Chez Lanvin par Rateau

Many of us I am sure (being the voyeurs that we are) have always wanted to know, how some of

the most famous designers and personalities of history lived at home? We have seen their ‘public’ side however one always wants to know what were they like at home? For some there was very little distinction between home and ‘work’ so to speak. Such was the case with Jeanne Lanvin.

A lot of us who have been fortunate enough to have travelled to Paris no doubt have visited the
Musée des Arts Décoratifs. When Lanvin’s original residence was taken down in 1965, the complete decoration and furniture of the boudoir, bedroom and bathroom was saved and given to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs where the spaces have been recreated.

The interiors decorated by Armand-Albert Rateau in the 1920s are a lavishly Art Deco styled heaven and oasis of femininity.

Rateau also designed Lanvin’s fashion house and managed the Lanvin-Décoration department of interior design (established 1920) in the main store on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

He also designed the Lanvin spherical La Boule perfume flaçon for Arpège about 1925–34.

Lanvin was one of the first along with Poiret in capitalizing on the whole "lifestyle look”.
Living by example Lanvin used Rateau to decorate her private residence.

The interior design of her private quarters although classed as Art Deco, is quite removed from what we know today as quintessential Art deco. With hues of cornflower blue, known at the time as ‘Lanvin Blue’ and some remarkable bronze furniture, the interior was were more refined and individual than the current trends.

Lanvin blue was the basis for her bedroom in a monochromatic color scheme, and it achieves a striking yet reserved effect. The white-silk-embroidered fabric used on the walls, draperies
and bedding was made by the same seamstresses that embellished her robes de style, and add a sense of cohesion to the room.

The living room was decorated in a similar vein, which gave the whole apartment of cohesion.

The bathroom in stark contrast is something that could have been a relic from ancient Rome. The chic mixture of black and white tiles on the floor in a mosaic pattern is quintessential art deco. Again the fixtures were designed by Rateau, with accessories also including the spherical Arpege bottle.

Rateau's specialty was the creation of luxurious objects using a deliberately restricted but striking mix of materials which was influenced by disparate sources such as, the Wierner Werkstaette in Austria and the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy.

These preserved interiors not only give us a glimpse into the private world of one of the great couturiers of the twentieth century. Although some may argue that these interiors may not be
as refined and elegant than say the private apartments of Chanel, I tend to disagree. Whereas Chanel was trying hard to forge an identity for herself, Lanvin had already found hers.

Regretting Coupland

You know I am kicking myself now that I did not pick up anything from the Douglas Coupland collection for Canadian Clothing Retailer Roots last year.

Coupland is a Canadian novelist whose fiction is complemented by recognized works in design and visual art arising from his early formal training. I like the concept that originally a visual artist Coupland would do the cover art for his novels. I would think that nobody would
be best to illustrate a novel than the author themselves.

A concept collection for Roots last year featured iconic Canadian images re-worked using Coupland’s trademark style of bright colours and simplification. A common theme in his work is a curiosity with the corrupting and seductive dimensions of pop culture and 20th century pop art, especially that of Andy Warhol. Another recurring theme is military imagery, the result of growing up in a military family at the height of the Cold War.

Liking the style maybe I can whip up something myself?

Savoir Faire has Returned!

Well Savoir Faire's one is back from my whirlwind trip home to Australia. It was all too quick, however a few of the highlights follow.

A walk in the country to catch the wonderful flora that abounds in Australia.

A family wedding that was exactly the way the happy couple wanted it.

Of course you could not have gone wrong with a reception held at a winery!

A pause to remember our war heroes on November 11th.

Guerilla knitting Sydney Style.

Unfortunately a day early for the exhibition of the decade!

And lastly a favourite statue on a perfect Sydney day!

Heading Off!

Many of Savoir Faire’s followers are aware that I grew up in Australia in a very small country town in the middle of nowhere. A small village of 1500 people nestled in rolling countryside with a strong historical past.

