Liaigre’s new Paris flagship combines contemporary art and design

The last few years have seen Christian Liaigre’s eponymous design house go through a creative and managerial renaissance, following his departure from the brand after nearly 30 years in 2016. Now, two years on, Liaigre is confidently embarking on its latest chapter, and has celebrated this in the form of a new flagship Paris showroom, on the city’s covetable rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

The new showroom is housed in the former antiques outpost of the late Bernard Steinitz, a French dealer of legendary renown for an eye keenly fixated on 18th-century furnishings and decorative arts. Four storeys high, with an approximate 800 sq m floorplan, the Liaigre team sensitively preserved the building’s original domestic vocation, by conserving each level in the style of a private home. During the conceptualisation of the building’s refit, the studio meticulously hand-drew every single design detail, ensuring the showroom fully reflected the studio’s new lease of life whilst valuing its heritage. As a result, a refined material palette of cedar, oak and bronze is employed across bedrooms, home offices, dining, living, dressing and family rooms, painstakingly yet effectively brought to life by a host of artisans encompassing decorators, cabinet makers, saddle makers and artists. Consequently, the Paris abode’s lavish architectural details meet a sophisticated interior informed by contemporary French design, a fitting backdrop for Liaigre’s understated textured pieces and new collections.

Under the guidance of Christian Liaigre’s successor, Frauke Meyer, the flagship also delivers new experiential services that propagate the studio’s refreshed approach to client service. On the third floor, a decoration and styling department is placed alongside a materials library, assisting visiting clients with their interior designs. Above all else, Liaigre looked beyond producing a show space limited to a retail role. Prior to opening, the design brand had been building relationships with select art galleries over the course of a year with the intention of bringing art and installations to in-house exhibitions. In conjunction with the showroom’s opening, pieces from the Paris- and New York-based Galerie LeLong currently adorn the interior walls, with more to come in the future.

Vibrant, inspiring and respectful of context, the new showroom will change its layout twice a year, firmly embedding itself within the neighbourhood’s art and design heritage – as well as furthering the brand’s ever-developing lineage.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Liaigre website 

ADDRESS

rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris