Design the floral identity of a Palace
Friday 18 January —
14:00
- 14:45
The Talks
Description
As a symbol of luxury and the French way of life, flowers are needed at Palaces. While an aesthetic revival is palpable and an ecological movement is born in France, the Slow Flower, what is the reflection of the directors of hotels and florists on this subject? How can flowers modernize, attract, seduce new customers?
Nos partenaires : Mini
Participants
Marc RaffrayManaging Director - Hôtel de Crillon
Djordje VardaFloral designer
Jean-Luc CoustyDirector - Hotel Lutetia
Stéphane ChapelleFlorist Designer
Sixtine DublyFloral expert & Co-founder - La Fleur Française
Marc Raffray
Managing Director - Hôtel de Crillon
Affable, amiable, agreeable: three adjectives that define one man after just a few minutes’ conversation. He describes himself as the captain of a team that is ready and willing to do its utmost to make the Hôtel de Crillon “The Place to B”. With each new job he traveled the planet from the US to the Caribbean, from Paris to the Grande Comore, to mention just a few of his ports of call. He spent thirteen years with the Four Seasons, ten of which were at the Four Seasons George V in Paris. It just goes to show how well he knows the nomadic groups of people who frequent exceptional establishments. But the Hôtel de Crillon, managed by the Rosewood Hotels & Resorts group, has an entirely different ambition. “The new generation of travel influencers is looking mainly for simplicity, authenticity, lightness and spontaneity. They are not in the least interested in the conventional, stuck up side of many luxury hotels where everything is the same. At the Hôtel de Crillon we count on human values, and genuine, cordial relationships with our guests, suppliers and all our employees to offer the best of French hospitality, the best lifestyle from a country where it has been cultivated and maintained for centuries.” Marc Raffay was appointed managing director a few months ago. Together with architect Richard Martinet and artistic director Aline Asmar d’Amman, he supervised the end of the restoration work that not only brought that essential contemporary touch but also respected, and even embellished, the original architecture and décors.
Djordje Varda
Floral designer
This man is a paradox: a giant, built like a rugby man but with a disarming smile and sincerely kindhearted. A gem! Predestined by his parents for a career in law, Djordje became a floral designer at the age of 33. With no training. It was his wish, his pleasure and his passion; three reasons that were sufficient to propel him from his little shop in the Rue Montorgueil in Paris, to the Ritz Hotel in Paris where he added his personal touch to each space, and each event, until the hotel closed in 2012. That was a stroke of luck! Suddenly free from all commitments, Djordje took off for six weeks’ holiday on the island of Saint Barthélemy. Five years later he is still here. It was love at first sight for this dry rock where the wind uproots the plants rather than keeping them in, so he threw away his return ticket and settled here with his wife and children. Djordje Varda’s reputation has crossed oceans, right up to the Caribbean Islands. Winning the Prix Villégiature for the best hotel floral decoration in Europe (the Paris Ritz no less) two years running certainly helped, but it was more than just that. Some of the clients he worked alongside at the time in the five-star hotel are also regulars in the most stylish island in the French West Indies and were delighted to meet up again with the self-proclaimed “creator of emotions and sensations, using flowers instead of words to send messages, and spread happiness.” These people in their turn commissioned him to design the décor for their important life events. Word of mouth sent his name all over the world. Djordje, the wandering artist, now crosses borders constantly to embellish people’s daily lives, always returning to his own island shores. “For years I have been working with a solid team of women whom I first took on for apprenticeships and who have stayed with me. It’s as if we were a kind of benevolent sect. This includes my assistants, Jessica Durigon and Louise Pineau. With their help I can work on projects as far apart as Dubai and Moscow, Hong Kong or London. And when the Hôtel de Crillon asked me to do their flower decorations, I jumped at the chance. After designing the project from start to finish, I appointed Jessica to lead the hotel team. Showcasing French floral art, creating a link with the courtyards landscaped by Louis Benech, is a great honor. I have huge admiration for this true professional whom I met by chance at the Hôtel de Crillon. I was visiting the courtyards when suddenly a stentorian voice asked, “Young man, what are you doing here? Who are you?” It was Louis Benech who was working there. As gardening and flower enthusiasts, we got on well immediately.” Once the Rosewood Hotels & Resorts managing team had accepted his project, Djordje worked to create not only a collection of exclusive vases but also a unique rose that will bear the Hôtel de Crillon name. And from his suppliers he reserved some rare orchids in specific colors. To create a universe just for the luxury hotel on the Place de La Concorde. A chic, yet offbeat atmosphere. Parisian, in other words! His working motto was this sentence by Georgia O’Keeffe, one of the major modernist American painters of the 20th century: “When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else.” So it comes as no surprise that Pipa Middletown chose him as artistic director to create the magical atmosphere of her wedding ceremony.
