Ahead of Pierre Yovanovitch Mobilier’s inaugural showcase at CRITERIA, we dined with the French superstar at an intimate launch event in Sydney.

Leading up to the launch at CRITERIA, Melbourne | Naarm, the internationally acclaimed French designer, accompanied by his CEO Cédric Morisset, dined with guests at an intimate launch celebration in Sydney. Hosted by Rachael Fry, Founder and Creative Director of CRITERIA, the two-hatted restaurant, Ursula’s – located in a historic terrace on a quiet, leafy corner of Paddington – set the tone for what was to be unveiled.

Guests were treated to a sumptuous three-course menu prepared by chef, Phil Wood, and conversations flowed in the charming, elegant interiors designed by Melbourne-based Brahman Perera. Ursula’s is known for reinventing the classics with a fresh, modern twist. Much like Pierre Yovanovitch Mobilier, its appeal is timeless, comfortable and exquisitely executed, providing the perfect Sydney setting for the French designer to launch his range in Australia.

After a career in menswear as designer for Pierre Cardin, Yovanovitch established his studio, Pierre Yovanovitch Architecture d’Intérieur, in Paris in 2001. Known for his ‘haute couture aesthetic,’ his studio spans residential, commercial and hospitality offerings including the seventeenth-century Chateau de Fabrègues, Provence, high-end hotels, art gallery spaces for Kamel Mennour, set designs for operas, and restaurants including the recent Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, London.

Established in 2021, Pierre Yovanovitch Mobilier evolved from the designer’s expertise in custom luxury design for interiors and combines his made-to-measure approach with superior craftsmanship, materiality and sustainable sourcing efforts to offer luxury furniture and lighting to the wider public. The range is influenced by the designer’s Provençal heritage – particularly the region’s sunlight, rich and varied natural materials, and the colourways of the surrounding nature.

Designed and manufactured according to the highest quality standards, the designs are created by working with renowned artisans in France and Switzerland who employ traditional crafting techniques. They’re made using locally and sustainably sourced wood, natural high-quality fibres, hand-blown glass and organic, non-toxic adhesives. Durability, longevity and exceptional quality are at the forefront.

Rachael Fry is a passionate advocate for Yovanovitch’s “visionary genius,” having met the designer in recent years at his Chateau in Provence – the beginnings of a fruitful partnership. Yovanovitch says that “Rachael’s keen eye for design and established presence in the industry made a collaboration with CRITERIA a natural launching pad in Australia for us.”

Related: The new Marz Designs showroom

The CRITERIA showcase, located at their new expanded Melbourne premises, provides Australian design collectors and aficionados the opportunity to encounter Yovanovitch’s pieces first-hand, particularly his renowned Asymmetry Chair, whimsical Mama Bear Chair, the elegant Roze Dining Table and sculptural solid oak Wave Console. The range on offer also includes table and floor lamps, armchairs and sconces.

Installed in a historic late-nineteenth-century building – a former hotel in the South Yarra shopping district – CRITERIA’s elaborate Victorian Italianate exterior leads into a purposefully restrained interior. Additionally, to complement the presentation, Pierre has designed the three interior spaces of the showroom as “immersive vignettes” – signature environments with decadent colourways for the furniture pieces to shine. Of Pierre’s talents, Fry says: “[The design] reflects a deep understanding of colour, composition, space and texture.”

Like the Frenchman himself, Pierre Yovanovitch Mobilier is effortlessly chic and understatedly cool; when immersed with him in his world of design, you wish you could stay there forever.

Pierre Yovanovitch
pierreyovanovitch.com

CRITERIA
criteriacollection.com.au

Photography
Sean Fennessy

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