Being a second city is tough. For the French port of Marseille, it is even harder. Marseille is a sort of awkward stepsibling to the adored City of Lights. Yet the joy of Marseille is in its very difference from Paris, which can come across as snooty and self-serious. Paris may have the Eiffel Tower, but Marseille has a fun Hollywood-style sign to greet new arrivals.

Founded as a trading hub by the Ancient Greeks, Marseille is cut off from the rest of France by the Massif de l’Étoile (The Star mountain range) to the north, which adds to its independent spirit. It is home to hundreds of thousands of immigrants, who arrive largely via the Mediterranean, from French territories and former colonies, such as Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal and Corsica. Marseille is all about the mix. It’s a place of arrivals and departures, connections and transits. Of high culture and low culture. Le Corbusier and football, ballet and rap. Religion and resistance. Of sea and nature as much as building sites and boulevards.

It is only fitting that bouillabaisse, a rich fish soup, is Marseille’s signature dish. Over the past few years something has been bubbling up in the port town. Maligned as dangerously crime-ridden and good for only pastis and pétanque, Marseille has been embraced by a new wave of artists, makers and entrepreneurs as a place to live, work and create. Speak to any Marseillais and they will complain about the Parisians who are hiking up property prices, but they are also pleased that their city is having a moment. “C’est pas la capitale. C’est Marseille bébé,” (“It’s not the capital. It’s Marseille baby”) goes a line from the 2020 song “Bande Organisée” by Jul. It captures the mood of Marseille’s proud citizens.

To get a flavour of what’s going on in Marseille, MR PORTER spoke to creatives from the realms of fashion, publishing, architecture, design and gastronomy who call the city home.

After studying business in Lyon and London, the designer Mr Axel Chay returned to his native Marseille and now lives 20 minutes from where he grew up. His creations – from deckchair-armchairs to lamps built from curving tubes – echo the shapes and colours of the Côte Bleue. He runs his studio with his wife, Melissa, and his brother, Aimeric, a metalworker.

What inspires you?

I am surrounded by the sea, so naturally it comes through in my designs. We live on the peripheries of the city with a view over the sea and the main motorway, with boats and shipping containers in the distance, which are these blues, yellows and greens. They are basic, primary colours. These industrial elements also inspire me.

How does Marseille compare to living in London and Lyon?

There’s freedom in Marseille. It’s a kind of happy mess. I like that it’s a bit all over the place, that it isn’t too tidy, clean or ordered. You feel like you can do what you want.

How do you feel about the city changing?

It’s inspiring. You have loads of interesting people – mostly Parisians – who are moving here. There’s a flux, a sense of a new culture, vision. Before, people didn’t bother about clothes, but now there’s more of that and people doing interesting jobs. There’s a new energy, which I find enriching.

Describe a typical day.

I take my son to school and have a coffee near my studio. Then I’ll prepare orders, send emails – it’s not particularly sexy. I have freedom as an entrepreneur. Sometimes I’ll skip lunch and drive for an hour to a beach and swim. You feel great when you get back to work.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on a fountain for an exhibition in Saint-Tropez. It’s something I’ve wanted to make for years – it’s so old-school. I want to use shells with water pouring from it, something organic that reminds me of the sea.

Born in Versailles in the suburbs of Paris, Mr Bertrand Guillon spent his childhood further afield. His father’s diplomatic career took the family to Thailand, Vietnam and Cyprus. Developing a taste for the coast, Guillon came to Marseille to study architecture aged 18 and set up his agency in 2013. His portfolio consists principally of high-end residential properties in Marseille and Aix-en-Provence and along the Côte d’Azur, as well as commercial spaces. He shares an office with furniture designer Ms Margaux Keller, with whom he also regularly collaborates.

What do you like most about living in Marseille?

I like being near the sea. Also the light, which is just extraordinary, particularly on nice days. We used to live in an apartment on the seventh floor and on sunny mornings we would have to wear sunglasses indoors because there was so much light.

