As the world (above a certain age) mourned the death of Alain Delon at the weekend, a small corner of the design industry lamented the loss of a true – if brief – talent, too. Delon was rightly more celebrated for his cinematic ventures and insouciant charm, but a collection he designed in the 1970s for the rarefied French design house, Maison Jansen, shows a deft talent for translating his flair into furniture.
French actor Alain Delon, circa 1960
In Delon’s collection, available to buy today via 1stDibs, we find all the best hallmarks of Seventies design that have re-emerged en vogue of late: smoked glass tables; brass deco-style bookcases; louche curves everywhere; over-upholstered lounge chairs and sofas, ripe for seduction. There’s even a white lacquered credenza and a mirrored console. No leopard print, though.
Maison Jansen is also sadly no longer with us. Once considered a pioneer for taking their designs beyond national borders and into the world at large, they went so far as to furnish rooms for the royal families of Belgium, Iran and Serbia, and fitted out the Red Room at the White House under John F. Kennedy’s tenure as POTUS. Despite such giddy heights of decor status, the esteemed maison closed its doors for good in 1989.
A deeper dig on Delon’s own design credentials reveals he also attended Salone del Mobile in 1975, with a range designed this time for the Udine manufacturer Vittorino Sabot. According to a fair attendee (reported decades later in 2015) Delon duly took his place on the company’s stand: “like any average small-medium entrepreneur”. Alas - the reviewers of the time were less kind. Delon’s Sabot collection was reviewed in La Stampa thus: “Silk and boar leather, black and white, polished brass, copper and steel on light briarwood. The impression is that of being in the wrong place; instead of a house, we’re on a movie set, a make-believe luxurious and unscrupulous environment.” It sounds like heaven. RIP Monsieur Delon.
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