HomeDesignBoutique Escape La Maison Champs Elysées Infuses Contrast, Luxury and Simplicity in its Unique Interior Design The Plus had the pleasure of visiting La Maison Champs Elysées Hotel in Paris. This exquisite, historical building, which originally belonged to the Duchess of Rivoli in the 1860s, is now a fashionably offbeat hotel, and one of the first to be designed by the prestigious Maison Martin Margiela. Suite 142; photo: la maison Champs Elysees, Paris Suite 114; photo: la maison Champs Elysees, Paris Salon Blanc; photo: la maison Champs Elysees, Paris Lobby; photo: la maison Champs Elysees, Paris La Table; photo: la maison Champs Elysees, Paris Le dessert; photo: la maison Champs Elysees, Paris Suite 143, photo: la maison Champs Elysees, Paris Suite 141; photo: la maison Champs Elysees, Paris Junior Suite 115; photo: la maison Champs Elysees, Paris Couloir argent; photo: la maison Champs Elysees, Paris Brunch, photo: la maison Champs Elysees, Paris Cigare Bar; photo: la maison Champs Elysees, Paris Bar (details); photo: la maison Champs Elysees, Paris The fashion house is known for its predilection for white (wall paint, cotton covers on furniture, white muslin over the chandeliers), and for playing with contrasting proportions, surrealism and Pop culture. Maison Martin Margiela imagined this project as a direct continuation of its own artistic history, proposing a place with harmonious contrasts and a surrealist slant. ‘In the Paris headquarters and the shops worldwide you see the white cotton covers, the trompe l’oeil, the subversion of objects and materials, the mixing of styles and eras, the play on aesthetic language and the humour that’s a permanent feature.’ Maison Martin Margiela has stated. ‘Our clothing, objects and interior design all communicate the same aesthetic values: an “unfinished” finish and a sense of detail, surrealism and low- brow culture, over-sizing, 2D projection, and imaginatively recycled materials.’ The tone of the hotel is set as soon as you cross the threshold of the elegant, opulent Hausmann-era facade. The white lounge is directly contrasted by the black smoking room, which has been varnished with scorched wood, complete with leather armchairs in an intimate, English gentlemen’s club-style setting. The Table du Huit Restaurant is drowned in natural overhead lighting from a glass roof, and the waxed concrete floor and walls contrast with the cloth-covered tables and wing chairs, giving it that special Maison Martin Margiela magic touch. 17 Couture guestrooms and suites of the hotel’s 57 been created by Maison Martin Margiela with the signature blend of irony, humour and poetry. Séverine Hyvernat of La Maison Champs Elysées told us a little more about the design: The Plus: How much is the design influenced by the French art/fashion scene? Séverine Hyvernat: I would say that design, art and fashion are 3 complementary sides of the same purpose: innovation and creativity. The shapes of these 3 domains are both different and coherent. It’s very difficult to determine whom out of the artist, the designer, or the fashion designer had the ideas first. What is important, are the enrolment of the creative work in the trends and the stakes of the economic, social and human context. TP: Are there any one off pieces of furniture or decorations in each of the rooms? SH: There are 5 different types of rooms on the 17 decorated by Maison Martin Margiela. The furniture is different in each of these 5 types. TP: What is the most extravagant room in the hotel? SH: It depends on the individual’s sensitivity but I’d say either the Curiosity Case suite, which is entirely black, or the White Cover Suite, where everything is covered with white cotton TP: What is the general reaction from guests on the décor? SH: Visitors are often delighted by the a delicate combination of uncluttered design and fairyland effects, the “Grand Style Français” and the very modern furniture. Click here to know more about the hotel.
