By Emma Bird
With innovative projects that seamlessly blend the modern with the traditional, Milanese architect turned interior designer Fabrizio Casiraghi is in high demand. He is based in Paris, where he initially worked for architects Dominique Perrault — designers of the François Mitterrand Library — redeveloping an apartment by Gustave Eiffel in the 10th arrondissement.
He then turned to interiors, where he has overturned the usual codes, mixing up exotic, industrial and tactile elements. The renowned Hotel La Ponche in St Tropez is just one hotel that’s been given the Casiraghi touch and to preserve its spirit, the designer envisioned a fictional character to guide the renovations. He imagined a Parisian man in his forties who had inherited his grandmother’s house, and made the updates accordingly. Details include a black and white marble floor, textiles by Loro Piana and lithographs by Picasso.
Elsewhere, Casiraghi’s portfolio includes hotels and restaurants in London, Paris, Miami, Mykonos and Verbier, as well as windows and retail spaces for Kenzo, Lemaire and Cire Trudon. He also designs apartments and homes for private clients all over the world. A common theme runs throughout his projects; a modern feeling that sits with the nostalgia of historical spaces.
Casiraghi is longtime friends with Bastien Daguzan, ex-Jacquemus CEO now at the Los Angeles label Fear of God, and his husband Nicolas Gabrillargues, a former head of marketing and merchandising at Louis Vuitton. When the couple fell in love with an apartment in a 17th-century mansion in the Marais (main picture, top) directly opposite the Seine, they involved Casiraghi from the beginning.
Apart from the seven floor-to-ceiling windows, no other original features remained, allowing the couple to interpret the space as they wished. Initially they were tempted to respect traditional Parisian style, but Casiraghi disagreed.
“It’s the first project we made together completely from scratch since he got to know us so well,” explains Gabrillargues. “He came with many different ideas and pushed us to do something more crazy than we thought.”
The result is a bright and airy central living, kitchen and dining space, reflecting the couple’s love of entertaining, that leads to a secluded private terrace. The windows are set off with three 4m-high custom-made matt metal wall panels, the finish of which is a nod to Bastien’s past at Paco Rabanne. Coco Chanel famously called the latter a “metallurgist not a couturier” because of his love of using post-war industrial materials on his catwalk designs.
“The panels were quite expensive and a big part of our budget,” says Daguzan. “But Casiraghi said, ‘You choose everything else you want, but we keep them.’ I think he was right because it brings a bit of modernity into the flat with the more old-style decoration, which we love.”
While Daguzan likes neutrals and geometric fabrics, Gabrillargues, who has a background at Hermès, prefers mixing colours. White walls and a beige sofa are offset by pieces that have been specially chosen for the space, including colourful rugs, flea market finds and a 1960s lithograph by Lucio Fontana. However, the star piece is the bespoke coffee table designed by Casiraghi himself. It’s only if you lean back on the sofa and look down that you notice the tiny details — exotic wooden animals, including rhinos and birds, that dot the outer shelves.
While Daguzan’s favourite space is the living area, for Gabrillargues, a self-confessed introvert, it is their bedroom, just off the ground-level entrance. A 17-inch platform supports the bed where the couple love to spend their Sundays watching TV projected on the floor-to-ceiling screen. The bedroom opens out on to a glossy black-tiled bathroom, inspired by Casiraghi’s time at the Necchi Campiglio villa in Milan.
“When we bought the flat we were interviewed by the agency to make sure we were the right people,” says Daguzan. Now that the couple are moving to California, who might the next owners be? Daguzan won’t speculate other than to say that they will be the type to “buy it because they love it not because they need it”.
The two-bedroom property is for sale priced at €4.65mn with VINGT Paris.
Photography: VINGT Paris; Cerruti Draime
