Jean Paul Gaultier’s Furniture Provocations
There’s something in the spirit of both French furniture house Roche Bobois and French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier that gives the two an affinity. You might describe it as an irreverent unconventionality, a sense of playfulness, a mastery of the unexpected. It’s unsurprising then, that the two have partnered to produce furniture pieces that are as inventive as they are beautiful.
Their partnership began in 2010, with enfant terrible Gaultier creating upholstery exclusive fabrics, restyling existing furniture pieces from the Roche Bobois collection, and also designing his own. For example, Gaultier’s punk spirit shines through in his
Ben Hur armchair – inspired by a Roman chariot and combining aluminium lamination with rich textile, studs and substantially sized wheels.
Gaultier originals Malles – Jean Paul Gaultier Storage Unit and Malles – Jean Paul Gaultier Chest of Drawers reinvent the form of old-fashioned suitcases and briefcases. Presented in stacks, the ‘suitcases’ (malles is French for ‘trunks’) are upholstered in leather and feature briefcase-like locks, hinges and handles. Such pieces are delightfully atypical and were produced by Roche Bobois in limited runs of 250, each numbered by hand.
The blue and white stripes of the Breton sailor’s shirt (marinière), which have appeared repeatedly in Gaultier’s fashion collections, find their way into the Roche Bobois catalogue via the fashion designer’s styling of the classic Mah Jong sofa by Hans Hopfer. At the time of its initial release in 1971, Mah Jong itself was avant-garde, proposing total freedom of form and function with three basic elements that could be combined or stacked in limitless compositions.
This free-from modular seating broke the rules of formal living and had a profound influence on the way people furnished and arranged their living spaces. Marking its significance, Roche Bobois has called upon numerous design talents over the years to ‘dress’ special editions of Mah Jong. Gaultier went a step further, also creating the maritime-inspired Dunkerque rug (with blue stripes on white, and red pompoms), which makes possible the creation of a living room setting entirely dedicated to the Breton look.