Jean-Luc Cousty
Director - Hotel Lutetia
Passionate by hospitality projects and with a strong academic background in the hotel industry, Jean-Luc Cousty has specialised in administration and business management for luxury projects. In 1990, he becomes the Financial and Administrative Director of the Lutetia. In 2008 he is its General Director. Four years later, he is in charge of its restauration and as the Lutetia is closed from 2014 until 2018 for its restauration, Jean-Luc Cousty manages in the meantime the hotel of Biarritz Palace. Faithful to the Lutetia, he is today its General Director as it has just reopened.
Stéphane Chapelle
Florist Designer
Stéphane Chapelle in a few dates January 21, 1998: Creation and opening of the boutique, a geographical choice, an international address: the Louvre, the Royal Palace, the Place Vendôme, the Palais Garnier... December 1998: Chanel entrusts the flowering of Mademoiselle's very confidential apartment to Stéphane Chapelle's house. 1999: Beginning of a long collaboration with the Concorde group. The confidence of hotels; Saint-Lazare, Ambassador, Lutetia, Crillon, Louvre, Grand Vefour; has placed the Stéphane Chapelle house as a major player in Parisian settings. Hyatt, Meridien, Hilton, Marriott and other independent hotels are then called upon. 2001: Stéphane Chapelle becomes the consultant of the Japanese group Miyuki, of this collaboration the Omio house is born in the heart of the Royal village. Concept store on the crossroads of East and West. Creation of vases and selection of plants as well as advice on commercial strategy. 2003: The Stéphane Chapelle house expands and triples the shop area. 2004: L'Oréal asks Stéphane Chapelle to stage the new conference centre in Aulnay-sous-Bois, which will green all the centre's outbuildings with a selection of vases and objects made by Stéphane Chapelle. L'Oréal quickly became a regular customer and subsequently entrusted the head office of Clichy 2006, the centre of Asnières 2006, the Capi and Rio de Saint Ouen 2015 and L'Oréal Luxe Levallois 2017 centres. 2008: Animation of a flower bar on the occasion of Women's Day for Chanel in Moscow. 2010: Creation of a design office to prepare event files, 2012: Meeting with Lasso the Moon Society, wedding organizer in Miami. She entrusted the flowering of the castle of Vaux le Vicomte to the marriage of American clients. The Maison Stéphane Chapelle later became a reference and was regularly entrusted with large-scale weddings. 2014: Vegetal design of the royal races of Ascot UK. 2015: Reception at the United States Embassy in the presence of Barack Obama, 20 tables and lounges are decorated with flowers on this occasion. 2016 : After 8 years of collaboration with the PAD Paris, Stéphane Chapelle was entrusted with the London PAD. Rental of a second workshop in the province of 600 square meters for the preparation of ever larger events. Wedding at the Chantilly estate for 600 people, concept and scenography. Vegetation of the facade of the Hôtel Particulier de Montmartre at the request of Nina Ricci for the launch of the perfumes Nina and LunaAnd in 2017: Lasso the Moon takes the Stéphane Chapelle house to Mallorca for an American wedding; Saint Louis asks for the creation of a Vosges forest for the launch of the new Folia collection; Vegetal design for Mr Arnault's family lunches and dinners at the Domaine National de Versailles; Floral decoration in the Hercules lounge for the meeting of Presidents Macron and Putin; Scenography and floral design for the opening dinner of the climate summit at the Grand Palais...
Sixtine Dubly
Floral expert & Co-founder - La Fleur Française
Sixtine Dubly is a floral expert. For Artcurial, she created the “Epiphyte” exhibition in September 2018. She co-founded the Le Collectif de la Fleur Française association in 2017. Her book, “La tentation des fleurs” (“The temptation of flowers”) was published by Assouline in 2016. She also has been collaborating with Paris Match since 2010.