvres & Mobilier national); Émilie Hammen (Palais Galliera, for which Chanel has been the main patron since the creation of the Gabrielle Chanel rooms in 2020 and a major supporter of its programming); Sophie-Justine Lieber (MAD); and Stanislas Colodiet (Cirva, Centre international de recherche sur le verre et les arts plastiques).
The 41st edition of the International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Accessories in Hyères will be held from Thursday, October 15 to Sunday, October 18, 2026. The exhibitions related to the festival will open on October 16, 2026, and will remain on display until January 10, 2027, at Villa Noailles.