Just back from five glorious days in Paris partly for business, partly for pleasure. For the first 3 days I was immersed in the exclusive world of The Inner Circle Experience, founded by the charismatic and dynamic Sade Awe. We all came together by invitation for an unparalleled networking event with top-tier industry influencers.
Our hotel and base of operations was at the quintessentially Parisian Plaza Athenée. Staying there for the first time I was delighted to discover the hotel's interior design sensibility aligned perfectly with my own. My favorite period for French furniture is 18th/19th century, particularly painted pieces in varying degrees of grey, black lacquer and distressed finishes. The Plaza Athenée keeps the look contemporary by banishing toile and concentrating on pale walls with extensive coordinating molding trim...just the way I like it. More from Paris next week!
Plaza Athenée courtyard and signature red canopies
Our room was gorgeous!
Alain Ducasse restaurant in the Plaza Athenée...there are many shiny objects to get excited about in this room but it's really all about the chandeliers! Looks like diamond raindrops falling from the sky - an exquisite space
We had the unforgettable experience of a private tour of the historic home, now museum and atelier of Louis Vuitton in the Paris suburb of Asniére-sur-Seine. Although the home was built in 1959, the interior design is a nature infused art-nouveau style. The adjoining atelier is where the iconic LV trunks and the most exclusive custom pieces are made. The family moved out in 1964, however The Galerie, atelier and vast archives containing 26,000 objects and 165,000 documents continue to be housed here.
The Art-Nouveau style showcases throughout the exquisite furnishings and intricate decorative arts
Portrait of Louis Vuitton painted by Chinese artist Yan Pei Ming
A beautifully carved side table does double duty as a bar cart
Every surface was worthy of intricate decorative motifs
Here in Le Galerie on permanent display is a tiny sampling from the vast archives a selection of custom trunks, which includes the first patterned trunk made...it's the striped one in the back, third from the bottom
Various antique trunks privately commissioned - apparently if you can dream it they will make it!
A heady mix of period and contemporary fashions become part of a remarkable vignette juxtaposed with African artworks
I wonder if the ornately patterned window below was the inspiration for this beautifully embroidered frock...hmmm
