This weekend marks the close of the 28th International Festival of Fashion & Photography organized by Villa Noailles in Hyères, France. This festival seems the perfect legacy for the owners and creators of the villa — Vicomte and Vicomtesse Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles. Legendary modern art patrons and collectors, they commissioned numerous works of art and financed films in the 1920s and 30s by their surrealist friends Man Ray, Jean Cocteau, Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. Man Ray’s film was actually shot in part at their Hyères residence and starred, among others, the Vicomte and Vicomtesse themselves. The villa was designed by architect Rob. Mallet-Stevens, and is considered one of the earliest and most important modern structures in France. Completed in 1925, its original furnishings represent the work of some of the leaders of the modern movement including Eileen Gray, Pierre Chareau, Georges Djo-Bourgeois and Francis Jourdan. The much-lauded Cubist garden was designed by Josef Hoffmann-trained architect Gabriel Guévrékian. Today, the Villa Noailles through its programs, residencies and exhibitions very clearly represents the keen vision of the Vicomte and Vicomtesse to support and encourage emerging artists and designers. We imagine they would be very pleased.
www.villanoailles-hyeres.com
I am delighted to be attending tonight the launch of my good friend’s newest inspiration, David Stark: The Art of the Party and the premiere of Paper Tales, a collection of one-of-a-kind art pieces created exclusively for Bergdorf Goodman. David continues to reinvent the obvious and never fails to surprise with innovative designs — I’m sure that tonight will be no exception.
Now that fair weather seems to be firmly upon us, I have lately and often been enjoying my beloved bicycle — one of the nicest gifts I have ever received. Mine is a vintage-inspired Gary Fisher Trek city bike, the colors of white and green milk glass with a huge metal basket and leather seat and handles. Gorgeous. And what a great ride! I was thrilled a few years back to see Coco Rocha captured with it in this enchanting photograph in the September 2009 issue of Vogue.
May is National Bike Month and today starts Bike to Work Week — think about it!
https://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bikemonth/
To carry on the discussion of female designers this week on THE BATON, I wanted to include Elise Djo-Bourgeois. Best known as the wife and collaborator of the celebrated French architect Georges Djo-Bourgeois (1898-1937), Elise was an exceptional modernist textile and rug designer in her own right. Her geometrically patterned fabrics and rugs without question helped to distinguish the Djo-Bourgeois interior. Her work often stood beside that of architect/designer giants in 1920s and 30s Paris such as Rob. Mallet-Stevens and Charlotte Perriand, and resided in some of the most important modern structures of the day. Elise and her work definitely deserve a closer look.
We have been loving the work of Rocio Romero for some time now. She is the Chilean-American architect-designer of some of the coolest and smartest kit homes in this country and abroad. Her range includes customized options as well as a series of prefab LV models from which to choose. She also designs furniture. Romero’s design principles — simple, modern, green — definitely speak to the way we aspire to live each day and hopefully speak to the future of the built environment in total.
www.rocioromero.com
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO CREATE LEGATO STUDIO AND WHAT LED YOU TO FOCUS SPECIFICALLY ON TRANSFORMATIVE FURNITURE?
When [Josh and I] found our apartment in Battery Park, we recognized that it had more positives (not one square foot of wasted space, like an extra hallway, or large entryway, or odd shaped room) than negatives (no natural dining area within the small living room and kitchen). Other apartments in the building we knew we loved did offer that extra dining space, but at a much higher price tag than we could afford. So our plan was to grab the apartment within our budget, and problem solve with furniture. This was a task my husband happily left to me — and I couldn’t wait to start the process.
As I set out to create an ‘instant dining room’ that would disappear in some fashion, I did some research to find Matt Lee, the contractor ‘who could do anything.’ A recent article in the New York Times touted a 2 level studio coop in Gramercy he created where the rules included ‘no construction or structures of any kind connected to internal walls.’ So, he designed a second floor that was completely self-standing for a very happy client. He seemed to make all of his clients happy, so I hired him.
