Elitis, the enfant terrible of Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Published on 18 March 2020
The area around Saint-Germain-des-Près church is a beautiful setting that brings together some of France’s flagship design and decoration companies, many of which take part in Paris Design Week.
On Rue Saint-Benoît, Elitis will be presenting its fabrics and wall coverings that are the equivalent of fashion’s haute-couture creations.
You just need to spend a few minutes in the showroom to understand: Elitis was founded in 1988 and since then no technical stone has been left unturned in their quest to make truly exceptional fabrics and wall coverings. The Ecrin collection is made from blanched cocoa leaves incrusted with mother of pearl and held together with invisibles threads of nylon. Each element is meticulously arranged by hand. Looking around you’ll discover papers coated with oxidised metal or ornamented with gold leaf, not forgetting the thermoformed foam panels that give a radical new take on a motif taken from a 19th century moulding. Elitis saw the light of day in Toulouse. It was born out of the desire of Patrice Marraud des Grottes’ to distinguish his activity from that of his venerable and often century-old competitors by adding a breath of modernity and an eye for current trends. The young brand describes itself as both a creator and distributor and indeed every new model is designed in-house. The brand’s products have been used in prestigious renovation projects in hotels, restaurants and private homes in 116 different countries and its short history is marked by numerous bestsellers. Véronique Sonnier, one of the brand’s designers takes up the tale.
Which models first contributed to the success of Elitis?
Patrice Marraud des Grottes has always loved linen. At the beginning of the 90s, he brought this natural material, as well as simple cotton fabrics and cheesecloth back into fashion amongst decorators. He built up a team that wasn’t exclusively made up of design company professionals, but also graphic artists and people from the world of fashion. This gave the company a different outlook. Elitis made a name for itself thanks to its bright and colourful palette that would later be transposed into a range of 60 colours of velvet.
What is special about Elitis today?
Our capacity to explore new ideas and techniques. The R&D lab is an integral part of our headquarters in Toulouse. We don’t rely on heritage, but on innovation. For example, we have recently launched a velvet fabric than can be directly glued onto walls, which gives it a very modern feel. We are also attentive to what craftsmen have to say. Thanks to them we discover all kinds of new materials and techniques that we then adapt to the decoration sector. We use both ultra-modern and age-old processes. A lot of our coverings are actually woven on backstrap looms in small workshops.
You have been faithful to Paris Design Week for many years… Can you tell us why?
In September the timing is just right. The weather is still good and purchasers from all over the world are more than happy to come to France for Paris Design Week and MAISON&OBJET. Being in the heart of Saint-Germain, in a street where Boris Vian once walked and which was home to Paris’s jazz musicians is another plus. Our clients can discover our new collections and revisit our classics at the same time, whilst fine-tuning their winter selection. They are delighted to be able to go shopping and see the latest exhibitions in Paris as well.