How would you describe the pace of life here?

It can be chaotic, but that’s part of its charm. Even if there is a part of me that is quite old-school – born in Versailles, strict about things, I also grew up in Bangkok – I like having that opposition between structure and chaos. Without contrast, you’d get pretty bored.

What are your favourite spots in the city?

I love walking beneath Notre-Dame de la Garde in spring or late summer. At the end of the day the light is extraordinarily soft and all you can hear are the swallows singing.

What’s the architecture scene like?

Contemporary architecture is still evolving in Marseille – it’s a bit limited to metal frames, Kartell chairs and Pipistrello lamps. I’ve been lucky to work with [the interior designer] François Champsaur, with whom I’m trying to offer something new, and Nicolas Veidig of Double V Gallery and Julie Pailhas of Objets Inanimés, who decorate our houses.

What are you working on at the moment?

La Pavillon de la Reine Jeanne, a house in the port of Malmousque, which will be completed this summer. It’s a private residence, but there will be artists’ studios at the bottom and a gallery in the middle, with the gallerists living at the top. It has been complicated because it’s right on the water. It’s also built on the rocks and we wanted to make a feature of this. As a place to live it’s going to be incredible, directly opposite the sea. The smell will be amazing.

A Marseille native, Mr Karim Ficel gave up his dream of becoming a pastry chef after deeming the industry too macho. While living by the Palais Longchamp in the 1st arrondissement of the city, he pursued a degree in fashion management and development and now works in fashion communications. A “Marisien”, he divides his time between Paris and his home town in the south and takes time to model in both.

What was it like growing up in Marseille?

It was amazing. You have the sea, the mountains where you can ski in under two hours. It’s a very cosmopolitan city. Everyone comes from all over – Italy, Spain, Algeria, Morocco… When I go anywhere else – well, Paris – I see young people and think what a shame they don’t have nature, greenery, the sun.

Has Marseille changed?

Definitely. Marseille was always seen as this dangerous city with crimes and gangs. In 2013, it was selected to be the European Capital of Culture and loads of museums, such as Mucem [the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations], were created. All of a sudden, there was a different image of the city and people started coming here and opening places. The city has been gentrified, but as long as locals are consulted on a new project, I think the changes can be a good thing. But I want my city to retain its authenticity, its spirit.

How would you describe the spirit of Marseille?

We are like a big family. Sometimes we hate each other, but deep down we love one another. In Marseille, if you are lost, someone will help you. They’ll have a smile on their face. Here, we have an inner sunshine. We’re also pretty hot-headed. We get annoyed quickly. The sun makes us catch fire quickly, too.

Who are the most iconic Marseillais?

It would have to be a rapper, like Jul. Or the footballer [Mr Zinedine] Zidane. I’m not that big a football fan, but in Marseille, even if you don’t like football, you like football.

How would you describe Marseille style?

People aren’t try-hard. We kind of don’t give a shit. It’s different in Paris, where it’s very “fashion”. People get dressed up to buy a baguette. There is a small fashion scene here in Marseille, particularly for circular, sustainable fashion. There are more and more vintage shops opening.

Do you think you will end up in Marseille?

Definitely. I’ve lost my accent and it annoys me that people think I’m not from here. I just go to Paris for work, but I know I’ll end my life here. Like Edith Piaf dying on stage, I’ll die in Marseille.

After travelling the globe with ephemeral restaurant chain The Paris Pop-Up, the British chef Mr Harry Cummins and his team arrived in Marseille via Arles, where they had opened the restaurant Chardon in 2016. Looking for a less seasonal location, they opened La Mercerie in the commercial district of Noailles, which was named best sophisticated bistro of 2019 by the restaurant guide Le Fooding. Cummins and his expanding team then followed up with Livingston (the first bar to serve orange wine in Marseille) in 2021 and Pétrin Couchette, a café and bakery, in 2022.

How would you describe your cuisine?

