ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST ` 200 DECEMBER 2019

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HOMES IN THE WORLD INDIA

 pg 141

CONTENTS
DECEMBER 2019

32 EDITOR’S LETTER
34 CONTRIBU TOR S

43 AD DESIGN SHOW Scenes from

the floor at the second edition of AD’s
luxury art and design fair.

DIS C OVERIES
63 ’TIS THE SEASON Florist Nazneen
Jehangir collaborates with embroiderer
Maximiliano Modesti to create a
Christmas wreath for AD.
70 PAPER ROU TE Celebrated fashion
designer Payal Singhal unveils her debut
wallpaper collection, created in
collaboration with Marshalls.

ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST ` 200 DECEMBER 2019

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HOMES IN THE WORLD INDIA ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST ` 200 DECEMBER 2019
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HOMES IN THE WORLD INDIA

ON THE COVER
(Left) At the entrance to Jean-François Lesage’s cabinet of
curiosities at the AD Design Show 2019, a Gérard Garouste
artwork—gifted to Lesage, who had it embroidered—set the
tone for the treasure trove inside. (Right) The embroidered
prototype of The Eye of PY by Pierre Yovanovitch, hangs
atop Herve Van der Straeten’s origami console, in The Cosmic
Room. (‘Le Cabinet de Curiosités’, pg 141)
Photographer: Talib Chitalwala
Production: Bindiya Chhabria
TALIB CHITALWALA
 contents 72 KING CARLOS Style connoisseur Carlos
Mota’s latest book, Beige Is Not a Color, doubles up
as an ode to his life-long affair with tints and shades
of colours.
74 TOO GOOD Faye Toogood joins forces with
Milan-based rugmakers cc-tapis to transform some
of her freewheeling doodles into stunning rugs.
76 A NNABELLE IS COMING Women architects
and designers from around the world gather in
Mumbai this January for a party, and also the
Women in Design 2020+ conference.
80 SEEING RED Rouge Hermès, the second chapter
of a touring exhibition explores the French fashion
house’s undeniable love for the colour red.
82 CR AFT & CONCRETE Designed by Rudy
Ricciotti, Le 19M is a new structure built by Chanel
for the artisans it collaborates with.
84 OH, FER NA NDO Fernando Mastrangelo
takes inspiration from Audemars Piguet’s
headquarters in Switzerland to craft the brand’s
VIP salon at Art Basel.
86 TRENDSPOTTING Our carefully curated
selection of products are all the inspiration you
need this season.
94 GREEN WITH EN VY AD presents a curated
selection of design objects, each of which can make
the perfect gift for any aesthete—even yourself.
122 CHRISTMAS TIME These watches aren’t your
usual stocking fillers. They’re the most stylish
accessories you’ll find this season.
128 WUNDERK A MMER AD takes a look at
Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s new flagship jewellery store
in Mumbai, brimming with wondrous curios.

pg 128
ASHISH SAHI
 contents
141 LE CABINET DE CURIOSITÉS It was a
rousing success at the AD Design Show 2019—a
highlight for everyone in attendance. But a lot more
went into creating Jean-François Lesage’s Le
Cabinet de Curiosités than meets the eye. From the
foundational scenography by Niels Schoenfelder to
the masterful embroidery used to decorate the walls
and the curation of personal objects that dot the
space, AD takes a closer look at this incredible
cabinet of curiosities.
170 IN CON VER SATION In a freewheeling
conversation, Jean-François Lesage and Niels
Schoenfelder trace the concept and creation of
Le Cabinet de Curiosités.
176 OBJETS D’ART AD profiles the contemporary
designers and the objects they presented at Le
Cabinet de Curiosités.
pg 141
186 ON THE FLOOR A behind-the-scenes look
at the making of Le Cabinet de Curiosités’
embroidered panels at Vastrakala, Jean-François
Lesage’s atelier.
192 DESIGN TALK A night that brought together
the works of German designer Andreas Diefenbach
along with Avani Rai’s debut photo series for AD.
196 SCOUTS A round-up of some of the best
products that you need to own this season.
206 STOCKISTS An A-Z listing of the stores in
our pages.
208 THE MOOD Sharan Parekh, of Mumbai fabric
house Splendour, shares a mood board filled
with objects that inspire him and reflect his
personal tastes.
TALIB CHITALWALA
BEAUTY WILL
SAVE THE
WORLD
A

