Ep. 11: Americans in Paris: Brandon Quattrone's & Mat Sanders' First Collection for Consort is One That's Storied
Americans in Paris
Brandon Quattrone's & Mat Sanders' first Collection for Consort is One That's Storied
episode notes
A page (or several) from a vintage Parisian journal sets the story line for a newly imagined furniture collection. French Modernism’s beloved simplicity and curves meets California’s iconic, artful ease in the Consort Collection by Mat Sanders and Brandon Quattrone of the celebrity design firm.
Read the full article here. Transcript below.
LOCATION: High Point Spring Market 2018, High Point, North Carolina
DATE OF INTERVIEW: April 14, 2018
INTERVIEWED: Brandon Quattrone, Mat Sanders, Co-Founders, Consort
Ep. 11: Americans in Paris: Brandon Quattrone's & Mat Sanders' First Collection for Consort is One That's Storied
Conversation underway
CD: . . . scribbles and some illustrations and we thought, this is such a great find, we're going to design furniture inspired by French modernism and name all of the pieces by pulling directly from this.
TDD: What images came to your mind as soon as you saw this journal?
CD: It kind of reads like Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. Even though it's kind of disjointed, it kind of paints this very romantic picture of whoever's journey. This was in Paris, so it was it was a little whimsical, a little chic and we thought it was the perfect basis of inspiration for the collection.
TDD: Americans have such romanticism with all things French and particularly Parisian, the topiaries, the balconies, the apartments, the museums, all that sort of thing. But you've taken that mood and you've translated it into some very refined shapes and style. Tell me more about that.
CD: Definitely. So, you know, a big part of French modernism is logic and balance and purity, and really simple forms, curved lines and just like real simplicity and the shapes. And that's kind of what we wanted to respond to there. It still has the romantic feeling and it still has the warmth, but it's also really clean and cool and it kind of has that California cool vibe that we layered in with the French. So it's a total mix for us.
TDD: There's just a beautiful counterbalance here with all of the different shapes. Tell me about some of the materials that you've incorporated here.
CD: Yes. So the materials are a lot of really wonderful woods. We have a bleached ash, we have a wonderful white oak, we have walnut. And the coolest part about our bleached ash I think is that the fabricator that we've partnered with, that factory was actually on a huge forest in Vermont and there's enough for us there to serve as the factory for the next 50 years. And so it's such an amazing local, sustainable story for the wood that's going into lot of these pieces. And this furniture maker is so tried and true with what he's doing and how he's sourcing his materials. On top of that, we have a really wonderful hand modeled plaster made in Chicago for our Passenger side tables, and a really wonderful cast resin base for our Tangle table. We love marbles and metals and we love just mixing up materials. We have black metal paired with a hand machine brass, with the Nero Marquina. It's just total a total mix of materials. I think we really wanted the collection to feel as dynamic as the story that it was inspired by. So it was really important that we really mix and match the materiality in addition to the colorways and the types of products themselves.
TDD: I'm seeing some beautiful fabrics here. We have everything from velvets to, it looks like linens and leathers.
CD: Yep, we have private label fabrics in a curated selection of very trend driven colors like soft blushes, and we love teals and blues. You won't find any purple or orange in the collection because those colors make me uncomfortable.
CD: Lots of natural soft, dusty jewel tones. That's the way we like to think about them. They're aged, they're worn in a little bit. They're not so saturated, but they're still bright.
TDD: There are 44 pieces, right?
CD: Yes. 44 pieces in the collection. All will be live on the website very soon. Hopefully by the time everyone's hearing this, everything is live on the site.
TDD: And they're all customizable?
CD: Everything is fully customizable. You know, we're designers and every time we work with the client, you know, you want to be able to design down to the inch and, when someone's paying for that service they want, they want to know that the pieces have been tailored to their spaces. And so what we wanted to do was open up the idea that customization could be for more people in that it doesn't have to be a 98 inch sofa if you need 101 inch sofa, we can make you a 101 inch sofa. It's all American made and we've partnered with fabricators who are really open to giving that service. So we're excited about that.
TDD: So you get handmade, you get an artist feel, you get customization, and, particularly regarding the customization I wanted to ask you more. Do you feel like people are expecting that more?
CD: Yeah, I think the world is kind of shifting in the way that people want to be able to put their touch on a product. You know, designers aside, the end user wants to feel like they have an influence over the way the piece is made. So in addition to the products just being fully customizable for the trade, if you go online to our website, we've presented all of the collection in 3D visualization. So you can see a product, you can spin it around 360 degrees, you can change all the fabrics and finishes and see all the different combinations you can create. And I think it's going to deliver a really special experience for just anyone who might not even be working with a designer who might want to buy the furniture.
TDD: Who has been your primary clientele so far this market?
CD: It's been the trade. Interior designers have responded really well to this. We have great placement here at InterHall, and the feedback has just been overwhelming. The designers that get our style, obviously it's kind of a no brainer for them. They come in and they understand what we're going for, but we've heard so many comments like, I've never seen anything like this at market before, or wow, you guys just don't look like anything else here. So it's been really fun for us to kind of bring a unique point of view to the market.
TDD: Are you going to be bringing more pieces?
CD: Yes. I think we'll be back in the fall with an expansion to the line of course. We're really excited and we also have some lighting coming out in the fall, so yeah, we're really excited about that.