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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWWD<\/p>\n
\n\tOn the eve of opening<\/a> of RH\u2019s<\/a> first Paris gallery, Gary Friedman issued a heartfelt message to the city and its people. \u201cIn Paris, the measure is eternity and we have built accordingly,\u201d a video message read, with images of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame the Arc de Triomphe floating by with emotional music in the background.<\/p>\n \n\tOn Friday, the Corte Madera, Calif.-based furniture and interior design firm officially opened the gilded gold leaf gates of its latest jewel, RH Paris, the Gallery on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es: A New hub for Architecture, Design, Food and Wine.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tSince taking over RH in 2001, then a trusted U.S.-based furniture business, Friedman has worked to transform it into a luxury experience. Everything, he said, has been leading up to this moment. Friedman slept three hours the night before, in preparation for the unveiling of his biggest feat yet.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s the most dominant country for luxury brands, the most dominant, influential country from a culinary point of view and its impacts. It is the place where you come to do your best work,\u201d he told WWD in an interview, highlighting RH\u2019s luxury positioning and the store\u2019s proximity to the pillars of the European luxury market. <\/p>\n \n\tLocated just off the Avenue Montaigne, the building was finished in 1983 and was once the flagship location of Abercrombie & Fitch.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt was always our vision to open [in Europe] with Paris. And the logic behind that is based on a quote from Bernard Arnault<\/a>, when he was asked, \u2018how do you build a great brand in China?\u2019 And his answer was, you build great stores in Paris, London and New York. And so we\u2019re doing it in a bit of a different order,\u201d he said, noting that the New York City gallery was opened first. The six-level, 90,000-square-foot RH Gallery, at 9 Ninth Avenue in Manhattan\u2019s Meatpacking District with its rooftop restaurant with views downtown to the Freedom Tower, set the tone when it opened in 2018.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tRH Paris, the Gallery on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPaul Fogiel\/WWD<\/p>\n \n\tThe Paris opening<\/a> is a milestone for the company, historically and architecturally. The structure itself is majestic. A freestanding building on three sides, visitors follow a crushed limestone path to a secret garden where ivy-covered walls and sculpted trees frame the six-meter cast medallion bronze doors marking the entrance to the Parisian store of what has become one of the largest residential design firms in the world. Inside, walls are adorned with inlaid brass and white onyx mosaic, framing a three-dimensional image of Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s Vitruvian Man, which is present in many RH Galleries and represents the RH design ethos.<\/p>\n \n\tVitruvius, a Roman architect and engineer whose work from the first century BC is said to have inspired da Vinci\u2019s drawing of the \u201cVitruvian Man\u201d 1,500 years later and has been a guiding inspiration for Friedman along his own path.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cOur design principles and ethos go all the way back to the teachings of Vitruvius. We believe that the most pleasing design is a reflection of human design, a study of balance, symmetry and human proportions. And he believed that beauty is produced by pleasing appearance and good taste, with everything integrated. And so everything that we do, we think of the need to integrate things seamlessly so it\u2019s one thing,\u201d he mused.<\/p>\n \n\tWhen asked how RH will fit into the Parisian design community, brimming with interior design studios and signature flair, he\u2019s confident, as one of the biggest one-stop interior design businesses in the world with everything from landscape architecture to bathrooms under its umbrella, that the brand has a lot to offer. RH may not have the European flair Paris does, but it\u2019s able to undertake residential projects like no other businesses. It was also no mistake that RH decided to open the space during Paris Design Week, which started Thursday and will run until Sept. 13.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI think the biggest advantage we have from an interior design point of view is that most interior design businesses are not consumer-facing. There aren\u2019t really storefronts for interior designers on streets that people see. We\u2019ve got an incredible physical platform that we\u2019re building. And that physical platform is based in great architecture, great interior design and great landscape architecture. We have a physical manifestation of what we do. And most interior designers don\u2019t have that,\u201d he said, adding that the RH Paris Gallery invites the design community to explore the RH world.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s probably the largest assortment of product at our quality level in the world. And it\u2019s not just sofas or not just lighting,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n \n\tA coffee table by French architect and designer Thierry Lemaire<\/a> has been added to the array of furnishings that includes everything from bathware to garden pieces. RH\u2019s roster of designers includes Sydney\u2019s Nicholas and Harrison Condos, Los Angeles-based designer Ann Marie Vering and Spanish designer Mario Ruiz.