ELLE DECOR

OR SHOULD I SAY “BON ANNIVERSAIRE”? AFTER ALL, THE U.S. edition of ELLE DECOR—which launched in 1989 as an offshoot of the ELLE fashion and lifestyle brand—has its roots in France. So it’s fitting that the cover story of our 35th-anniversary issue features a crème de la crème Paris apartment by ELLE DECOR A-List Titan Pierre Yovanovitch. The pied-à-terre, in a 1925 Haussmannian building overlooking the Seine, is home to a Beirut-based couple who fantasized about having their own slice of the City of Light after years of making trips there. I don’t think they could have found a better way to make that dream a reality: In Yovanovitch’s expert hands, the romance that drew the couple to the capital really comes to life. As usual in a project by the…

poltronafrau.com 1 KNOW YOUR HISTORY Embarking on an interiors project? Get your references ready. One great way to begin is by mining design history. Might we suggest an archival story or two from ELLE DECOR? Dig up your back issues or head to elledecor.com/archive. You’ll thank us later. 2 SIT WITH US Chairs and sofas are leading the charge, innovating in form and material in ways that push interior design forward. Here, a few of the most influential pieces of the past three decades. 3 DAZZLE ’EM! Looking for a pièce de résistance in any interior? The answer may just be the kind of sculptural lighting that’s all the rage these days. “CHANGING OUT THE LIGHTING IS PART OF MY CREATIVE PROCESS.”–LINDSEY ADELMAN 4 MAKE IT FASHION At ELLE DECOR, the impeccable taste of the style set has always…

St. Moritz, home to nearly 3,500-year-old natural hot springs and host (twice over!) to the Winter Olympics, has an undying allure. Now the glamorous Swiss destination is one of many jet-set haunts to have inspired new additions to Harry Winston’s Majestic Escapes high-jewelry collection. This suite of jewels, named as a nod to the resort town’s snowcapped mountains and azure skies, includes a necklace and earrings crafted of two cuts of diamonds fringed with varying shades of sapphires, exquisitely melding natural wonders with the man-made.…

The story goes that in 1904, an aviator from Brazil by the name of Alberto Santos-Dumont was grousing to Louis Cartier about pocket watches: As a pilot, he found them impractical for use while flying. Cartier, scion of the French jewelry house and a caring friend indeed, came up with a novel solution: a purpose-built men’s watch that could be worn on the wrist. The rest, as they say, is histoire. Now, 120 years later, Cartier has introduced a 31.5mm iteration of the Santos-Dumont’s classic square-shaped design in platinum with a ruby crown and Arabic numerals on an olive-green satin-finished dial. A lacquered bezel and an alligator strap finish off an elegant timepiece that can take its wearer from the cockpit to cocktails.…

IN 2010, PASCALE MUSSARD, A SIXTH-GENERATION member of the family behind the French luxury brand Hermès, had an idea. As a child, she visited the Hermès workshop in Paris where saddles were made and noticed an uncle pluck a leather scrap out of the trash. He worked with an artisan to turn it into a wallet, then placed it in a store window the next day as an experiment. Sure enough, the orders started rolling in, and the wallet went into production. A brand devoted to craftsmanship at the highest level will inevitably generate some detritus in its pursuit of perfection. Mussard’s inspired idea was to found an atelier within Hermès, Petit h, where leftovers from the production of everything from Kelly bags to Carré silk scarves to porcelain tableware can…

It was all about the green curtains. In 2008, to my great surprise, I was offered a nine-month fellowship based in New York City. I had lived there twice before, both times unsuccessfully, meaning I had failed to create any kind of significant social life, and so this was a chance not only to do research for my new novel, but also an opportunity to get things right. I swore I wouldn’t let the city break me a third time. But how? I knew from experience that New Yorkers (who use their ovens as sweater drawers) cannot resist the exotic rarity of a dinner party, so if I threw at least two a week, I should become the toast of the town. But where? Since my first swing at the city, in…