Notes from Paris

When a WILLIAMSBURG product manager and self-proclaimed design addict takes a busman's holiday to Paris she returns loaded with upcoming trends, entertaining stories, and a bit of history. Below, Liza Gusler shares her notes from days of "window licking", window shopping to the French, and absorbing a surprising array of colors and fashions inspired by the 18th century!



“It was obvious that fuchsia and purple were the trend colors, literally saturating storefronts and displays all over Paris. Those who know the Colonial Williamsburg antiques collections will appreciate that pink and purple were the fashion colors of the rococo. They were just as fashionable in 1760s Paris, London, and indeed at the Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg—prized on porcelains and brocaded silks—as they are today in the trendy home furnishings and clothing boutiques in St. Germain and the Marais. Soon you’ll be seeing pinks and purples in glorious WILLIAMSBURG fabrics from Waverly and Schumacher and on the exquisite new “Lady Charlotte’s Lily” dinnerware from Mottahedeh.

Imagine my delight at spying our WILLIAMSBURG licensed “Palace Garden” napkins in the window of the Caspari store on the rue Jacob! No surprise that they would appeal in France-- the gardens of the Governor’s Palace (which inspired the paper products) were partially modeled after Louis XIV’s gardens because Lt. Governor Spotswood, who designed the gardens, owned a book on the gardens at Versailles.



Lisa Fingeret, president (and design genius) of Caspari, is always right on trend. She hosted a gathering of friends at their Paris store and gave me the first proofs of our newest WILLIAMSBURG design, “Le Jardin Chinois.” This luscious pattern of birds and peonies features the same hot pinks and purples I saw all around Paris. The colors were taken straight from the chintz in the Colonial Williamsburg collection that inspired the paper pattern. Lisa, as always, honed in on the fuchsia peonies as fresh from the 18th century and just right for ’09.

The pink and purple theme continued at the Maison et Objet show, the semi-annual home design exhibition that is the largest in the world. Other trends were silvered surfaces and the use of mosaic effects. My favorite section of this amazing display was “Ethnic Chic.” The cultural mélange of furnishings from China, Africa, India, Uzbekistan, etc., proved that global style is as inspiring today as it was in 1693, when William and Mary chartered a college in their royal colony of Virginia. The British monarchs took style lessons from the Sun King. In newly rebuilt London, they adopted Louis XIV’s classical baroque splendor, enhancing it with design ideas from every corner of their growing empire. Queen Mary’s china-filled tea rooms, decorated by the French designer Daniel Marot, were the first Asian-style interiors in England.”