House of Worship: Pierre Cardin's Lacoste

Filed under: Design, etc, House Tours

After tackling fashion, homewares, cigarettes and toilets, Pierre Cardin sets his sights on Lacoste, a tiny village in Provence.


In the latest issue of WSJ., iconic designer and licensing pioneer Pierre Cardin shares his biggest project yet: Reconstructing over 40 buildings in Lacoste, France. And in the process, reimagining the entire small village.


Rather than trying to match or recreate the grand, historic architecture of the buildings, Cardin is offering a modern, dynamic counterpoint to the exteriors. Writer Tony Perrottet, who toured many of the locations, describes the finished interiors as a bright escape: "Each room had a different color theme -- vibrantly bright orange, purple, green -- and was filled with [Cardin's] furniture in bold, lacquered shapes." The goal? To turn Lacoste -- which is already home to a satellite campus of the terrific Savannah College of Art & Design -- into a "Saint-Tropez of culture" (those are Cardin's words, not Perrottet's) with galleries, cafes, grocery stores and an annual arts fair, the Lacoste Festival.

Unsurprisingly, Cardin has met with some naysayers -- many locals boycott his shops and cafes and in a coup, convinced him to cancel one of his large projects for the town, a large golf course. Still, we're fascinated by the new-meets-old approach from the now-89-year-old designer. And we can't wait to see what's next.

 

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