What is the genesis of this “foot-to-terre” project in New York?
ML The idea was to respond to American enthusiasm for our pieces. As a designer, of course, but also as a manufacturer and distributor of our own collections, we received a very favorable welcome on an international scale, and particularly on the part of the American market.
Can you introduce us to this place?
The apartment is on the top floor of Selene, a very beautiful building designed by Norman Foster, not far from Central Park. We are at the 60th and 61st floors. The objective was to make our creations visible, to allow them to touch them, to try them, to see them in a domestic context. We are not in a gallery or a showroom, but in an apartment with living spaces, where each room is chosen with acuity and requirement.
Have parts been created exclusively for this place?
Not really but some have been modified, adjusted for space. This project allows us to test things, which gives our customers the premiere about what could come out. It is a kind of permanent soft opening.
When you discovered this space for the first time, have you immediately seen some of your pieces here?
-This was the case for the Mollien suspensions, which had been originally drawn for a coffee at the Louvre museum. When the coffee had to close, I bought auctions. I thought it was also a sign of Franco-American friendship as to bring a piece of the Louvre to the United States. In the same way, it was important to me that the Olympic torch that I signed was there. You should know that 85 or 90 % of our parts go abroad and for a large part in the United States.
Has this installation in the United States give birth to new inspirations in you?
Having chosen, a few years ago, to free ourselves from publishers, then gradually galleries and master the chain from A to Z was already a first step. Then completely controlling production by La Factory, in Ivry-sur-Seine, was another. This is a new one. We wanted to find an operating mode that looks like us and that seemed relevant to this market. We are in permanent test.
How do you plan to bring this place to life and evolve?
Our desire is to make the pieces available but also to initiate meetings, with conference programs, discussions, revelations in preview. A real exchange platform. We start with New York because it is the field that has always been the most welcoming towards us, but the idea is to open other places on American territory, probably Côte Ouest, perhaps in Texas, and then in other countries.
With the Olympic torch, the year 2024 was intense for you. What are the projects you work on?
Indeed, 2024 was a happy new year. So we continue to structure the company to be as strong as possible and proud of the parts we deliver. We still have about fifteen pieces of development, with an average of two to three years between the first drawings and the moment when we are ready to show them. I often say to my clients: “The room you are about to buy will live longer than you”which always creates a little moment of silence because obviously it puts everyone in front of its own finitude, but it is the mission that we give ourselves. A piece is thought of for a lifespan ranging from 100 to 150 years, then, to achieve this objective, you have to scrupulously think of materials, finishes, assemblies, manufacturing methods, packaging, transport. I like the idea that these creations can be transmitted.