The town is a virtual time capsule which attracts tourists (luckily not too many), wine lovers (great vineyards in the area), historians, artists and just the curious. The main basis of the town as we know it today was the fact that gold was discovered in 1870, and at one time the town boasted a population of over 20,000. The gold petered out, the people left and the town settled down to become a farming community based on sheep and wheat.

Another claim to fame of the town was that it was the home for a time of one of Australia’s noted authors, Henry Lawson. Images of the town during the gold rush and Lawson were featured for many years on the Australian $10 bill. This has led to the dubious distinction of being known as the Ten Dollar Town.

Not much in the town has changed thanks to a very strict conversation policy which has preserved many of the town’s older buildings including the 5 pubs that cater to the small population. Walking down the main street is like going back in time.

Wonderful colonial Australian architecture still abounds and it is still a pleasure to go and admire the details and spend some time under these cool verandahs in summer, when the temperature can be over 100.
The town even boasts an Opera House called the Prince of Wales Opera House.

Mind you growing up in the middle of nowhere is not easy for teenagers, and one could not wait to escape the confines of the town and head for the big smoke and bright lights of Sydney.

Now the tide has turned and one always looks forward to visiting one’s home town, which Savoir Faire will be doing on Saturday. After a marathon flight from Toronto, via Shanghai to Sydney, Savoir Faire then boards a train, and then changes to a bus, to then be met by one’s mother at the old railway station and then home!

The purpose of the trip mainly being to attend the wedding of one of my nieces. This particular niece’s fiancé, proposed to her on top of the Rockefeller Centre in New York last year one evening while they were on vacation. How romantic and full of style is that?

So Savoir Faires for the next two weeks I will be incommunicado enjoying the relaxation of home!

Soaring Savoir Faire at Dulles

Knowing how much I love aviation and architecture it has been a while since I have featured a post combining both of these loves.

We are all familiar with the name of Eero Saarinen, the Finnish architect who designed some of the 20th Century’s most iconic emblems of mid-century modernity. Who cannot know the “Tulip Chair”, “Womb Chair” and various other items of furniture which are still in production with Knoll?

However it is as an architect that he was well and truly in his element, with some of America’s most iconic structures being designed by him. Undoubtedly, his most famous work is the TWA Flight Center at JFK, which represents the culmination of his previous designs and demonstrates his expressionism and the technical marvel in concrete shells.

However, another part of his architectural legacy includes Washington Dulles International Airport which is sometimes overlooked in favour of the TWA Flight Centre in New York. Designed in 1958 and opened in 1962, the main terminal is a fitting homage to an architect with foresight and vision.

Eero Saarinen intended his Dulles International Airport Terminal to evoke both the monumentality of a federal building in the nation's capital and the dynamism of the dawning age of jet travel. (Dulles was the first commercial airport designed for jet aircraft from the start.). There is a dynamic sense of liftoff and speed.

Architects continually cite it as one of America's greatest works of modern architecture. Designed as a jet-age threshold and gateway, the terminal is a kind of super-scaled pavilion, a place of transition between movement on land and movement through the air.

Two characteristics, in particular, make Dulles unique. It has proved functionally durable because of the terminal's flexibility and adaptability to changing needs. Owing to the clarity of its dynamic, of its original design, its aesthetic quality also has endured, to become a classic example of mid-century modern.

In order to reduce the distances that passengers had to walk, and to create a compact building, Saarinen developed "mobile lounges," motorized departure lounges on wheels that would detach from the terminal and transport travelers to their aircraft, located at service areas near the runways.

Anticipating growth in airport usage, Saarinen designed the terminal to be expanded. Indeed, stretching the original terminal to its current length some years ago actually enhanced the building's overall proportions, fulfilling Saarinen's intentions.

The airport authority has wisely safeguarded this relationship by not crowding the terminal with. At many airports, terminals have become part of sprawling building agglomerations, with multi storied car parks and hotels, jostling for space. Dulles can be seen and appreciated architecturally from afar.