When Matt and I began measuring and talking through ideas, I realized two things — my perfect apartment, with its lack of wasted space, allowed for no space anywhere to store chairs, AND, a murphy bed style-like table that would fold down from the wall would be too wide for my living room (I could just see tomato sauce all over our new sofa). So, Matt and I started thinking about a table that would include seating, and would fold out horizontally rather than vertically in the space. Did this exist already? Not really. So….we worked with an engineer to sort out the details of what is now known as Legato Studio’s “Cambia,” (Italian for alter, shift).
After Cambia was created in our minds and on paper, we realized we had something special. What should we do with this? Should we patent our invention? Start a company? Scramble to attend New York’s next (and best) furniture trade show? Could we do all of that in 2 months? Why not. After investigating with a patent lawyer that no prior art or design existed anything like our Cambia, we knew we had something not only special – but perfect for urban dwellers. Legato Studio was formed – and our (utility) patent pending came hours before our 2011 debut at ICFF.
YOUR DEBUT PIECE, CAMBIA, IS A REALLY BRILLIANT CONCEPT — FULL-SIZED DINING TABLE, ERGONOMIC WORKSTATION AND BENCH WITH STORAGE. IN WHAT ENVIRONMENT OR SPACE WOULD YOU MOST LOVE TO SEE CAMBIA?
Our thoughts for Cambia have expanded well beyond residential space – we see so many commercial applications for the table as well. One obvious choice would be any small restaurant that wants to turn itself into a dance hall/bar, or any place where a lunchroom could turn into a gym. The possibilities are endless. And what’s great about Cambia’s design is that it can be made to custom sizing and with a variety of materials. So, we see our target audience as really anyone that needs/wants multiple uses for their work or living space.
WHAT IS NEXT FOR LEGATO STUDIO?
What’s next is to continue to get the word out there that we can make our table custom for clients out of our studio in Bushwick (Brooklyn). With Bloomberg’s ADAPT NYC project making ‘micro-apartments’ such a hot topic in the press right now, there is no time like the present to capitalize on opportunities. Everyone is talking about maximizing space.
WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY?
So many things bring me joy, hard to name just one — what brought me joy today was seeing my children play so nicely together.
COMB OR BRUSH?
Comb does the trick, brush usually means ‘styling’ which I tend to do let others do in a salon, or do myself with rollers rather than a brush and hair dryer.
DO YOU LIKE YOUR NAME?
I do – I didn’t in the 80’s, when I felt like it was all over the place. But it died down…..
FINISH THIS SENTENCE. MY AGE IS…………….
just right. But I will say life is moving too fast.
WHAT’S FOR DINNER TONIGHT?
Takeout spicy tuna rolls with brown rice, salad, cheese and crackers, orange zero vitamin water. Might sneak in a few girl scout cookies (Samoas).
We were down at Battery Park all day on Monday — arguably the most beautiful spring day we have had yet — working on the Soho Rep Spring Gala. Adjacent to the event venue is the Battery Urban Farm, a very cool and very magnificent one acre community garden. Shaped like a turkey (a nod to Zelda who has called Battery Park home for the last decade) it is surrounded by a tremendous bamboo fence designed by Scott Dougan who also conceived and created the farm itself. Best of all, the bamboo poles were donated by artists Doug and Mike Starn and repurposed from their 2010 installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Roof Garden: Big Bambú. In their second growing season last year, Battery Urban Farm educated over 600 volunteers and 1,800 students from 30 schools on sustainable and organic farming, more than doubling their outreach from the first season, and supplied produce to 2 downtown public school cafeterias. And they continue to grow!
A great Earth Day celebration is planned at the Battery Urban Farm next Saturday, April 20 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Check out their website for more information about the farm and ways to get involved: https://www.thebattery.org/projects/battery-urban-farm/
Last week we were in the neighborhood and had a moment to walk past Bergdorf Goodman. As always, the windows are stunning — mounds of cascading feathers and black and white fashion gorgeousness. Oh my. And, if you haven’t yet seen Windows at Bergdorf Goodman Anniversary Edition by David Hoey and Linda Fargo you are in for a treat.
