Botanical Rhapsody: The Making of de Gournay x Chantecaille
What do you get when you join two forces equally obsessed with craftsmanship, beauty, and botanicals? A covetable collaboration that brings haute design to your vanity table.
Olivia and Sylvie had been admirers of de Gournay’s exquisite hand-painted wall coverings for years before deciding to pitch the haute British wallpaper house an idea: Would the artisans collaborate with them to create a bespoke design with which to decorate the Spring ‘19 Darby Rose fragrance (a re-imagined version of a classic Chantecaille scent) and Lumière Rose highlighter? What followed was the stuff of design dreams—a signature chinoiserie motif became the starting point for a full-on botanical rhapsody.
"My inspiration was to create a Chantecaille garden using our iconic Rose de Mai surrounded by butterflies and birds.”
– Olivia Chantecaille
“Partnering with de Gournay was a dream. My inspiration was to create a Chantecaille garden using our iconic Rose de Mai surrounded by butterflies and birds. The design we collaborated on was the first time they’ve used roses in a motif, which was so hard to believe!,” says Olivia. The resulting panel, created in the de Gournay studio, became the springboard for the luxurious Darby Rose gift box and the beautiful lid of the Lumière Rose compact, both limited-edition items. In true Chantecaille fashion, there’s also a breathtaking interior detail: The powder highlighter is embossed with a highlight from the design—a bird atop a delicate blooming branch.
With exacting, age-old methods that recall 18th-century hand-painted wallcoverings, de Gournay has created a name in the design world that is synonymous with quality, creativity and elegance. Watching the collaboration come to life was a thrill for Sylvie. “I have a friend that lives across from the London de Gournay studio, so I passed by the windows often, admiring their beautiful hand-painted designs. To create something so representational of us, and so unique for this special release is just wonderful,” she says.
The release of the rose-festooned collection dovetails perfectly with the gorgeous blooms of springtime—a coincidence? Not at all. “Spring is a joyful, colorful time with flowers bursting everywhere, especially in Grasse where our Rose de Mai fields are just starting to bloom. This collection is a breath of fresh air and the perfect way to celebrate the renewal and beauty of the season,” says Olivia.