PHOTO: R BURMAN.
cabinet of curiosities is not
a piece of furniture. I was
alarmed I had to explain
this to someone at the beginning
of this year, as we planned building
the series of wondrous rooms that would be the highlight of the AD Design
Show and the subject of this issue. Fortunately, the AD team knew what I
meant, immediately working on mood boards of mirrored infinity rooms, wabi-
sabi courtyards and secret doorways. When I travelled to Chennai to ask the
master embroiderer Jean-François Lesage to curate the space for us, one of his
first questions was, “Can we have wild animals?” Oh, he understood perfectly.
It’s a curious thing that one of the world’s most important names in
fashion and interiors lives discreetly on a sleepy aristocratic estate between
Chennai and Pondicherry. Here, between a slick stitching operation in an
aircraft-sized hangar and a small, ultra-exclusive atelier within his home’s
grounds, one can glimpse flashes of next season’s Paris couture shows, and
acres of curtains commissioned by leading interior designers for the type of
‘important’ houses that make it onto AD covers. Between his métier and his
eye, JFL made the perfect curator for AD’s most ambitious project to date.
It quickly became a family affair. JFL’s business partner in the Vastrakala
embroidery house, Malavika Shivakumar, was crucial in making it all
happen. And her husband, the AD100 architect Niels Schoenfelder
of Mancini Enterprises, came onboard to create sharp, world-class
scenography. Le Cabinet was nothing if not a lesson in collaboration.
Our contemporary take on the sixteenth-century tradition for cabinets of
curiosities replaced skulls, rocks and crystals with a mix of Indian antiques,
objects from JFL’s personal home, and the most exciting global design now.
It’s best explained by JFL himself, in the charming handwritten notes he
made as we corresponded across India, and in Niels’s precise architectural
drawings—all of which we’ve compiled within a detailed diary of the project.
What an adventure. Pure folly, maybe. But Le Cabinet de Curiosités,
curated by Jean-François Lesage, reminds us that, perhaps, form need
not follow function. Perhaps, beauty will save the world. Enjoy the issue.
 contributors

NIELS SCHOENFELDER
architect
The German architect and co-founder of Mancini
Enterprises, based in Chennai, collaborated with
Jean-François Lesage on ‘Le Cabinet De Curiosités’
(pg 141). “It is rare that we are asked to take a light-
hearted subject seriously; the sprezzatura required
triggered great teamwork!”

M A L AV I K A S H I VA K U M A R
entrepreneur
The co-founder of Chennai-based embroidery atelier
Vastrakala, Shivakumar played a key role in realizing
Jean-François Lesage and Niels Schoenfelder’s vision
for ‘Le Cabinet De Curiosités’ (pg 141). “Vastrakala,
Mancini and AD—a fantastic ménage à trois, draped
in embroidery!”

RICARDO LABOUGLE
BJÖRN WALLANDER

JEAN-
FR ANÇOIS
L E SAG E
embroiderer
When the master
embroiderer came on board B I N D I YA
to create ‘Le Cabinet De CHHABRIA
Curiositiés’ (pg 141) at the AD producer
Design Show, we knew it was A frequent collaborator with AD,
going to be one of the most Chhabria headed the production
special projects AD has ever for ‘Le Cabinet De Curiosités’
been part of. “What a great (pg 141). “The purpose of life is to
sharing experience! Greg, live it at the fullest .... to taste
Samir, Bindiya have experience to the utmost, to reach
ASHISH SAHI

wonderfully managed to give out eagerly and without fear for

life to a vision Niels and newer and richer experiences. The
I had in mind.” Cabinet of Curiosities was one of
those experiences.”
ASHISH SAHI

S A M I R WA D E K A R
stylist
AD’s stylist was involved in the making of ‘Le Cabinet
De Curiositiés’ (pg 141) right from the get-go. “It is
incredible to see what human minds and hands can G A U R I K E L K A R
writer
create in an extremely short time. Observing the art of
Kelkar discovered the cabinet’s ‘Objets d’Art’ (pg 176) and moderated
embroidery is one of the best things
the chat between Lesage and Schoenfelder (pg 170). “Listening to
I have experienced.”
them was a bit like being a fly on the wall witnessing a conversation
between friends. It was fabulous to be witness to the process.”

34| ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST|DECEMBER 2019

 contributors
MAXIMILANO
MODESTI
embroiderer
The mastermind of our
embroidered Craftsmanship
issue, Modesti once again
worked with AD on our
Christmas wreath (pg 63). “To
create ornamental flowers for
Nazneen’s passionately-
crafted wreath, raffia was
transformed into delicately
pleated works of art, with
subtle embellishments of
goose feathers, crystals and
beads. All this, coupled with a

ATHUL PRASAD
sensuous touch of Indian
spices, made it an exciting
Christmas precursor.”

RISHNA NAZNEEN
SHAH JEHANGIR
writer floral couturier
Our resident Watch Editor To celebrate
may be based in New York, Christmas, Jehangir
but chances are you’ll find along with Modesti,
her in Switzerland, critiquing crafted a special
some of the most famous wreath for AD (pg 63).
timepieces of the moment. “India, like Christmas, is
Her childhood in Antwerp, all about food and
Europe’s diamond city, fragrance. So I took a
definitely helped groom her traditional wreath but
for the role, as she brings us filled it with fragrant
the season’s best in Indian spices; a curry

SARANG GUPTA
‘Christmas Time’ (pg 122). wreath so to speak!”

TA LI B
C H I T A LWA L A
photographer
“I started as the photo
assistant at AD and it is now
quite thrilling to have
photographed the cover!”
says Chitalwala as he spent
time at the AD Design Show
shooting ‘Le Cabinet De
Curiosités’ (pg 141). “Each
room had a unique
inspiration and story
behind it.”

G E N E S I A A LV E S
writer
Genesia Alves writes about food, travel, women, children and
the city she lives in, Mumbai. In this issue, she writes about
Women in Design 2020+, a conference by architects Brinda
Somaya and Nandini Sampat (pg 76). “Brinda has been an
advocate for women at work on every rung of the ladder. Her
daughter Nandini has joined her ranks. Together, they’re as
inspiring as the conference promises to be.”

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 contributors

S H A R A N PA R E K H
entrepreneur
The director of furnishings brand
Splendour, which came on board for Le
Cabinet De Curiosités, Parekh has a keen
interest in design entrepreneurship and
shared a mood board in ‘The Mood’
(pg 208). “Working with the AD team is
always amazing. I was super happy with JIGNESH
how the project turned out. It’s always a J H AV E R I
pleasure to see our materials applied and photographer
executed beautifully.” The Mumbai-based
image-maker shot AD’s
gifting guide, ‘Green With
Envy’ (pg 94). “The
still-life shoot was great
to work on, as each
object could be shot
individually and lit from

SARANG GUPTA
the best possible angles;
a welcome break from
richly detailed
composites and sets.”

NEVILLE SUKHIA
photographer
The Mumbai-based photographer headed to Vastrakala,
the Chennai atelier of Jean-François Lesage, to capture ROSHNI BAJAJ
the making of the embroideries seen at Le Cabinet De SA N G H V I
Curiosités in ‘On The Floor’ (pg 190), as well as writer
photograph the brilliant artists behind it. “I had a A graduate of the International
fabulous time photographing these inspiring people and Culinary Centre in NYC, Sanghvi
their space.” lives in Mumbai and writes about
food and travel. “Sabyasachi’s
jewellery and his newly-opened
store (pg 128) in Mumbai is a deep
dive into India’s karigari. It’s a
showcase of the styles of
craftsmanship in our country, and
of how richly talented our
traditional jewellery setters are.”

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THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HOMES IN THE WORLD INDIA

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