Odile Hainaut
Born in Paris, Odile Hainaut has an educational background combining French Literature (Sorbonne Nouvelle Censier University), Performing Art (Cours Perimony) and Musicology (Paris Sorbonne University).
Passionate and curious about creativity and the Arts at large, Odile traces her love of Design to 1992, when she began working at Raison Pure, a French international Design and Branding agency, handling PR and Special Events. As Director of Communications, Odile undertook major marketing, Design and Communication projects, building its reputation as a major player in the Branding and Design world. For 2 years, she managed the communication for the International launch of the fragrance collection Eau de Murano and led the creation of limited editions with renowned Murano artists.
When she moved to New York with her family in 1999, Odile pursued the work that she started in Paris, successfully building the communication and PR strategy of the US operations of Raison Pure USA, now named forceMAJEURE. Her immersion in the world of Design deepened in 2007 when she created New York’s Gallery R’Pure, an experimental Gallery space dedicated to contemporary collectable design. Odile became more and more involved in the New York design scene and decided to extend her curatorial skills to a larger scale design exhibition in New York. She met Claire Pijoulat in November 2010 and the two decided to combine their vision, expertise and passion to launch WantedDesign in May 2011. WantedDesign became the premiere annual international exhibition during New York’s design week.
In October 2019, WantedDesign Manhattan was acquired by Emerald Expo. Since 2023, Claire and Odile took a new role as Brand Directors for ICFF. The Manhattan fair, renamed WANTED is a central feature of the ry Furniture Fair (ICFF) at the Javits Center.
