“This piece really links our brand’s history to design work,” says Nathalie Fremon, senior vice president of architecture and home collections at Louis Vuitton, speaking of the original red-and-black dressing table, a version of which was acquired by arts patron Jeanne Tachard after its debut. “Then, it didn’t look like anything you’d ever seen. But today it fits perfectly into the interiors of our time.”
Unveiled in Milan during Salone del Mobile, some of Louis Vuitton’s new offerings mark subtle updates to the originals. That table, now christened the Celeste Coiffeuse, for example, is wrapped in leather, while the African-inspired Riviera Chilienne oak folding chair has been inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Others, however, use Legrain’s visual language as a mere jumping-off point. Folding screens, textiles, and accessories all re-imagine the patterns that Legrain applied to more than 1,000 bespoke book jackets over the course of his career.
The new Celeste Coiffeuse from Louis Vuitton’s Objets Nomades collection
Photo: Courtesy of Louis Vuitton Malletier
The new Metropolis textile from Louis Vuitton’s Objets Nomades collection
Photo: Courtesy of Louis Vuitton Malletier
An early-20th-century bookbinding
Photo: Courtesy of Christie’s Image Limited
“People would ask him to create a beautiful binding for their favorite book,” Fremon says of Legrain’s unique practice. (Fashion designer Jacques Doucet was a frequent patron.) “The graphics, the materials, and the originality of colors were so amazing that they inspired our whole textile collection.”
Legrain’s distinct visual language offered endless prompts for Louis Vuitton’s own savoir faire. Folding screens show off the brand’s skill with wood. Hand-tufted carpets replicate Legrain’s collage-like motifs in silk, wool, and bamboo. “We worked the carpet like marquetry,” notes Fremon.
Riviera Chilienne chair
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton Malletier