Twenty-two months of collaboration has led to the creation of an amazing collection called “Parenthèse”. “Parenthèse” refers to the months designers spend immersed in the heart of the Périgord-Limousin Regional Natural Park, away from their normal surroundings and daily life. Their inspiration from the natural park is a strong theme which runs through the entire collection “Parenthèse”. The “Parenthèse” project is a collection of objects and furniture inspired by the natural beauty of the Park. It revolves around an imaginary picnic in the forest, where time has stood still. The designers usher the generosity and sumptuousness of flora and fauna of the Périgord Vert into our interiors by combining generous curves, richness of pattern and colour, as well as comfort and softness.
The collection is the result of collaboration between Les M Studio and a variety of professional craftspeople in the area. The use of traditional techniques (basketry, weaving, cabinet-making) make use of local materials (leather, wood, wicker), which have been a new and stimulating project for Les M Studio. The working relationships for “Parenthèse” evolved gradually after many visits and meetings. The craftspeople who became involved in the project were chosen for their technical and aesthetic skills, but also and most importantly for their passion and shared motivation.
A fabulous meeting with lithographer Janet Cintas and experiments involving walnut leaves and orchids, gave rise to “Botanica”, a transposition in textile printing using the subtle nuances of lithography. Traditional weaving was revisited on a monumental scale with weaver Ingrid Jobet, as a result of innovative research in terms of both techniques and graphics. Inspired by traditional local chestnut weaving, leatherworker Nathalie Lecoeur, enhanced her technique in the interlacing of bands of vegetable leather. Wicker and wickerwork formed the basis of collaborations with Adrian Charlton. Working with wicker in a totally unusual way, Alexander Hay used the range of colours to create a coffee table with a gradation of natural tones. While the bottoms of baskets were transformed into imaginary animals. The armchair created with the cabinet-maker Alexander Hay and upholsterer Laurence Girard was conceived by Les M Studio to be the ideal chair. Comfort first and then aesthetics, inspired by the foliage of the forest and the stag, the great king of the forest. The final piece of the collection is a folding knife, created with the cutler François Devige and inspired by studded doors in Nontron. This travelling companion is a real success, a valuable and precious piece of jewellery, combining our design skills and his cutlery know-how, inventing a new system to stay as close as possible to design and concept.
“Parenthèse” is the tale of an adventure, a story of an encounter with landscapes and their inhabitants. This collection has the core design elements of aesthetics, comfort and use but it also respects the rhythms of the local area and the knowledge and desires of all those involved. With this collection, Les M Studio presents a resolutely contemporary vision of rurality.
Résidences de l’Art en Dordogne – Pôle Expérimental des Métiers d’Art de Nontron et du Périgord Limousin