Maison de Vacances, a family story cut from the cloth of affection

Each season, he attended the MAISON&OBJET trade fair for no other reason than to help out his mother-in-law, Michèle Fouks, founder of Maison de Vacances. He could never have begun to imagine that the September 2000 edition would send his life in a totally new direction.

He had always enjoyed assembling the stand and arranging all the cushions, throws and embroidered linen. But as he wandered up and down the aisles surrounded by nothing but beautiful things, he invariably felt like a fish out of water. Yet this particular edition had a somewhat different feel: it was the very first time his wife had actually designed the collection herself. Emmanuelle had been born into the world of fabric and fashion, with the Fouks family riding on the success of the post-war passion for off-the-peg clothing. Her mother had gone on to found Maison de Vacances in 1995, an elegant brand of decorative textiles in soft, pastel hues. Michèle Fouks was already a well-known face at the Scènes d’Intérieur trade fair, helping her new brand win the loyalty of a handful of premium stores overseas. Fashion stylist Emmanuelle sometimes stepped in for her mother at the Palais Royal gardens store. Her first stroke of genius was to come when she decided to “help out” by cutting the pieces for some cashmere cushion covers, getting slightly muddled with the pattern and cutting out all the front pieces but none of the backs. Too late, the cashmere had all been used up… Applying some lateral thinking, she decided to cut the backs out of linen instead, then proceeding to fasten the covers up with the first thing she could lay her hands on: delicate mother-of-pearl buttons. The firm’s best seller was born: the linen-backed cushion, which has since gone on to attract a huge fan base.

“The very first time I came to MAISON&OBJET, I felt like a fish out of water.”

 

Back on that day in September 2000, the small team was hard at work arranging Emmanuelle’s new designs on the 2-by-10-metre stand. Michèle had asked her daughter to set the tone for the brand new collection, and instead of the usual six pastel colours she had opted for twelve strong hues, cut from velvet, knitted fabric and notably rabbit fur alongside the traditional cashmere. All with the firm’s now-trademark linen back. Borrowing soft and sexy fabrics from the catwalks and adapting them to interior design was something that had never been done before and the products met with instant success, drawing massive crowds! Nicolas could clearly see that this was no time to abandon the stand and head off home, so he threw himself into the role of salesman. Russia? Not a problem! The USA? Of course! How many pieces for the Emirates? Michèle watched on, her heart in her mouth: how on earth were they going to honour all those orders?! Nicolas, however, seemed totally unfazed: “we’ll worry about that later!”. Feeling the ground disappear beneath her feet, Michèle decided to jump ship “It’s all too much for me. Sorry, I’m leaving you to it! See you later! Big kisses!”. For the young couple, the rest of the trade fair went by in a bit of a haze. On the very last day, Emmanuelle was approached by a lady with a rather retro-style chignon, who had travelled down to the trade fair from Brittany. “I can produce those for you in my factory”, she murmured with a smile. And that was that. Maison de Vacances has remained faithful to its French manufacturer for the past twenty years, just as it has to its supplier of linen, holding onto them like good luck charms. A good few years have now rolled by since Nicolas Mauriac resigned from his job, and thanks to Emmanuelle’s creative talent, which has resulted in today’s range of some 250 hues, they have jointly turned Maison de Vacances into a chic, cool and poetic brand retailed all around the world. The brand slogan seems self-evident: “made with love”. Today, the projects just keep on coming, with the couple now launching a range of sofas and becoming textile editeurs, too. Come what may, Nicolas knows that when MAISON&OBJET comes around again this year, he’ll be celebrating the anniversary with great delight, just as he has done every year for the past two decades.

By Caroline Tossan