Paris Deco Off hopes to create an environment where designers are in direct dialogue and conversation with visitors as witness and there couldn’t be a more perfect place than “Paname.”
As a backdrop, the city immediately puts interior design in a historical perspective. Perhaps no other metropolis feels the influence of history as much as Paris – especially when it comes to aesthetics. And while it continues to be a pivotal place for fashion and art, design either swims or sinks in such a rich past. For many interior designers, the idea of decorating a classic Haussmanian apartment or Hotel Particulier is one of the ultimate fantasies.
For those faithful to history there are plenty of interior design groups recycling the same patterns, colors, and designs that go back all the way to the 15th century, hand stitched and everything. Nearly every collection includes a strong base of classic styles from Louis XIV to Art Nouveau but an interesting and recurring theme at ParisDeco Off has been without a doubt dreaming up new ways to reinterpret the classic.
Not at all post modern or ironic, these fabrics and patterns are carefully considered but equally playful. Designers have embraced colors and embroidery techniques that would be impossible in the past while referencing filigree and crewel motifs that instantly take us back. In particular, the use of metal weaves and printed linens have given designers a number of options to further push the boundaries of tradition. Two collections particularly stood out in Saint Germain, CREATIONS METAPHORES of Paris and DEDAR of Milan.
CREATIONS METAMORPHOSES (owned by Hermes) has three major collections on display, “Le Crin,” “Metaphores,” and “Verel de Belval” The first two collections push the mixture of metal and traditional materials. The curtain line, composed of horsehair fabric called metaLIN, which (if you can guess) combines linen with metallic threads. The Galuchat (or Shagreen in English) line is a cotton velvet base that gives the appearance of a dried dogfish skin but is soft to the touch. The technical wizardry of these lines is never overbearing or arrogant but instead appropriate to a collection that brings a subtle flourish and luxury to the design. The Verel de Belval collection carries an array of traditional designs but with a mixture of modern color combinations and design features like damasks that appear three dimensional.
Of all the designers DEDAR of Milan stood apart as most embracing of the contemporary colors and ideas with a classic twist. The collection boasts an amazingly harmonious color range – every fabric and design can easily be paired with another – but the stars of the show are the abstract designs. Nicoletta Balzaretti, the director of marketing, talked about the excitement and challenge that DEDAR has created with the new line citing “a need to play with the old and make it new again.” Particularly, the Bukara pattern, which is inspired by traditional motifs of central Asia embroidered on a silk ground, is stunning. Bright iridescent colours push the dichotomy between abstract execution and traditional pattern to create arresting effects. The collection emphasizes a confidence in color and new designs that matches the bravado of the history of continental design and makes it fresh again.
Paris Deco Off is certainly an industry fair, but the welcoming spaces, easily accessible walking routes and shuttle cars made the experience a real pleasure for those curious passerbys as well.
