For ages, France has been put on a pedestal on the world’s stage for its artistic savoir-faire. Whether for cuisine, fine wine or fashion, the nation is famed for its expertise to perform everything it puts its hand to with natural style. So it’s no wonder that when it comes to French interior designers, you can find some of the most important movers and shakers the industry has ever known.
France really has to be pleased with its interior design. Design universities and schools in France are the most favorite and professional in all Europe. Also, the most crowded design events are organized in France, such as Maison et Objet. We could say that the mind of French people is also about fashion, design and aesthetics trends. Resulting in generations of professional and charismatic interior designers.
In this article, we will present 15 of the best French interior designers and their work.
Philippe Starck
Internationally acclaimed French creator, designer, and architect, Philippe Starck is a untiring and rebellious citizen of the world, who considers it his duty to share his ethical and subversive vision of a fairer planet, creates unconventional places and objects whose purpose is to be “good” before being beautiful.
Gilles Boissier
When designers are working their magic on the illustrious Four Seasons hotels you know they’re capable of something really special. It’s as though partners in both work and life Patrick Gilles and Dorothée Boissier were destined to work together. Their united creative minds are a force to be reckoned with and blending classic and contemporary styles with neutral color palettes is their forte. We could wax lyrical forever about their ultra-sophisticated projects which include restaurants around the world and fashion spaces such as Moncler stores.
François Catroux
François Catroux burst onto the Paris scene in the middle of the 1960s, when he settled here after ten years of constant traveling. Currently, the Paris-based interior designer’s client list is not the longest, but it is one of the best in the business of interior architecture. François Catroux constantly reinvents his interiors and that is why so many people go to his projects for interior design inspiration. His trademark for modern interior design is mostly the result of being confronted with old, crumbling interiors. But when there are antiques and fine objects, Catroux designs around them with great care.
Didier Gomez
Didier Gomez began his career as an opera singer before branching out into the world of interior and product design in 1985 with his association and with the architect JJ Ory. His expertise is highly acclaimed. Winner of numerous design awards, he has designed boutiques, large stores, restaurants, apartments, houses and head offices all over the world.
Alberto Pinto
Alberto Pinto, under the direction of Linda Pinto and a strong team of 80 employees, perpetuates rigorously what made the success of the master. Eclecticism, luxury details, refinement is always the key words when it comes to creating universes for its prestigious customers around the world: private residences, office buildings, airports, hotels, yachts and private jets.
India Mahdavi
India Mahdavi studio is known for the diversity of its international projects. The interiors she creates are elegant, fluid, and reflect the essence of their location. Mahdavi has become an exclusive brand, offering a complete philosophy, based on a special vocabulary: high-end, joyful, nomadic, chic, elegant, ‘art de Vivre’. She is the reigning queen of color.
Charles Zana
Charles Zana has shared his taste and expertise in the most beautiful residential and public interiors around the world. In two decades, the architect, a graduate of the Beaux-Arts de Paris, has found his voice, forging his style and axes of influence on the lookout for discerning clients, demanding a unique vision. This vision is above all that of a lover of art, passionate about design, who speaks like an extract from key teachings.
Jean-Louis Deniot
Jean-Louis Deniot décors are his playground, spaces in which spontaneity and magic are de rigueur. Recognised worldwide for his eclectic and emblematic interiors, he plays in a multiplicity of repertoires, never sticking to the purity of style, rather letting his academic training translate into a vocabulary that is both informal and bold.
François Champsaur
François intelligently transforms any space, considering each and every aspect from an architectural angle to the last detail. He creatively reworks space, playing with light and volume, and completes the set with both elegant and contemporary furniture. He has transformed luxury hotels and private homes using his own unique vision.
To create an original work of art, Gérard Faivre imbues himself with the soul of each property. For him, each site is both a blank canvas and a source of inspiration. Depending on the place’s atmosphere, the artist determines the perfect layout, which he then completes with artwork, bespoke creations, and vintage details.
Pierre Yovanovitch
Extreme luxury tempered by a restrained, purist sensitivity defines the “Made in France” signature of interior designer Pierre Yovanovitch, whose projects stand out for their refined sense of architectural scale over ostentation and fickle design trends. A true sense of strength and sobriety characterizes a Pierre Yovanovitch interior, achieved through a masterful interplay of harmonious volumes and strict lines softened by lighting and
authentic materials.
Chzon
Chzon is a global design agency founded in 2009 by Dorothee Meilichzon, specializing in hospitality design. The design studio has worked on over thirty projects in Paris, London, Ibiza, Monaco and New York, exploring different fields from interior architecture to the design of furniture and graphic elements. The designer launched her Chzon agency in 2009, establishing a name for herself with restaurant and bar projects such as Mojo in Paris and Experimental Cocktail Clubs in London and New York. Meilichzon’s intentions for her interiors have more to do with ambiance than subscribing to styles or trends.
Ramy Fischler
Ramy Fischler is a Belgian designer based in Paris, with an eclectic creative practice. After graduating from the École Nationale supérieure de création Industrielle ENSCI-Les Ateliers, he joined Patrick Jouin’s agency in 2001. They worked together for almost ten years, during which time Ramy Fischler honed his taste for research, innovation and exploring new territories in design, taking the helm on numerous projects in the cultural, gastronomic and conceptual design spheres.
Mathieu Lehanneur
Mathieu Lehanneur has been juggling the contradictions for 10 years in order to realize a design that is constantly pushing its limits and attracts the attention of prestigious clients around the globe. The objects are not just functional; they perform. Lehanneur addresses 21st-century concerns with an evolved sensibility — responsive noise-mitigating rovers, pods for recuperating lost sleep, a stereo for rekindling passion, meditative blue-sky windows — all built upon the body’s natural responses.
