Styles
24 March 2023
The Café Society, a cosmopolitan and exclusive circle of aristocrats, couturiers, poets, industrialists, journalists and musicians of the early 20th century, is making a come-back in contemporary creation. At a time when insouciance was in full swing, this privileged circle used to meet in fashionable bars, cafés and restaurants, showcasing the artists and designers of the time, giving rise to a cheerful and sophisticated, baroque and refined art of life.
This worldly eclecticism can be found today in the interiors and creations of contemporary architects and designers who go back in time and make use of the baroque, frivolous and fanciful aesthetics of the Belle Epoque and the Roaring Twenties. A journey through the elegance and extravagance of the Café Society.
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Peak
1920
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Style
ART DECO
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Transport
ORIENT EXPRESS
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Successor
JET SET
THE REVIVAL OF CAFÉ SOCIETY BY STUDIO AKADEMOS
Studio Akademos (Akademos, as the name of the art magazine created by the Parisian aristocrat Jacques d’Adelswärd-Fersen), draws its graceful aesthetic from the sophisticated, worldly codes of the 1920s and 1970s. Aurélien Raymond and Costanza Ross, its founders, use reflective materials and high-gloss finishes to underline the baroque-refined aesthetic of these two eras.
Cigar boxes, liquor cabinets, ladies’ desks… Made from sensual and luxurious materials, their pieces are an ode to glitz & glam, to partying and nightlife. Each one is named after a high-bourgeois character: Elsa Schiaparelli, Gloria Von Thurn, Barbara Hutton, Ira Von Fürstenberg, Scott Fitzgerald. Rendez-vous rue de Levis and rue de Maubeuge for a fantasised return to Café Society.
SHOP ON LEBONCOIN
THE RETURN OF THE ORIENT EXPRESS
With artist-decorators such as René Prou, René Lalique and Christofle, the Orient-Express style reached its peak in the 1920s. A century later, it was voluptuously reborn with the « Dolce Vita » by Dimore Studio and the future Orient Express by Maxime d’Angeac. These real « rolling palaces » bring together the most beautiful materials (elm burr, mahogany, velvet, silk, bevelled mirror, crystal) with a search for ease and extravagance that brings us back into an era: the 1920s.
CONFIDENTIAL ADDRESSES TO GO BACK IN TIME
Le Froufrou (Alexis Mabille) and Le Silencio (by David Lynch) in Paris, the new Beefbar in Milan (Humbert&Poyet), The Ned NoMad in New York… The draw to sophistication and Fitzgeraldian decor continues in the fashionable addresses of the great capitals, those which once made the reputation of high society. These exclusive addresses cultivate an ultra-confidential and private image, just like the gilded decors that the upper class used to frequent.
Sketch London, one of London’s most unusual venues, has been given a makeover by designer India Mahdavi and artist Yinka Shonibare. Together, the two creatives have designed The Gallery restaurant space using the theatrical codes of Art Deco with a Modern Magic touch. An aesthete’s address to share a banquette with the best of the London art scene.
Scénographie India Mahdavi, The Gallery at Sketch, Londres, 2022
THE ROARING TWENTIES IN FASHION
Fashion designers celebrate the festive and fascinating nightwear of the Roaring Twenties. Dior in particular. Last January, Maria Grazia Chiuri paid a vibrant tribute to Joséfine Baker, an emblematic figure of the Roaring Twenties. Silk, embroidery, velvet, crumpled effects, fringes and sequins recalled the elegant and extravagant dresses and stage outfits that Christian Dior created for his friend.