It’s becoming simpler. I’m taking things off the plate – foraged herbs, flowers, a purée, things I used to use as a confidence boost. Simple, but well done, Italian-style and Mediterranean food is what I’m aiming for.

How much of your produce is local?

It’s about 90 per cent local, with everything fresh coming from France. We try to use Mediterranean fish when it’s in season, but it’s not easy. There isn’t much and it’s double the price, but does anyone really care if their anchovy is from the Atlantic?

How did you end up in Marseille?

We were in Marseille for an off-site team meeting about what to do next. We’d been going all around the world with the pop-ups and we agreed not to say yes to everything immediately. Then a friend told us La Mercerie was available and we said, “We’ll take it,” straightaway. When I arrived, it was just me and one other English guy. Now there’s a whole community.

Have there been any challenges as a British chef in France?

You get the odd “C’est pas mal pour un anglais” [“Not bad for an Englishman”] comment. Haute gastronomy will always be haute gastronomy, but French food is not in a good place at the moment. It’s expensive to hire people and the food is suffering. I think they are just happy to have a good restaurant.

Why did you open Pétrin Couchette, a bakery and café, next door to La Mercerie?

I used to make all the bread at the restaurant and it was a dream to have a bakery. A lot of French bakeries are really industrial, with things delivered frozen. I love bakeries in London, such as E5, which are more wholesome. Pétrin is more Anglo-Saxon, somewhere you can get a coffee, breakfast or a sandwich, open seven days a week.

What do you have planned next?

We’re doing a pop-up at the farm of our old lamb supplier, who is between Arles and Marseille. It will be farm-to-table with 20 covers. We’ll grow vegetables. It’s a long-term project, the kind of place I’d want to go with my child in five years.

French-English couple Ms Sarah Chaplin Espenon and Mr Lewis Chaplin founded Loose Joints in 2014 as a publishing house and design studio. They specialise in contemporary photography, but the range of subject matter is eclectic, from County Wexford and the Paris ring road to the falling body and farm animals. Loose Joints moved to Marseille from London in 2019 and in 2021 they opened Ensemble, a bookshop, exhibition and events space on a quiet street behind the city’s central Vieux Port district.

Why are you called Loose Joints?

We’re named after a musician called Arthur Russell. He was very interdisciplinary – a Buddhist classically trained cellist who made folk music and experimented with early rap. Loose Joints was the name of his disco side project. Our name is a homage to him, because there is a looseness to the way we approach our books. Our only guide is to publish what we like.

Why did you relocate to Marseille?

To have a different quality of life. We worked internationally and we realised we didn’t have to be in London. Then there was Brexit, and our studio was being knocked down to become luxury flats. All these things were conspiring to make us think it was time to try somewhere else. Sarah’s family are from the south of France so she had a special place in her heart for this city. We always found that the energy, openness and multiculturalism of Marseille felt like a good fit.

Describe a typical day at Loose Joints.

We live near Notre-Dame de la Garde and our commute is a 20-minute stroll across the port, with its fish market, seeing the water every morning. We really do everything from A to Z. We are editors, but we are also graphic designers. Lewis has just been to Belgium to visit a printer. We commission and edit text, do the press and the sales.

Why did you decide to open Ensemble?

We didn’t want to enjoy all the benefits of Marseille without giving back. Our office is connected to the bookshop, which is open four days a week. We love having a door anyone can push open to say hello, have a coffee, introduce themselves, talk. It’s a social way to work on our books and democratise access to independent photography.

What is the photography and publishing scene like in Marseille?

We’re lucky to have some great publishing colleagues here – Chose Commune, Fotokino and Giselle’s Books, or the soon-to-open Oct0 Productions run by former ICA [Institute of Contemporary Arts] director Stefan Kalmár. There’s a healthy scene of photographers, thanks to the Rencontres d’Arles festival, which attracts thousands of visitors. You have to go through Marseille to get to Arles, so we’ve become a sort of stopover. People come to see what we’re up to.