Text by Lindsay Wolf*

Inspired by the arm candy that Spartacus sported back in the day, the leather cuff is making a sexy, sophisticated comeback thanks to Owen & Savary, an independent leather accessories brand based in Paris and London.

Painters with a passion for perfect accessories, Kira Owen and Valerie Savary started the company together back in late 2008. “We’re both very much inspired by our travels,” says Owen. “We love to discover new lands, new customs, new people.” This may explain the designers love for exotic animal skins, but why the cuff?

A classic accessory for centuries, the challenge was to create an original, versatile design that leaps off the wrist while blending in with any wardrobe.

“The cuff has been around since the age of gladiators,” Owen explains. With their adjustable clasps, luxurious materials, trademark royal blue linings and artisanal fabrication, Owen and Savary have succeeded in giving the simple strap a thoroughly modern makeover.

Designed to spruce up your jeans by day while adding a kick to your evening attire, they blend with just about anything. Whether you’re wearing the classic Julia (narrower), the Salome (wider), or the Maximilien (for men), the cuff gently molds to your wrist without feeling restrictive thanks to its impeccable design and artisanal fabrication.

Each cuff is made in an atelier in Besançon where leather craftsmen build each piece to order out of an unusual range of colorful exotic skins, from metallic copper lambskin and camel ostrich to midnight blue stingray

The cuff’s genius lies in the clasp’s adjustability. Outfitted with a magnetic center, it’s a cinch to slip on and off. The original design is made from a laser machine to create the sharply cut look of the edges. While this process is more expensive than using a mold, the self-proclaimed perfectionists wouldn’t have it any other way.

In addition to their ready-to-wear collection that can be found at JNSQ and Galerie Kara in Paris, you can order a bespoke cuff by contacting the designers directly through their site. From there, they will work with you to configure the perfect piece to suit your style. The moment the order is submitted, it takes about 3 weeks to produce and receive your cuff.

What’s on the cusp of the cuff? Owen and Savary are busy working on a small series of handbags, chokers, ankle cuffs, key chains and watches.

Prices: 200-1200EUR, depending on choice of material.

Guest writer Lindsay Wolf divides her time between NYC and Paris. For commissions, feel free to contact her at lindsayawolf@gmail.com

Photos by Fabrice Fortin for Paris By Appointment Only™

You’d think that gorgeous paper goods would be extinct by now. But one of the amazing side effects of our plugged-in lifestyle is a renewed craving for objects that are pleasantly tactile and reassuringly permanent.

No better sign o’ the times is the rising success of Intaglio, an independent printing press based in Paris.

A couture paper company with the friendly appeal of a neighborhood candy store, Intaglio (which means ‘engraving’ in Italian) is owned by Stephan Le Sauter and his wife, Anne. Together the affable duo has turned the rare art of foil stamping (an inkless printing process that permanently presses pigment into paper using weight and heat) into stationery so sophisticated and stylish you wonder how you’ve ever lived without it!

“Our designs are really influenced by the technique,” says Stephan, who learned the tricks of the trade while working at a printing press in San Francisco after college. “My roommate got me a job taking care of the paper stock. After a couple of months I was doing my job in three hours. The rest of my time I spent learning how to engrave,” explains Stephan, who returned to Paris after three years in California to round out his education with three French master craftsmen.

Unlike his tutors, Meilleurs Ouvriers de France committed to perpetuating classic French graphics, Stephan decided to combine age-old techniques with modern typography for a twist on tradition.

“An attractive letter, printed on 100% cotton paper by foil stamping is really one of the most beautiful things. It’s small, but its impact is huge.”

Instead of classical curlicues and frou frou detailing, he proposed chic, understated fonts and designs on luxurious, impeccably printed paper. From the second he placed his inaugural card (his son’s birth announcement) in his shop window in 1996, he realized he had tapped into something. “One mother came in, then another,” remembers Stephan. “And I realized that I could do it the old-fashioned way and become a printer for everybody’s needs.”

His flagship, offices and printing press now take up an entire street in the quiet corner of Paris’ 17th arrondissment where he and his family live. While a second shop, located near the Luxembourg gardens in the space that APC used to occupy, opened last fall.

From wedding invites and birth announcements to business cards and thank you notes, every Intaglio design is made-to-measure. After you choose your typeface, layout, paper stock, and letter pigment, a magnesium foil stamp die (carved metal plate) is made with your design. The plate is then hand finished and placed in an original Heidleberger machine where it seizes, heats and depresses pigment, producing a permanent de-bossed lettering without the use of any ink. If you’d like an embossed detail added, Intaglio has a battalion of hand-engraved stamps to choose from, too.

In addition to their custom products, Intaglio also sells ready-to-wear collections of artisanal cards, notebooks and paper towers at both of their Paris locations. But be warned: one visit to their shop and every other paper thereafter will pail in comparison.

That’s why my order’s on its way.

