A lifestyle brand with "a real soul" has launched in Paris, in a boutique that brings fashion together with furniture and homeware.
La Manufacture has opened a venue in the Opéra district of Paris, with a mission to show that design can still survive on the high street.
La Manufacture has opened its boutique in the Opéra district of Paris
Company founder Robert Acouri, who also leads contract furniture company Cider, believes that a brand can endure even the most challenging of financial climates when it offers a special experience to the customer.
La Manufacture's ethos is to combine French style and Italian craftsmanship, creating designs that have a timeless quality rather following the latest trends.
"It is a vision that I have had for such a long time," Acouri told Dezeen. "The idea was to do something that has a real soul and see what happens." Studio Blanco designed the visual identity, including a logo that appears throughout
The concept came when Acouri asked Luca Nichetto to work on a design for Cider and the industrial designer turned him down. Nichetto instead encouraged the CEO to develop a second brand with a more editorial rather than commercial approach.
Acouri quickly brought Nichetto on board to be creative director. The pair also enlisted designer Milena Laquale to lead the fashion arm, given her experience across both haute couture and ready-to-wear, while Studio Blanco was given the important task of overseeing brand ...