7 Spectacular Paris Design Week Debuts
Since its founding in 2011, France’s primary design trade show has expanded from a scattering of events to one recognized by the city‘s largest cultural institutions
“Paris,” says Franck Millot, “is the city of fashion, art and luxury, so our Design Week is rather different from others.” The director of the event, he has just stopped for a strong coffee at the Café de la Poste, a well-known spot in the rue de Turenne where designers often gather. This is the heart of the Marais district, where many of the week’s presentations are taking place, while others cluster around the place de la Victoire and on the other side of the Seine in Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
“We’re not like Italy,” concedes Millot, “we don’t have a huge design industry here. But we do have an incredible history of decorative arts, and we still have highly skilled craftsmen in France. The luxury industry helps to keep that going—for example, every time Cartier opens a store, all those skills come into play—and the furniture and interior designers take full advantage of that.”
Millot was one of the founders of Maison + Objet, France’s primary design trade show, in 1994, and established Paris Design Week in 2011. “We realized that if we didn’t do it, someone else would,” he says. It has grown from a scattering of collateral events to one that has now been acknowledged by the city’s cultural institutions. Ten museums, including the Hôtel de la Marine, now host installations between September 10 and 19.
Elsewhere in the city, Design Week has become a moment for action. This year, designers Claire Renard and Jean-Sebastian Blanc have created all 195 flags of the United Nations and a 196th—the flag of peace—from used clothing and textiles and installed them around the July Column in the Place de la Bastille. “It’s a message of universality and freedom,” says Millot. “Design as a manifesto.”
Below, discover Paris Design Week’s most spectacular debuts.
Joseph Walsh at Hôtel de Sully
The Hôtel de Sully, a 17th-century mansion, is one of the most magical addresses in Paris, and from September 10 it opens to visitors for a show featuring the work of Irish master of swirling wood, Joseph Walsh. Invited by the Centre des Monuments Nationaux, the Galerie Creative Mind artist has responded to the historic context with work that includes Magnus, a ring of wood, bronze, and gold leaf that stands nearly 16.5 feet tall in the courtyard. Inside the mansion’s Orangerie are the Gestures series of tables and chairs in vibrant yew, with curling legs that seem almost alive. “Ash and walnut have a personality, but yew is something else,” says Simon Andrews, who consulted on the exhibition. “It glows and has such depth and takes Joseph’s curves and shapes so perfectly. It’s really muscular.”
On view September 10–October 25
Antoine Billore x de Gourney
Paris’s most unconventional vintage dealer, known for his love of ceramic dogs, has been given carte blanche at the storied house of de Gournay for just a few days. “I decided to design a pair of plinths incorporating de Gournay handmade porcelain vases,” says Billore. “You can either place the vase on the plinth, or inside it.” He also created a room divider using a hand-painted archive design called Pine Trees, and will be showing vintage ceramic panels from his own collection.
On view September 10–13
Kostia
Kostia is the nom de design of Constantin Laan, who founded his Paris atelier in 2012. There, with a highly skilled team, he makes elegant furniture in wood, bronze, brass, and lacquer. His new collection focuses on the last—“lacquer is the perfect bridge between tradition and modernity,” says Laan. “We use polished, glossy and matte finishes. They all interact with light, moving between depth and reflection.” A bar, a round table, and a sleek console are finished in vibrant blues and yellows custom-mixed in the studio.
On view September 10–19
Lignon 1895
Lignon 1895 is everything you want from a French stationery company: elegance, heritage, and exquisite craft. Newly launched, but inspired by the historic Papeteries du Pont de Lignon—the company produced photographic paper for the Lumière Brothers—it has timed the opening of its first store, in the 3rd arrondissement, to coincide with Design Week. Most of the products, including notebooks, desk accessories, paper, and cards, are made in Auvergne, with typographic prints created on antique presses. Alphabet stamps are made in one of the only remaining workshops in France that specializes in their production.
Hauvette & Madani at Galerie Gastou
Samantha Hauvette and Lucas Madani, known for their Art Deco–flavored furniture and interiors, have created a new collection called Le 23eme heure, or the 23rd hour. It is the moment just before midnight, say the designers, when time seems to slow down. Such languor is reflected in the sleek sofa, chairs, and low tables in pale wood, soft textiles, and flesh-colored leather, all defined by precise lines and geometry.
On view from September 10
Schumacher x Caroline Rennequin
The U.S. firm Schumacher has been providing the wall coverings and fabrics for upscale interiors—from the Waldorf Astoria to the White House—since it began over 125 years ago. Founded by a Frenchman who made his way to New York in 1898, it’s now finding its way back to the old country with a new collection of wallpapers made in collaboration with Paris-based artist Caroline Rennequin, known for her highly stylized flower paintings infused with the spirit of the 1970s. Schumacher has retained the nuances of her original artwork and glowing use of color for printed velvets, wallpapers, and velvet-appliquéd pillows.
On view September 10 through January
Franck Genser’s Piscine VI
Visitors to Milan Design Week this past April will have seen Franck Genser’s Acqua table as a new addition to the Louis Vuitton Objets Nomades collection. He now launches another table, the Piscine VI, in patinated bronze and waxed brass. According to Genser, it’s a more compact version of the Piscine table and designed with smaller living spaces in mind. It’s also infused with the sweetest of charm, as the mini swimming pool ladder rises up through the table top and functions as a convenient carrying handle.
On view until September 17