Portrait

Envogue designer , Vladimir Kagan

Envogue designer

Bean-shaped sofas, wooden chairs and tables inspired by boomerangs, asymmetrical furniture are part of the landscape of unavoidable Vladimir Kagan. From museumstoauctionhouses,hisworkfromthefiftiestothe seventies is on an upward trend, “icons of modernity and an obligatory reference to every designer” the New York Times wrote. Gary Cooper, Frank Sinatra or Andy Warhol yesterday, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, David Lynch today… All of these stars fell for the smooth, organicandminimalistlinesofthisprolific, unabashedlyjetset creator. In 2013, roundness, asymmetry, comfort and apparent deconstruction are all part of a collection of reissues, courtesy of Luxury Living. “I'm back but I was never really gone” jokes the 85-year-old designer on his blog, for he is a man of his times. Although he studied architecture and design at Columbia university, he learned his trade from an “extraordinary craftsman”—his father, a cabinetmaker. The chair he drew when he was just 20 was manufactured for the next 50 years. In 1949, he burst onto the scene with the Serpentine sofa, still part of the Vitra Design Museum. He quickly launched his company and worked with GE, Disney or Fairchild Aviation. Tom Ford and William Sofield initiated his renaissance in the 1990s with his Omnibus range for Gucci. Luxury Living’s New York Collection features a selection of his 1960s work and more recent creations. Vladimir Kagan also opened to showrooms in New York with Ralph Pucci and will soon hold an exhibit in Paris' Galerie Downtown.

Vladimir Kagan, Luxury Living, 16, avenue George-V, Paris (08). Tel. : 01 49 52 00 02.