Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1495454
S ubzero mid-winter Paris was suddenly s u p e r - h o t i n January, thanks to the relaunch of the highly influential luxury fabrics and design show Paris Déco Off. Top global luxury fabric and wallcovering companies, with dazzling new products to introduce, were closely followed by leading American and European and British designers, architects, and artists, who feasted on these newest designs. "It's a thrill to see top designers and fabric companies after the three-year hiatus," said Gina deWitt, COO of Kneedler Fauchère in L.A., one of the hosts of the American Party in Paris, which attracted 900 guests to the grand Hotel de Ville bash this year. "The most inventive, inspiring, extravagant and luxurious products are creating a great buzz." Lavishly beaded hand-painted wallpapers, silk velvets gauffraged with luscious antiqued silver and gold, cashmere and silk velvets in rich hues, metallic threads gracing silk damasks, and multi-textured wallcoverings shot with gold leaf all enticed in the vitrines of showrooms around the historic Left Bank, where the event took place. Designers could stroll from Rubelli to Nobilis to C&C Milano to Timorous Beasties, with a stop at Elitis, Holland & Sherry, and the Loro Piana Interiors loft, then into Casamance and Schumacher, Pierre Frey, Jim Thompson studios and Cole & Son. At de Gournay, which showed exquisite, beaded wallcoverings, an especially witty gold-leafed hand-painted wallpaper with playful monkeys is bound to pop up in bars and nightclubs around the world. Luxury was celebrated with verve, colors were rich and sensual, and the glimmer and shimmer of metallic were everywhere. It was sensory heaven. It's no wonder international design legends Michael S. Smith, Ken Fulk, Gert Voorjans, Joy Moyler, Sarah Bartholomew, Sheila A Jolt of Color: Paris Déco Off PaperCity Contributing Design Editor Diane Dorrans Saeks joins the international design crowd at Paris Déco Off. Paris Design Report Timorous Beasties Chinoiserie Scenic Clarence House Kaleidoscope Trimming de Gournay Étienne Clarence House Kaleidoscope Trimming 76