The Chloé SoHo boutique’s ephemeral design centers on 17 sculptural art pieces that have been designed and crafted locally by New York-based makers Antoine Dumas and Benji Gavron. Materials act as a starting point for the pair – echoing Chloé creative director Gabriela Hearst’s approach to design, which often starts with researching lower impact fabrics such as deadstock wool or recycled cashmere. Dumas and Gavron have similarly used reclaimed wood to inform their ideas for Chloé’s New York home.
Working with Antoine and Benji on the Chloé SoHo store was both inspiring and energizing. They worked with our values of sustainability and took them to the next level. They not only sourced and gathered reclaimed wood from New York water tanks and designed the pieces, but also made them from scratch themselves. Working with reclaimed wood can be challenging as they have to clean up old metal nails and handle other constraints. But they did it so brilliantly. I am so honoured that they committed such long hours to the project, and brought their exquisite taste, which is full of youthful New York energy. I couldn’t be prouder of the boys.
– Gabriela Hearst
Dumas and Gavron worked in partnership with Tri-Lox to source the wood for the Greene Street store installation. Trilox is building a circular sourcing system through research, design, and craft out of its Brooklyn-based practice. Dumas and Gavron primarily used red and white oak, which was sourced from Pennsylvania and other parts of the Northeastern United States. The wood had previously been used for architectural framing in 19th and 20th-century houses, barns, and even textile mills – bringing the material’s narrative full circle.
Dumas and Gavron’s process, from sourcing the material to the finished product, can take several months. Each piece is made by hand and is therefore truly unique with its own story to tell. Clues to the wood’s previous life – differences in coloration or old mortise and tenon joints for instance – are celebrated. Cutting is minimized and the beams have been left raw.
Furniture by renowned designers from the early European, Tropical and American Modernist movements as well as the Bauhaus school are arranged throughout the space, creating a dialogue with Dumas and Gavron’s work.
The space itself follows a white box concept. Its corners have been softened because, as Hearst stated while working with Norman Foster on the design of her eponymous brand’s London store: “in nature, there are no rectangular edges.” All of the previous fixtures and furniture have been recycled or installed elsewhere in the Chloé network. And the exterior has been repainted in a soft grey. The Nama – Chloé’s new lower impact sneaker – plays a prominent role in the inaugural display.