_Pierre Frey: The fabrics and wallpaper that adorn French high society

When President Emmanuel Macron greets guests in the ‘salle de fêtes’ at the Elysée Palace, the room dazzles with its gilded columns and opulent chandeliers, but the eye is drawn to the sumptuously rich red and gold carpet by Pierre Frey, its rose and laurel motif designed to echo both the grandeur inside and the natural beauty of the gardens beyond.

Should you stay in the Ritz hotel on Place Vendôme, which recently re-opened after a €200m renovation, or the historic and newly refurbished Hôtel de Crillon on Place de la Concorde, your feet will sink into a sumptuous House of Pierre Frey weave that imbues the building with a sense of quintessentially French timeless elegance and decadence. At the Ritz, almost every fabric has been designed by Pierre Frey too.

Above: The Lanesborough hotel in London's Knightsbridge

There is no question that the company founded 82 years ago by its eponymous northern French furniture polisher is entrenched in the highest echelons of French society. Many a Parisian hôtel particulier, Provençal estate and Loire château parades the company’s fabrics, wallpapers, carpets and furnishings.

But La Maison Frey’s reach is resolutely global – as are the influences behind the 6,000 items that make up their collection, which includes fabrics (their main market), wallpaper, carpets and rugs and, since 2002, furniture. The Pierre Frey umbrella also now encompasses four other fabric brands: Braquenié, Boussac, Fadini Borghi and Le Manach.

“We are known for our creativity and colour, and 95% of that creativity comes out of my father’s head. He can find inspiration anywhere, whether he is looking at a bouquet or flowers or a London street.

It is his passion and his great strength,” says Pierre Frey, grandson of the company’s founder, and one of three brothers who now run the show with their father, Patrick.

“When my father took over in 1972, he opened up Pierre Frey beyond France, including to the UK, Switzerland and Belgium. When we opened in the US, it became a huge market for us immediately.

"Nearly a third of our business there is in New York and we recently opened a showroom in Miami,” says Pierre, who is based in Paris, Pierre Frey’s HQ, with his father and brother Vincent. The third Frey brother, Matthieu, is based in Singapore, where he overseas 25 agents based throughout the region, including in Australia, China and Hong Kong.

Above: a colourful print

Tastes among nationalities vary, naturally, but there is “a common vein”, says Pierre. “We sell more silks and shiny fabrics to Russian and Middle Eastern clients, while Scandinavian and Northern European prefer unpatterned linens.

"But we deal with a small industry of players. We deal only with interior designers, not the public. Everyone looks at Instagram. So we launch exactly the same collection all over the world.”

Each new collection takes about 18 months to design in their Paris studio. “A third of our business is creating something from scratch for customers,” Pierre says.

“Having our own factory in the north of France has helped a lot with that. It helps us with customisation and flexibility. We can adapt colours, play with textures and be more innovative. If something isn’t quite right, we can immediately change it.”

Pierre admits the launch of a new collection is a nerve-wracking process. “It’s always a risk. Unlike the fashion industry, which showcases a new line, then takes orders and produces it, we stock the collection first and then start to sell. It means we have a huge amount of stock and cash tied up, so we have to wait and cross our fingers,” he says.

Also unlike the fashion industry, however, trends in the textile industry are less fickle. Crucial to Pierre Frey’s renown is its reputation as a family business that has been handed down through the generations – and the sense of tradition.

“We weave a silk velvet on a loom that was first used in 1850. When we needed to transport it, it took six months to put back together,” Pierre comments. The effort was clearly worth it. One of the house’s most sought-after fabrics is Le Manach’s tiger velvet. “It’s known to every interior designer.”

Above: The Frey family

Their constant creativity may be the key to their longevity, but some of their bestsellers are also some of their oldest designs. Pierre sifts through fabrics in his pop-up London showroom and points out a Boussac design called Nakai, with its tropical coffee bean motif. “It’s iconic. So is this one, La Rivière Enchantée, and this one, Les Colonnes,” he says of two Braquenié patterns.

But the Frey family have also always known the need to evolve, move with the times and attract a new generation. “In the 1970s, my father began making wallpaper using my grandfather’s patterns and they became trendy – but then wallpaper fell out of fashion in the 1990s so we stopped creating it,” says Pierre, sceptical of the incoming taste at the time for minimalism.

“Everyone wanted leather and iron instead,” he says. “Then 10 years later, when I was living in New York, I saw the trend coming back again and realised it was time to launch a new wallpaper collection. Now we launch four new collections each year.”

Today’s tastes are far more eclectic – classic, contemporary, French hunting scenes, Thai buddhas… There is a place for them all in Pierre Frey’s collection. Instagram plays a huge role in keeping the company current and high-profile. It also helps foment some interesting collaborations with artists and designers.

The fashion retailer J Crew recently paired up with Pierre Frey to launch a beachwear collection using their tropical Alexandrie print.

Above: The Élysée Palace - the official residence of the President of France

A series of striking black and white pen and ink drawings by the French actress Louise Bourgoin became a collection of Pierre Frey linens, carpets, wallpaper and ceramics.

And perhaps one of the biggest departures from the design house’s classic French image was their joint venture with the graffiti artist Torrick Ablack, who designed a graffiti-style printed linen and wallpaper. 

“He was one of the first artists in the Bronx. He started when he was 14 with Andy Warhol. We met when he had moved to Paris, we shared a similar vision and we said ‘let’s do something together’,” says Pierre.

Numerous celebrity homes feature Pierre Frey designs too, “but we only deal with their interior designers, so they often don’t tell us who their client is or which of their homes it is for,” says Pierre. 

He can divulge, however, that they worked with the designer of Claudia Schiffer’s Tudor mansion, set in 530 acres of Suffolk countryside, and that the Avenue Montaigne apartment of the American socialite Lee Radziwill, Jackie Kennedy’s sister, is something of a homage to Pierre Frey. “Her bedroom is wall to wall Le Manach,” says Pierre.

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