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MILAN — Although he has been gone for almost 100 years, the legacy of French fashion designer Jacques Doucet lives on. On Thursday, New York gallery Invisible Collection presented an exhibition designed by design duo Garcé & Dimofski and inspired by the late icon at Salon Art + Design. This year’s Salon Art + Design is currently being held at the Park Avenue Armory in New York until Monday.
Born into a family that made lingerie and fabrics in 1853, French designer Jacques Doucet rose to fame in the late 1800s for his elegant dress designs that caught the eye of the era’s A-list. He dressed turn-of-the-century fashionistas like French actress Sarah Bernhardt, socialites Carrie Astor and Consuelo Vanderbilt and writer Edith Wharton. He is a true patron of the arts, and was one of the first to buy works by Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee and Marcel Duchamp. His legacy lived on, inspiring aesthetes including Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Bergé and Karl Lagerfeld, all of whom were influenced by Doucet’s lifestyle and taste. Doucet died in 1928.
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Invisible Collection commissioned Portuguese studio Garcé & Dimofski, founded by Olivier Garcé and Clio Dimofski, to imagine a collection of contemporary furniture that reflects its heritage.
For the collaboration, Invisible Collection partnered with Arnaud de Lummen, who is the founder and managing director of Luvanis, a company that focuses on reviving dormant luxury brands, and currently owns the Jacques Doucet brand. De Lummen recalled that Doucet wanted to be remembered as a collector rather than a couturier, who was a pioneer in linking the worlds of art, fashion and design.
“Honoring Doucet with a collection of furniture that honors his role as an avid collector and tastemaker feels completely in tune with his heritage. In addition walked Jeanne Lanvin, Gabrielle Chanel, Christian Dior, Valentino Garavani, Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren to name just a few people involved in interior decoration, and some of them even created entire lines of home furniture ,” he told WWD in an interview.
Isabelle Dubern-Mallevays, a former journalist and former creative director of Dior Home and Diptyque Home, founded the London-based platform Invisible Collection in 2016; reinsurance risk specialist and art collector Anna Zaoui, and luxury client strategy specialist Lily Froehlicher.
Dubern-Mallevays said the 20-piece collection created by Garcé & Dimofski is true to Doucet’s design vision and is in line with the brand’s core values, celebrating creativity, heritage and craftsmanship.
“When Arnaud de Lummen shared his vision of reviving the spirit of Jacques Doucet by creating a line of furniture inspired by what Doucet might have planned for 2024, Invisible Collection eagerly seized the opportunity to present it to exclusive,” she said.
In 2015, Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent in Paris brought together works collected by Yves Saint Laurent and Belle Époque dressmaker Doucet, highlighting the eclectic spirit behind their collection of paintings, furniture and objets d’art .
The collection, sold exclusively on the Invisible Collection platform, includes furnishings across categories – from dining and coffee tables, chairs, lighting, sofas, armchairs and carpets. The company said Garcé & Dimofski’s original designs were enhanced by magical embroidery details by the Chanel-owned specialty atelier Maison Lemarié, which references Doucet’s fashion designs as well as finishes that include handmade straw marquetry by Atelier Lison de Caunes.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Invisible Collection has opened showrooms in major cities such as the Mews House in the Marylebone neighborhood of London, The Townhouse on the Upper East Side in New York and one in Rive Gauche in Paris in the 7th arrondissement.
Featuring an editorial of famous designs, as well as exclusive capsules and collections that express a distinct French aesthetic, the platform features more than 200 architects and interior designers with a global outlook. From new talents and established masters, its roster of names includes architectural designer Laura Gonzalez, French-based interior and product designer Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, architect and interior decorator Charles Zana and multidisciplinary Portuguese design brand Garcé & Dimofski, to name a few .
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