Bergdorf Goodman, 5th Avenue & 58th Street, New York City www.bergdorfgoodman.com
Windows at Bergdorf Goodman Anniversary Edition (Assouline, 2012)
Like many of us out there, I often gravitate toward mid-century modern furniture. I don’t want (or have) an entire house full of it, but there are certain pieces and designers that I covet — like Norman Cherner’s molded plywood Armchair. I love it. It was designed in 1958 and manufactured by Plycraft until the early 1970s. I find such beauty in the proportion and material of this chair, and especially in its sculptural nature. It is now manufactured by Cherner Chair Company, run by his architect/designer son Benjamin Cherner. In addition to his housing and furniture design work, Norman Cherner taught industrial design at Columbia University and lectured at the Museum of Modern Art. And he wrote four books over the course of his career. I own a wonderful first edition of How to Build Children’s Toys and Furniture (McGraw-Hill, 1954) that is full of Cherner’s drawings of modern room settings and toy and furniture designs and also photographs of Cherner himself making said designs. It is fantastic.
HOW AND WHEN DID YOU MEET AND HOW AND WHEN DID YOU DECIDE TO DEVELOP KOBO CANDLES? WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT WORKING TOGETHER?
We first met at a party in southern Japan in 1986. For one of us it was classic love at first sight. The other needed a little more time for it to settle in. It is great to have someone totally trusted with the same goals in mind. Junko has a wonderful eye for detail and Louis constantly keeps things rolling toward the big picture. We are constantly bouncing ideas back and forth off of each other. It can be a double edged blade however. Working together has a series of benefits as well as challenges that take time to occur and resolve. How to keep the office out of the home especially when our lifestyle provides most of the inspiration for our product developments, is a long standing challenge. It can be simultaneously inspiring and overwhelming.
ARE YOU BOTH INVOLVED WITH ALL ASPECTS OF YOUR BUSINESS — CREATIVE AND OTHERWISE — OR DO YOU DIVIDE AND CONQUER?
Our work life looks like a Venn diagram. We each have our own areas in the running of the business that are uniquely our own yet are supported by the other. The overlap occurs in the management and most importantly the development and creative processes and areas.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR BEAUTIFUL SCENTS SEEMS PART SCIENCE AND PART GREAT TASTE AND STYLE. WOULD YOU AGREE AND WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF YOUR JOB?
No doubt creating the scents and graphic themes is super fun and challenging. We use everything we do to inform our aesthetic both in the visual and olfactory areas. There is a lot of science and technology used in creating the KOBO products. After 10 years of manufacturing we can see that so many companies come and go. It is quite easy to make a so-so candle but very difficult to create an excellent candle. We feel remarkably fortunate to have such a loyal following in such a crowded market.
WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY?
Surely family first our two sons……most of the time. We are avid travelers and love to go to new places around the world. We have spent quite a bit of our time together living or traveling in different areas around the world. We love to head off to unknown places spontaneously. For example last summer we were at a tennis match in NYC. An Argentinian player was involved in a grueling 5 hour match. As the match progressed more and more Argentinian fans filled the stadium. They became lively and in between each point were chanting and cheering wildly for their player. We became filled with their passion and exhilaration for their player. After the match we sat down to have a drink. Still full with the feeling of the crowd we looked at each other and knew we had the same idea. Let’s go to Argentina. Soon after we had booked our tickets to Buenos Aires and an apartment ready for our arrival. We will eagerly depart soon.
COMB OR BRUSH?
Wide toothed brush for Junko. Louis just uses his fingers after towel drying (and it looks like it too).
DO YOU LIKE YOUR NAME?
Junko- yes I do. It means innocent or pure child. Louis- not so much.
FINISH THIS SENTENCE: MY AGE IS……………
Louis…..how mature I should really be. Junko……changing from day to day.
WHAT’S FOR DINNER TONIGHT?
Lobster ravioli with creamy tomato sauce. Burrata drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar and garlic olive oil served with sliced black tomatoes. Micro greens and Mesclun salad with Lemon vinaigrette. Washed down with a nice light Italian red wine. OK- You caught us on a good night for home cooking.
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