Chanel inspiration on the runway — for furniture: PHOTOS

Christopher Guy debuts showroom with statement mirrors and French-inspired chaise lounges

From Luxury Listings NYC: Several hundred industry insiders — including developers and designers — packed the 20,000-square-foot Christopher Guy penthouse showroom at the New York Design Center last night to celebrate the grand opening of the luxury furnishing company’s sixth (and largest) international display space.

Besides the bite-sized h’ors d’oeuvres and decorative dessert spread, the new location also showcased the expanded Mademoiselle Collection, a furnishings line that first launched in the United States last spring, in model suites and on the showroom’s 225-foot “furniture runway.”

The Mademoiselle Collection channels inspiration from late fashion mogul Coco Chanel, but marries a contemporary mood with classic values, according to Christopher Guy Harrison, the Singapore-based founder and CEO of the eponymous company.

“If Coco Chanel were alive today, what would her home look like?” Harrison told Luxury Listings NYC.

The collection has a classic French air to it, with collection items including chaise lounges and satin chairs in a variety of darker and pastel-toned hues. Harrison said he embraced curves in this collection and avoided the use of straight lines. But there is also a play on proportions: Some arm chairs have throne-height back pieces, some couches lie very close to the floor, and oversized planters recast the ordinary container as statement furniture.

Paul Watson, the president of Christopher Guy, said the proportion play is a “connective tissue” that makes the line cohesive, but the overall design goal was to create a sense of intimacy based on the human form.

“It’s very sensory, very sexual,” Watson said of the collection, whose price ranges he declined to disclose. “The line has a very distinct point of view.”

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So distinct, in fact, that individual items from the line can stand on their own, as was on display down the runway. Mirrors, either surrounded by decorous frames or arranged into geometrical patterns, especially stood out, but Harrison acknowledged that this type of mirror design is not new.

“It’s like a painting,” he said of a statement mirror. “It’s like a portrait.”

Harrison, alongside Architectural Digest editor-in-chief Margaret Russell, hosted the event.

“Showroom doesn’t really describe it,” Russell said of the display area, adding that it represents a greater statement about the interior design industry. “It shows they’re very optimistic in the interior design industry as a whole.”

The area also included a screening room with a projection screen and surrounding seats. Architectural Digest vice president and publisher Giulio Capua referred to this addition as an innovative work area that lends itself to community interaction.

“They want to be a resource for the design community,” he said of Christopher Guy.