As Gabriel Scott expands opportunities worldwide, the brand seizes momentum as they open their second showroom in the lush area of Mayfair, London. Less than a decade after they launched their now-iconic lighting and furniture company, curious minds want to know what inspires the two architects-turned-entrepreneurs, Gabriel Scott and Scott Richler, in their innovative design process and how their creativity continues to spark prosperous new ventures at every turn.

How did Gabriel Scott all begin?

We had been working together creating custom furniture for local customers. Although it was lucrative, the process was very labour-intensive, so in reaction to that, we wanted to create a collection based on bespoke models we had designed, but through a more standardized process. The Kelly chandelier was dramatic and sculptural and lent itself to that versatility, but only allowed for limited customization. The following year, we designed a system that allowed much more flexibility and creativity. That’s how the Welles was conceived. The Welles is the foundational piece that Gabriel Scott is known for today, it’s our signature piece.

Each collection is reminiscent of jewelry. How do you see the connection between lighting and jewelry?

Jewelry is the most natural reference for our work because lighting, like jewelry, is a statement piece; the accessory that plays off other elements, elevates a look, and really makes everything come together. From a design perspective, a lighting fixture is unlike any other element in the room. It hangs unobstructed from the ceiling, so the eye naturally goes toward the sparkle. Jewelry has always been part of our vocabulary. The Harlow, for example, is intimately tied to a timepiece making the reference so natural.

You’ve designed some spectacular pieces for several high-end, world-renown brands. What does the design process look like?

You know, the process varies depending on the brand we are collaborating with. We’ve designed many pieces for the Cartier stores all over the world, and we can really get creative because each store has different design elements that work as our frame of reference from size and shape to colour and application. Getting a chance to be creative and collaborate on the iconic windows for Bergdorf Goodman is where we can create a complete mise-en-scene and that’s a totally different experience from a design perspective.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

That’s a tricky question. The obvious reference is jewelry. But, the real answer is that although there are creative components to our design process, we work within certain parameters contained within a market. Gabriel Scott is built on a few basic premises: timeless design, built smart, good value, clever engineering, and made local. Our values and point of view is what drives our inspiration.

When you visit exhibits and fairs, how do you set yourself apart from the hundreds of other designers that show their work?

That’s a great question. In the design industry, your context is just as important as you product. We present at the Milan Design fair every year, and this year we created an entire structure prompting a voyeuristic effect for passers-by compounded by a warm and inviting space for those who chose to enter the space. Everything from openings to colour scheme was thought out and engineered to create a mood. In order to understand our lighting fixtures, you need scale and context. We fused soft materials, like rugs and curtains, with sharp brass trimming. It was very impactful and extremely immersive. Everything was set in place to lure people in and create an experience from the moment they walked by to the time they spent in our space.

The showroom in SoHo, NYC has been around for five years. What was the thought process behind opening a second showroom in Mayfair, London?

The strategy was to respond to our business coming from Europe and the Middle East. Now we are spread across two continents and that just made more sense. Our showroom in London is located between the iconic Saville Row and New Bond Street; it is prime location for our clientele.

What would be a dream project for Gabriel Scott?

Perhaps more meaningful collaborations. It would be really interesting to work with designers in fashion and art world. Creating an experience which goes beyond the product itself. We would love to immerse ourselves into something that would extend past simply the functional aspect of great design, allowing our sculptures to live as an experience.

www.gabriel-scott.com

Text: Alecs Kakon

Printemps Haussmann stores in Paris, Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, Al Badia Golf Club in Dubai, Nobu Downtown in New York, Four Seasons hotels in Las Vegas and, more recently, in Montreal: in all four corners of the world, luxury establishments are devouring her work. It must be said that in her 20-year career, Pascale Girardin has developed a unique style. Whether it be installations, works of art embedded in architecture, tableware or art objects, her signature aesthetic is immediately recognizable. She welcomed EXCLUSIVE LUXURY at her workshop in the Rosemont neighborhood.

With a welcoming and serene face, Girardin welcomes us this morning in her bright studio of 4000 square feet. Around her, her “brigade,” a team of seven ceramic artists, whose average age (which includes his son Wolfe) must be around twenty-five. “Although I offer my vision to my team while carrying out a project, unlike a chef, I remain open to suggestions. Our exchanges enrich me and allow me to evolve my practice.” Communicate, exchange, evolve. Three notions she will come back to often during our meeting and which seem to be the crux of her outlook to life as well as her profession.

Saks Fifth Avenue, New York

Moreover, after twenty-five years in her field, in full command of her artistic ability, Girardin decided one year ago to return to school to pursue a Master’s degree in visual arts at UQAM. “I needed to think about the creative process, about the relationship to material in our journey of self-discovery. Often, we are pulled in one way, but we learn that how it turns out is not always what we initially had in mind.”

To be open to discovery and to the unexpected is what Girardin quickly learned while working with clay, because it clay can be very capricious: “We must accept that material teaches us rather than trying to control it. I’m developing my skill with the total humility of a beginner, and the more I know, the less I know. But that’s what is wonderful and motivates me to continue! I always say to my customers: ‘It should work,’ but I can never be completely sure,” she explains.

Having studied biology before her formation as a visual and plastic artist, Girardin spent long hours developing the chemical formula that would allow her to obtain the color and the product she imagines. But a host of obstacles can arise in the creation of a ceramic piece: it can explode in the oven, sink, distort, split. You have to be ready to recover from these failures quickly. “In this business, we cannot cry about the past, about all the lost hours. We start again and our thoughts change,” says Girardin.

West Edmonton Mail

Reverie and Zen Buddhism

According to Zen Buddhism, when one abandons her conception of what a thing is supposed to be, she can appreciate it for what it is. This is the philosophy that Girardin has adopted full-heartedly. Rather than discarding imperfect works, she places them on a shelf in her studio and waits. “After days, weeks and even months of gestation, I’ll make new connections to the piece and one such connection finally reveals itself as the one that should be pursued.” That is how her totem series was born.

Letting go, letting her mind get lost in reverie, that is the artist’s personal mantra. Her blog is also regularly part of these “drift,” that is to say, her wandering artistic vagabond thoughts that can evolve and lead to an idea. Fascinated by scholarly works, she found echoes of her research in those of the French philosopher Gaston Bachelard, who himself was very interested in the role of reverie in creation. From an artistic point of view, she has Japanese sources of inspiration, especially ceramics from the Edo period, known for its minimalist and abstract aesthetics. The current generation, whom she is surrounded by daily in her studio—as well as the School of Visual and Media Arts at UQAM where she teaches—is also a powerful springboard for renewal.

In addition to her upcoming orders for Saks Fifth Avenue, the Las Vegas Convention Center and luxury cruise ships, Girardin is planning an exhibition for May 2020 that will combine ceramics, floor installation and video projections. The exhibit will be an opportunity for her to share the fruits of her labour, including her reflection on the link between all of these different mediums, as veritable true “communicating vessels.” An occasion not to be missed.

Nobu Downtown, New York

www.pascalegirardin.com

Text: Diane Stehle

Photos : © Stephany Hildebrand