PARIS,
Paris, Paris.
puff…gone
Copyright
Vladimir Kagan 2010
How
could I have been in Paris for six days and not report on it????
It wasn’t because of our having a dizzying a
good time in Montmartre, St. Germaine de Pre or the Champs-Elysées…. In fact we
weren’t even in Paris… We were stuck in the ‘burbs: (Villepinte, five
kilometers out of De Gaul Airport and light years away from Paris) doing a
trade show called Maison & Objet. This is a most important bi-annual event:
Paris’ version of Fashion Week for Home Furnishings.
For expedience, we stayed in a small commercial
hotel, five minutes from the show, therefore avoiding hundreds of Euros on taxi
fares and hours of sitting in suburban traffic. A commercial hotel in France is
not like the spacious comfort of a Hilton or even a Holiday Inn…. It is small,
cramped or should I say compact. The menu is French, but unchanging for five
days. Permanently printed and bound in stiff plastic. You eat your way through
it from top to bottom and start over again. I
am not complaining as it did include Fois Gras and other delectable’s not
available on your typical American menu.
Maison & Object is a major event at an expo
center dispersed among eight huge Pavilions which are overflowing with
furniture, accessories, toys, jewelry, flowers real and artificial,…you name it
and you can find it here. (Smart American buyers shop here for unique items for
their stores, boutiques and showrooms.)
In our decrepitude, Erica and I have gotten used
to cavorting about these shows on motorized wheel chairs…. No such luck in
Paris. All we managed was the rental of one wheel chair from the Red Cross,
which needed to be returned nightly. To our dismay, we found that the miles of
exhibition halls are very handicap unfriendly. Get up – climb stairs – sit down
– cruise over bumpy terrain – try to tell the crowd in French “Please get out
of the way” which translates into “attention!”
blasted at the top of you lungs. Erica and I shared this treasure and took
turns relaxing in the chair while our darling French interpreter/guide, Tanya
Dupoy, navigated us through the hordes. Tanya is an a-typical Frenchy: she
spoke perfect American English, though she has never spent any time in the
States. She coincidentally also spoke French, German, Italian, Danish and she
was cute as a button.
Our raison d’être for being at the show was:
three manufacturers exhibiting my design. Oasiq: with my new Capricorn
Collection of outdoor wire furniture, Kenzo Home: with a Kagan sofa dressed in
Kenzo fabrics and Barlow Tyrie: showing my woven outdoor furniture. Our visit
coincided with a very Parisian Gala event: the Tenth Anniversary of
Architectural Digest-France, which highlighted ten decorated rooms by Europe’s
top interior designers in a magnificent setting at Artcurial. To my surprise
and delight, two exhibits featured Kagan furniture as their centerpiece!
….No show is ever wasted. Networking with
present and future clients always bears fruit. As a result, Roche Bobois will
re-introduce my successful Comet Collection in new fabrics and updated
accessories; Italy’s Luxury Living will introduce a new Kagan Collection to be
shown together with their prestigious Fendi Casa, Kenzo Home and Valentino
Maison. Architectural Digest France will do a feature story and JGS
Decorations, a chic Paris furniture store will dedicate a portion of their
store to a Kagan grouping….. Not bad, for six days of hobbling around Paris.
While
we could not cover the entire show, here are some of the highlights we found in
our Outdoor Living Pavilion 8.
My Capricorn Chaise (designed in 1958) and shown at Maison & Objet - Paris 2010 by Oasiq.
Royal Botania, a Belgium based company, had the most innovative exhibit, with a collection of sun-shaded chaise lounges.
The show abounded with umbrellas. Obviously a big ticket item and a must for all outdoor living. Senz, a Dutch company, had the most unique product....a wind resistant umbrella, which they demonstrated with a fun animated film with sky divers, wind tunnel tests and other funky situation shots.
If you have a spare $40,000 and want to have the ultimate in outdoor living, Honeymoon, a French company, offers custom built, teak pavilions made in Indonesia. "Le Must", for all the super rich.
Barlow Tyrie from London, showed my classic Arizona seating group nested within a portable screened pavilion.
By far, the most beautiful exhibit was Fendi Outdoors. They really know how to sell the sizzle with the steak! (If the sofa looks familiar, it is...see my Arizona sofa above.) Their exhibit was spacious, luxurious and interspersed with irresistible Fendi products.
My Serpentine Sofa dressed in Kenzo fabric in Kenzo Home exhibit in Pavilion 7
Last, but not least, was the bonus of having our daughter, Jessica, exhibiting her fun jewelry and hand bags in Pavilion 6. It gave us the opportunity to see each other between her hectic commuting to her second exhibit at the Porte de Versailles.
What wonderful pieces love the Capricorn Chaise. Delightful!
Posted by: Furniture Stores | 09/26/2010 at 02:45 AM
This design inspires me deeply! I can’t wait for Maison&Objet, is’t a great event, full of good design. And I really want to see AIRNOVA LEADER, WOOUF BARCELONA and of course BOCA DO LOBO there!!
Posted by: Vanessa Thompson | 01/05/2011 at 11:42 AM