Christofle Shines on Madison
Who says a 200-year-old French silver brand can’t be hip? Certainly not Christofle, whose new global flagship, on Madison Avenue, looks more like a South Beach hotel than a legendary silver showroom.
Designed by fashion and interiors veteran Stéphane Parmentier, the store has a sleek palette of tan, silver, and mahogany punctuated by turquoise and yellow hexagonal units for presenting the wares. Mirrored ceilings, walls, and furniture reflect silver at every angle.
Although the space is a departure from Christofle’s traditional setting, on Rue Royale in Paris, the silver all harks back to the company’s rich heritage. The popular Malmaison line features antique-inspired candelabras that could have been plucked from Napoleon’s French home of the same name. Many of Christofle’s signature flatware collections and jewelry designs date all the way back to the company’s inception, in 1830.
Perhaps the most inspired pieces in the new location are more modern (though equally pedigreed), the result of collaborations between Christofle and various artists and creative leaders. Chef Thomas Keller and designer Adam Tihany created modern servingware and tabletop pieces under the name K+T; they’re the same items on display at Keller’s restaurant Per Se. Bowls and candlesticks by Italian architect Gio Ponti could easily be mistaken for sculptures, and nature-inspired jewelry by artist Michele Oka Doner is one of the store’s top-selling lines.
The pièce de résistance is a leather trunk by luxury goods house Pinel & Pinel that houses 258 pieces of Christofle dinner-party necessities—pastry forks, decanters, trays—tucked inside its many drawers and cabinets. It can be wheeled away for about $100,000.
Christofle: 846 Madison Avenue, 212.308.9390
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