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tThe new Vao coffee table by French architect and designer Thierry Lemaire features prominently among the many contemporary furnishings, lighting and unique art and sculpture at RH Paris, The Gallery on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPaul Fogiel\/WWD<\/p>\n \n\tAs a museum-like space brimming with rare works, the gallery has a lot to offer the design-curious. Inside the Architecture and Design Bibliotheca, guests are privy to rare books by cultural masters, including Vitruvius, da Vinci, Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, French architect and writer Philibert de l\u2019Orme, French philosopher Maurice Blondel and French administrator Georges-Eug\u00e8ne Haussmann, who was responsible for Paris\u2019 modern urban transformation. At the center of the library lies one of the first modern printings of\u00a0\u201cDe Architectura, the Ten Books on Architecture\u201d\u00a0by Vitruvius, which was produced around 1521.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Gallery, spanning seven levels, is connected by a soaring atrium of floating cast medallion stairs. In the center of it lies the cast bronze Caryatid, circa 1870, attributed to French sculptor Louis-F\u00e9lix Chabaud, who is renowned for his sculptures at the Louvre and the Palais Garnier opera house. An emblem of strength, grace and ingenuity, a harmony between art and engineering, it serves as a centerpiece and symbol of RH\u2019s desire to connect and create harmony between the brand and the people of Paris.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tOne of the first modern printings of\u00a0\u201cDe Architectura, the Ten Books on Architecture\u201d\u00a0by Vitruvius, which was produced around 1521.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPaul Fogiel\/WWD<\/p>\n \n\tThe dining section includes Le Petit RH, an upscale restaurant envisaged as a jewel box, featuring a menu of caviar specialties, small plates, signature salads and seafood towers. Clad with champagne lacquered walls with a sparkling ceiling of more than 7,000 individually handblown glass polyhedrons, it boasts views of the Eiffel Tower, Grand Palais and the Pyramid at the Louvre. Friedman explained that architects Foster & Partners designed a retractable 15-foot elevator that comes up and disappears to avoid blocking its neighbors\u2019 views of the Eiffel Tower.<\/p>\n \n\tRH worked with Foster & Partners on select areas of RH Paris and will be again partnering with the architectural firm for the opening of RH London in 2026.<\/p>\n \n\tLe Jardin RH is located on the second-floor terrace and sits under a curved glass-and-steel structure inspired by the Grand Palais and offers a menu of American and Mediterranean classics.<\/p>\n \n\tOn the third floor sits\u00a0the World of RH Bar & Lounge, a physical and digital immersion into the places and spaces that define the brand while enjoying a glass of wine or a craft cocktail by famed mixologist Colin Field.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tRH Paris, the Gallery on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPaul Fogiel\/WWD<\/p>\n \n\tThe RH galleries have been a winning concept, boosting its European revenues. RH England, The\u00a0Gallery at Aynho Park\u00a0<\/a>\u2014 a 73-acre, 17th-century estate opened in 2023 \u2014 is testament to that success, he said, noting that it generated $46 million in total demand in its second full year. This bodes well for all new galleries, including the upcoming London Gallery in Mayfair and the one in Milan, which is set to open during Salone del Mobile.Milano in 2026.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIf an RH Gallery in the English countryside, with an estimated population of 100,000 in a 10-mile radius two hours outside of London, can generate $46 million\u2026what can an RH Gallery in the center of Mayfair, the most exclusive shopping district in London with a population of 9.7 million, do in its second full fiscal year?\u201d the CEO<\/a> asked.<\/p>\n \n\tRH\u2019s expansion strategy is focused on taking market share despite macro headwinds. Moving forward, the company will open seven to nine new galleries a year, despite the unpredictable market conditions. China for now isn\u2019t in the cards, he said.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBut, you know, and I think that\u2019s just, it\u2019s not, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessarily, you know, are we rushing to go to China? Not necessarily. We\u2019re not rushing to go to Russia either, right?\u00a0There\u2019s political instability in a lot of places in the world right now with tension. And so I think we\u2019ll let things, you know, kind of cool down politically, you know, let the geopolitical stuff get worked out, whether it\u2019s worked out in this current administration or next administration,\u201d he said, adding that U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s trade policy and his announcement regarding further tariffs<\/a> on furniture makers is an incredible challenge for the industry as a whole.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYou\u2019ll start to feel it in the second half of this year. You\u2019ll feel it more in the fourth quarter than the third quarter. You\u2019ll really start feeling it in the first quarter of next year. And by the second quarter of next year, you\u2019ll feel it at about 80 percent,\u201d he said. RH remains one of the largest upscale furniture and home businesses in the world and posted $3.18 billion in net revenues in 2024.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAnd so who knows what the world\u2019s going to look like. I think right now you\u2019ve got to pray for peace and plan for war. I don\u2019t mean war from a militaristic point of view, or even from a financial point of view. There\u2019s never been this much chaos in business in my entire career,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WWD On the eve of opening of RH\u2019s first Paris gallery, Gary Friedman issued a heartfelt message to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":209613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[648,1032,14336,115085,1033,171,37543,6270,115086,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-209612","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-ceo","11":"tag-ceo-talks","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-opening","15":"tag-retail","16":"tag-retail-markets","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115167438978348015","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n