A Furniture Collection Inspired by Fashion Designer Jacques Doucet’s Legacy Unveiled at Salon Art + Design

MILAN — Though he’s been gone for almost 100 years, the legacy of French fashion designer Jacques Doucet, lives on. On Thursday, Invisible Collection’s New York gallery debuted an exhibition designed by design duo Garcé & Dimofski and inspired by the late icon at Salon Art + Design. This year’s Salon Art + Design is currently being held at New York’s Park Avenue Armory until Monday.

Born into a family that made lingerie and fabrics in 1853, French designer Jacques Doucet rose to fame in the late 1800s for his elegant gown designs that caugh the eye of the era’s A-list. He dressed turn-of-the-century fashionistas like French actress Sarah Bernhardt, socialists Carrie Astor and Consuelo Vanderbilt and writer Edith Wharton. A true patron of the arts, he was among the first to purchase works by Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee and Marcel Duchamp. His legacy endured, inspiring aesthetes including Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Bergé and Karl Lagerfeld, all of whom were impacted by Doucet’s lifestyle and taste. Doucet died in 1928.

Invisible Collection commissioned Portuguese studio Garcé & Dimofski, founded by Olivier Garcé and Clio Dimofski, to envisage a contemporary furniture collection that reflects his legacy.

For the collaboration, Invisible Collection partnered with Arnaud de Lummen, who is the founder and managing director of Luvanis, a company that specializes in reviving dormant luxury brands, and is the current owner of the Jacques Doucet brand. De Lummen recalled that Doucet wanted to be remembered as a collector rather than a couturier, who was a pioneer in bridging the worlds of art, fashion and design.

“Paying tribute to Doucet with a furniture collection as a tribute to his role as a keen collector and tastemaker, feels totally in tune with his legacy. In his footsteps walked Jeanne Lanvin, Gabrielle Chanel, Christian Dior, Valentino Garavani, Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren to name but a few who were also obsessed with interior decoration, with some who even created entire lines of home furniture,” he told WWD in an interview.

London-based platform Invisible Collection was founded in 2016 by Isabelle Dubern-Mallevays, a former journalist and former creative director of Dior Home and Diptyque Home; reinsurance risk specialist and art collector Anna Zaoui, and luxury in-client strategy specialist Lily Froehlicher.

Dubern-Mallevays said the 20-piece collection created by Garcé & Dimofski is faithful to Doucet’s design vision and is in-line with the brand’s core values, celebrating creativity, heritage and craftsmanship.

“When Arnaud de Lummen shared his vision for reviving the spirit of Jacques Doucet by creating a furniture line inspired by what Doucet might have envisioned for 2024, Invisible Collection eagerly embraced the opportunity to present it exclusively,” she said.

In 2015, Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent in Paris brought together works gathered by Yves Saint Laurent and the Belle Époque dressmaker Doucet, highlighting the eclectic spirit behind their hoard of paintings, furniture and art objects.

The collection, sold exclusively on the Invisible Collection platform, comprises furnishings across categories — from dining and coffee tables, chairs, lighting, sofas, armchairs to carpets. The company said Garcé & Dimofski’s original designs were enhanced by enchanting embroidery detailing by Chanel-owned specialty atelier Maison Lemarié, which reference Doucet’s fashion designs as well as finishes that include handmade straw marquetry by Atelier Lison de Caunes.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Invisible Collection has opened showrooms in key cities such as the Mews House in the Marylebone neighborhood of London, The Townhouse in New York’s Upper East Side and one in Rive Gauche in Paris in the 7th arrondissement. 

Featuring an edit of famous designs, as well as exclusive capsules and collections that convey a distinct French aesthetic, the platform boasts more than 200 architects and interior designers with a global reach. From new talents and established masters, its roster of names includes architectural designer Laura Gonzalez, France-based interior and product designer Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, architect and interior decorator Charles Zana and Portuguese multidisciplinary design brand Garcé & Dimofski, to name a few.