Intaglio: 3 rue de Fleurus, 75006 and 91 rue Lemercier, 75017
Prices: Greeting Cards (€3/piece), Business Cards (€150 for 100), Birth Announcements (€300 for 100 w/envelops) Wedding Invites (starting at €5/piece)

Photos by Fabrice Fortin and Nicholas Calcott for Paris By Appointment Only™

It’s funny how a deep childhood frustration can become a creative manifesto later in life. Case in point: Maïa, the Paris-based porcelain painter. As a kid, she tried every night to decorate the table with her family’s finest, only to be told to return it to the cupboard for the everyday stuff.

Now, not only does Maïa set the table with beautiful, eye-popping designs whenever she likes, she’s made it her business to make sure that others do too!

“It’s a democratic way of bringing art into the home and a touch of fantasy to the table,” says the first-name-only artist who found a way to bridge the dishware divide between fabulous and functional by fusing the two in one.

Maïa started ten years ago with a teacup, and now hand paints everything from jars and dishes to bowls, vases and tea sets on porcelain made by one of the last remaining artisanal factories in Limoges, France.

Each made-to-measure creation is the result of a two-hour coffee klatch between artist and customer. “I need muses to create, and my clients are my muses,” says Maïa who meets her word-of-mouth clientele at her beautiful, porcelain-packed flat to find out about their preferred shapes, colors, pastimes, and even vacation destinations before crafting an original design

She not only creates entire services, but one-off compliments to your heirloom China as well. So if you have a vintage series that needs a modern centerpiece or an antique set that’s missing a few pieces, she can match everything from Puiforcat to Fornasetti.

Once you’ve agreed on your color, shape and motif, Maia then makes a sample free of charge (with no obligation to buy). If you give the okay, she returns to her atelier to seal colors in place in an 1200° C oven, then numbers and signs the designs with a fingerprint.

In addition to painting porcelain, Maïa is also a classical pianist (she’s giving a free, private concert on Nov 15 in Paris, and you’re invited to come, by the way). Unlike her musical performances, which are beautiful, but fleeting, porcelain allows Maïa to express her creativity in a much more tangible way.

It’s not hard to spot a melody in her artwork as well.  Inspired by the paintings of Vuillard, Miró and Chagall, Maia uses colors and shapes to create a timeless visual rhythm. Expressive yet classical, fluid yet structured, it’s all about complementing contrasts for Maïa, be it on piano or porcelain.

……………

Prices: Vases (60-300€), Tea Sets (75-120€), Plates (18-50€), Candy Dishes (98€)
Contact: maiaworlds@gmail.com or tel: + 33 6 60 70 18 18
Shop: A selection of Maïa’s designs can be found at Galeries Lafayette Maison (Paris) and Nest Interiors (New York)

When Oprah got snubbed by Hermès a few years ago she should have immediately rung Chanel. Not Chanel, as in Coco Chanel, but Guy Chanel (yes, you heard me right).

Guy Chanel is a lone ranger on the high plains of fashion and home accessories. Working alone out of his atelier on the outskirts of Paris, he handcrafts a variety of one-of-a-kind designs using leather, crocodile, ostrich and other fine skins.

From saddles, handbags and wallets to belts, briefcases and even lamps, every Chanel creation is made-to-measure and constructed by hand using artisanal tools and techniques (ask him to show you the giant wooden tweezer he uses to hold small things in place when he sews).

By keeping production slow and steady, his solo operation turns out discreet, logo-less products of unparalleled quality and detail that are built to last several lifetimes.

Before launching out on his own in 1989, Chanel (whose name has no connection to the fashion brand) worked for fifteen years as a saddle maker for Hermès. At the time, everything in the company was made in the atelier above their flagship shop (now only saddles are made there, the rest is done in Pantin). So, when saddles orders were slow, Chanel would jump to bags and belts or any other small accessory that needed expert attention.

When he struck out on his own, this polyvalence set him apart from his peers and helped attract a diverse crowd of fine leather fans, from collectors, interior designers, and fashion stylists, to equestrians and even Michelin-starred chefs.

Unlike most artisans, Chanel caught the craftsman bug not through his family, but via a childhood passion for horses.

“I started riding when I was seven and rode competitively until I was twenty-five. Professionally, I wanted to do something linked to horses. I couldn’t be a jockey, because I was too tall. Veterinary, no, because I wasn’t good enough in school, so, I wound up making saddles.”

While saddles comprise only a quarter of his output today, they remain the heart and soul of his business and have earned him international recognition amongst the equestrian set. Riders from across the world, as well as aficionados that collect them as sculptures, swear by Chanel saddles for their show-stopping blend of comfort, beauty and performance.

“My clients have pretty classical tastes, so they’re more likely to play with color and materials than the design of the object.”

When you can build a saddle from scratch, a watchband may seem like child’s play, but Chanel pours equal attention into every one of his designs. Chanel admits that it takes the same amount of time for him to make a bag as a saddle (forty hours) while wallets belts and cardholders take a tenth of that.

