THE METICULOUS MAGIC OF CHRISTOPHE DELCOURT
Going independent as a designer is hard upfront, but pays off in the long run, says well-known French furniture designer Christophe Delcourt.
The designer, whose client list includes Dior, Louis Vuitton, and hotels such as the Park Hyatt New York, is self-taught, originally studying theatre in Paris before launching his furniture company in 1995.
He began, he says, with “four or five pieces,” which he designed, built, and showed in Paris at Maison et Objet, the “international authority for home decor, interior design, architecture and lifestyle culture and trends.” What followed was no doubt a long hard slog to success, but with one French flick of the hand, we’ll call it “history.”
“I’m self-made,” Delcourt says. “I produced my own pieces from the beginning. It’s different to an industrial designer who has an idea for a design and then goes to different companies and asks them to produce their design.”
In a vein similar to the slowfood movement, Delcourt says he belongs to the “slow design” movement in that all his pieces are custom-made in France for a specific client to suit their needs and tastes. He delivers his orders within eight weeks.
“It’s important for my company to propose the pieces à la carte,” he says. “It’s very important to have this difference, with the standardization of furniture that is happening everywhere. For example, you have in Ikea a sofa that comes in the choice of just three sizes, but with my brand, we produce for your project and lifestyle. If, for example, you want something very specific in a sofa design, something very particular, we can do it. We do custom sizes, each piece is unique.”
Delcourt’s latest collection, shown at the Milan furniture fair (Salone del Mobile) in April, was inspired by French architect Le Corbusier, he says, evident in the “lines, the curves, the simplicity of the expression of the pieces.”
Delcourt says simplicity in design and materials is what he strives for most.
“We wanted to go back to basic things,” he says. “No tints, for example, for the table top, no varnish, just oil. I want to present the naturality of the wood, and the real colour. We wanted to show the simplicity and evidence of the material, and craftsmanship.”
He says wood is the single most important material he works with; it was what he started with and the material he continues to love most.
“Wood is great,” he says. “Because every piece is different. Every piece is ‘just for you.’ ”
The wood he chose for his latest collection is grey elm, native to eastern North America.
“Grey elm is a very particular wood,” he says. “It’s very rare, because in France you don’t have it. I like it because it’s very precious, and different.”
It’s not hard to imagine Delcourt keeping clients like Dior and Vuitton happy, because their standards are his standards — meticulous — and he says his furniture goes everywhere.
“It’s furniture,” says Delcourt. “You put furniture in your home, in the store and in the hotel and in the restaurant, and I like that because I don’t have restrictions.”
Something of a design philosopher, Delcourt says things like, “We return to the simplicity of usage” when discussing his furniture. He is also known for his environmentally friendly approach to design, 10 years ago creating the first “eco-conceived” range for Roche Bobois’ in the Legend bookcase and the Saga collection.
For this collection, he says, he chose to use no varnish, was careful about where he sourced his materials, to cut out transportation and to use sustainably forested wood.
He is equally careful, he says, about what he exposes his factory workers to, using water-based varnish, as one example.
“I have respect for them,” he says.