PIERRE FREY, May 13, 2021
LIRE LA VERSION FRANCAISE
Pierre Frey
Director of the International Relations
Maison PIERRE FREY, Paris
Are you more chic Left Bank or chic Right Bank?
I think everyone can be chic in their own way, there is not only one definition. It's not an easy choice than whether I prefer the Left Bank or the Right Bank. Honestly, my heart wobbles. I was born on the Right Bank, I live and work there, but the Left Bank has a crazy charm. I like this totally different atmosphere, this is another aspect of Paris that attracts me a lot. It's here where my wife lived when I met her and the journey from one bank to the other is also particularly beautiful! Who knows, maybe one day I'll take the plunge, cross the Seine and I will settle on the Left Bank ...
A nostalgic memory of fabrics?
My grandfather created Maison Pierre Frey by making fabrics, my father started making wall paper 30 years later and with my brothers we continued the story and now we sell furnitures and also carpets! I have always been immersed in fabrics and Maison Pierre Frey has always been part of my daily life, even on August 15th! And that's what made the charm and certainly shaped my eye in a certain way... My grandmother taught us how to contemplate a garden because it was pretty, showed us what to look at and my dad taught us to go towards beauty through its collections. He put that in our blood without ever forcing it and today it is our reason for living, our history.
What accessory embellishes your table when you receive guests?
I don't receive guests much in Paris, but I do receive a lot on weekends in the countryside in Normandy. I take advantage of my friends less often but longer. I prepare pretty tables decorated with candlesticks, objects that I love, sets of plates and tablecloths made up of Pierre Frey fabrics that I change according to my mood or to the rhythm of the collections! I like to enjoy these moments of sharing and happiness
A star whim that you were able to achieve? More and more often, we make tailor-made fabrics according to the requests of each customer. Not long ago, a customer from the Middle East made an entire tent with our fabrics at the occasion of a wedding. We printed a classic pattern over thousands of yards for a staging that would only be useful for a few hours! We do a lot of custom fabrics. For a customer who only wants 3 meters of a printed fabric created exclusively for him, we are technically obliged to print at least 100 m. Today a lot of our customers wish to have a sofa or curtains in its exclusive fabric and we are developing weaving techniques particularly suited to these demands. Made-to-measure is part of our daily life when it was not imaginable 10 years ago.
A personality trait that you find in your family? It's a bit pretentious, but I would say optimism, seeing the bright side of things. My father taught me and my brothers to look at the glass half full and I believe that it is something that is passed down from generation to generation. My two brothers are like me, we want to believe that tomorrow will be better and that after the rain comes the good weather and we try to convey this optimism to our children..
Do you have a canteen where you like to have lunch? Going to a restaurant seems far away, but we all hope we will go back soon! I love discovering new addresses, new places, new recipes. I have several friends who have restaurants where I like to go for lunch but there is one that I really like and that is located in the heart of Paris, which is the restaurant of the Hotel Edgar. The terrace is beautiful, the kitchen is delicious and the fabrics, all Pierre Frey, are very beautiful!