In addition to made-to-measure designs, Chanel can also personalize, refurbish or repair. So if you’ve got a vintage accessory (Birkin or otherwise) that needs fixing up or some expert TLC, Chanel can give it a new lease on life.

…………..

Prices vary depending on complexity of design and materials: handbags (1500-50,000 €); saddles (2800-25,000 €); wallets, card holders, change purses, belts (200-3000€).
Delivery: Count four-eight weeks.
Appointments: Contact me to be put in touch with Guy Chanel.

The last place you’d expect to find a master milliner is on a small Parisian street best known for its delicious udon noodles and bento box lunches. But authentic Japanese cuisine is just as rare as handmade hats in Paris, so their co-habitation on the rue Sainte Anne is not so odd after all.

Up a winding set of stairs behind a cobblestone courtyard is the discreet home of the renowned Maison Michel where for a price not more than some designer jeans, you could own a timeless, one-of-a-kind accessory that is guaranteed to turn heads.

Striking in its small, cozy configuration, the multi-room showroom and atelier hums with the sounds of straw weaving machines, seamstresses chattering, the shuffling of hand-written orders and the hissing of heaters baking fabric atop wooden hat molds.

Occupying the same space since its inception in 1936, Maison Michel was rescued from oblivion by Chanel’s Paraffection division in 1996 on their mission to save the heritage of struggling haute couture ateliers

Maison Michel is one of seven such ateliers d’art that now functions independently under the Chanel umbrella, supplying to their Mother Company as well as competing couture brands and independent clients in effort to keeps their skills impeccable honed. It is also listed as an Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant (Living Heritage Company) along with Bijoux Commelin and hundreds of other French companies recognized for perpetuating traditional artisanal crafts.

Maison Michel’s private clients run the gamut from dandy to diva, and include men on a mission for made-to-measure fedoras, women plotting their flamboyant headgear for a day at the races and soon-to-be-brides looking for an original accoutrement to their wedding wardrobe.

After consulting at length with the brand’s art director, Ludovic Kornetsky, a design is crafted to order and then fabricated by hand on the premises. Count three weeks to two months for delivery and approx 300€ to 3,000€ per hat according to the complexity and material of the design.

Maison Michel Timeline

1936: Hatmaker Auguste Michel founds his company on rue Saint Anne in Paris
1975: After taking over the company with his wife, Claudine, Pierre Debard stocks the studio with refurbished Weissmanns, old straw sewing machine that allow for the creation of large, invisibly-stitched hats. These sizable, wide-brimmed hats catch the attention of designers such as Pierre Cardin and Yves Saint Laurent.
1980: Maison Michel starts making hats for couture and ready-to-wear fashion houses such as Chanel, Givenchy, Nina Ricci, Guy Laroche, Lanvin and Christian Lacroix.
1996: Chanel takes over Maison Michel
2006: The first Maison Michel Paris ready-to-wear collection designed by Laetitia Crahay, head of accessories and jewelry at Chanel, is launched worldwide.

Maison Michel Glossary

Bob (Sailor’s hat)—Small Breton hat generally made of fabric with an upturned brim.
Canotier (Boater)—Flat-topped straw hat with a narrow brim.
Capeline (Wide-brimmed)—Lady’s hat with a wide, flexible rim usually made of straw or horsehair.
Cloche (Cloche)—Hat with flared brim (e.g. pink hat above left)
Feutre (Felt)—Non-woven, waterproof fabric produced by matting and pressing hairs or wool (Maison Michel sometimes uses rabbit hair).
Forme (Block)—Full limewood mold in which hats are shaped (Maison Michel has more than 3,000).
La Couseuse (Seamstress)—While particularly cherished for thier fine craftsmanship of large, wide-brimmed, sewn straw hats, seamstresses also make “cut and sewn” hats such as sailor’s hats, caps and other cloche hats using patterns.
La Modiste (Milliner)—Working from an illustration, the milliner is in charge of designing the hat prototype using fabrics such as wool, cotton, silk and sometimes even leather. The milliner is also responsible for the hat finishings and trims.
Le Chapelier (Hatmaker)—Craftsman who shapes felt or straw, passes it through a steam box to moisten fabric, then stretches it on a limewood block before baking it in an oven to set exact shape.
Panama (Panama)—Men’s summer hat (though super chic on women) in very fine, soft, light straw plaited from thin strips cut from the leaves of a palm.
Weissmann—Rare, straw sewing machine capable of making large, invisible stitched hats.

……………

Price: 300€ to 3,000€ per hat according to the complexity and material of the design.
Timeframe: Count three weeks to two months for delivery.
Appointment: You may contact me to help schedule an appointment
Inside tip: If you can’t afford made-to-measure, opt for the house’s ready-to-wear collection which is distributed worldwide and fabricated using the brand’s famed artisanal techniques.

All images courtesy of Maison Michel