Sunday 8 June 2008

Part 2 : Why are the houses of fashion designers sexier than those of interior designers?


Charlie Rose interviews the supremely elegant Hubert de Givenchy.


Watercolour of the Green Salon, Rue de Grenelle, Paris.


My preference is always for tall bouquets, as here in this spray of ere murus in a vermeil bucket.



The hallway of Le Jonchet, Givenchy's country manor.
Man with a Guitar, a sculpture by Jacques Lipchitz, on a bronze table by Diego Giacometti. Above that hangs a painting by Krouchnik.


Interior of the pool house at Clos Fiorentina, Givenchy's house at Saint Jean Cap Ferrat.

All images from The Givenchy Style




Interview with the very individual Loulou de la Falaise.




Apartment of Albert Hadley, photographed by Fernando Bengochea.

In Christopher Mason's article Master Class (2004), Albert Hadley opines that younger decorators are trying to reinvent the wheel, and the results are sometimes very dubious,... They’re looking to do things that have never been done before. And quite often it’s done without authority, without knowledge or a background in taste.

Further, Mr Hadley bemoans the fact that, They’re all doing beige rooms, and wishes that young designers would take more time to educate themselves. As he puts it, It’s all about acquiring a richer vocabulary.


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Now playing: John Mellencamp - Beige to Beige
via FoxyTunes

9 comments:

mamacita said...

To die for. Everything Givenchy touches is golden. I'm really sorry they ran him out of fashion so early, just in search of the New Thing.

Of course, it helps to have a Giacometti budget.

HOBAC said...

Can not think of a more elegant man. Ever.

That is a good idea for a post - was actually thinking about it yesterday.

An Aesthete's Lament said...

Hubert de Givenchy is a God. No, he is God. Nobody has ever had so much taste. Something to ponder: Would he have been as elegant if he was a selfmade man and learned about taste on his own? Or does his elegance come from being a baron, ie having grown up in an aristocratic milieu?

HOBAC said...

AL - I do indeed need to ponder this one...

London Calling said...

Nothing but awe for that dramatically tall spray.

Easy and Elegant Life said...

A fine question Aesthete. One I wish I could answer. One thinks of le Comte de Monte Cristo... I imagine both you and HOBAC to be supremely elegant. How did your tastes evolve? (Please feel free to ignore my impertinence, with my apologies for having asked. But it is exactly this that I am constantly exploring.)

"... a background in taste" what a wonderful concept (article, book or blog title.)

HOBAC said...

E&EL - if you don't mind I would like to answer both your question an AL's in a post - in the not too distant future. Too interesting a topic to pass up.

Easy and Elegant Life said...

I'm very much looking forward to it! I'm trying to summon up the courage to read Balzac's "Treatié de la Vie Elégante." Your post will encourage me to do so.

A Discerning Eye said...

Elegance, beauty, and grace personified. One feels wicked for even wondering if Givenchy inspired Thomas Harris...