Saint Laurent’s Anthony Vaccarello doesn’t just go the chic, minimalist route for his fashion. THE “French ModernistsThe furniture show opens today at the brand’s Rive Droite outposts in Paris and Los Angeles, which double as galleries and incubators for the creative director’s passions (he regularly stocks them with high-end vintage furniture and artwork that it curates, as well as informing the decor of global boutiques).
6-leaf parchment screen by Jean-Michel Frank. Courtesy of Saint-Laurent.
The exhibition, which coincides with that of this week PADParis design fair, mainly honors the titan of the movement, Jean-Michel Frank (1895-1941). Frank specializes in the hyper-luxurious and maximalist style of minimalism. As an interior designer, he managed Elsa Schiaperlli’s Paris apartment and had his work documented by Man Ray. Architectural Summary noted that “his guest rooms embraced the glitter of Boulle as well as the glamor of the big screen.”
Frank, who also developed the ubiquitous Parsons table, has long been linked to the house. Its founder Yves Saint Laurent and life and business partner Pierre Bergé were avid collectors whose interest in the 1960s and 70s helped kick-start a Frankish renaissance. Their benchmark Christie’s auction in 2009 included items such as an exquisite mica veneer coffee table who left for 319,000 E.
The glamorous austerity of Jean-Michel Frank. Courtesy of Saint-Laurent.
Vaccarello has also selected works by architect and designer Jacques Adnet and jeweler and blacksmith Jean-Després who use hammered metal to play with light and reflection in his works. Saint Laurent has collaborated with Galerie Chastel Marécha, Galerie Anne-Sophie Duval and Galerie Jacques Lacoste. in a statement, the brand boasts, “AAlthough conceived almost a century ago, the exhibition highlights the striking modernism and contemporaneity of the work of the three designers.
“French Modernists” can be discovered in Saint Laurent Rive Droite stores in Los Angeles and Paris until April 14.
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