Inside Paris Deco Off: What Our Designers Discovered

We're particular about materials. Where they come from, how they're made, what makes one textile or finish different from everything else on the market. It's one thing to flip through a sample book. It's another to watch glass being blown in a lighting atelier or walk through floor-to-ceiling chocolate drapery to enter a showroom.

That's what Paris Deco Off is. Once a year, the world's most revered fabric houses, lighting designers, and furniture makers open their doors — and we mean that literally. Centuries-old Parisian buildings become the backdrop for intimate collection reveals, private studio tours, and the kind of access you simply can't get anywhere else. This year, Janelle, Hannah, and Chelsea went, along with our partner Nicki from Opame.

Here's what they found.

The Reveals

The collections themselves were stunning, but what made them unforgettable was where they were presented.

Holly Hunt unveiled their newest collection at the Hôtel de Crillon — complete with models walking a runway in garments sewn from the new fabrics. It was a way of showing how the textiles move and drape that no sample book could replicate.

Nobilis presented at the Hôtel de Poulpry, where two of their lead designers walked a catwalk through one of the most beautiful rooms we've ever seen.

And then there was Loro Piana. Presented through our rep Kate Taylor, the collection was staged inside a private residence at 19 Rue des Saints-Pères — a home designed by Gustave Eiffel himself. The family moves out, Loro Piana moves in, and suddenly you're seeing new fabrics and furniture in an actual living space rather than a showroom. The drapery in the living room alone was worth the trip, and the main solarium echoes the structure of the Eiffel Tower in a way that stops you mid-step.

The Makers

Some of the most meaningful moments came from smaller, more intimate visits — one-on-one time with the people actually creating what we specify.

At JMW, the team toured a glass-blowing studio and learned about their custom commission process from the inside. It's the kind of visit that changes how you think about a pendant light.

Alain Ellouz personally walked them through his showroom, sharing new prototypes, upcoming product launches, and a preview of what's still in development. That level of access — seeing what's next before it exists — doesn't happen often.

Even the showrooms we know well from Chicago felt entirely different in Paris. Rosemary Hallgarten greeted them in a trench coat made from one of her newest fabrics, and you entered her space by walking through massive drapery panels from the new collection. Pierre Frey rented out the Théâtre de la Michodière for their reveal — a full theatrical production explaining the story behind the garden motif and the thinking behind each pattern, color, and texture.

Yarn Collective took over a small Parisian coffee shop and wrapped its spiral staircase in fabric. Simple, intimate, unforgettable.

The Flea Market

The Paris flea market deserves its own section because it nearly derailed the entire schedule. Vintage furniture, one-of-a-kind finds, pieces with more history than most buildings — it was overwhelming in the best possible way. The team hunted for high-end pieces to source for clients and smaller treasures small enough to tuck into a suitcase. Some things came home for projects. Some things just came home.

The Details

Ask any designer what surprised them most about Paris and they won't say the showrooms. They'll say the doors. The hardware. The ornate architectural details in hotel hallways. The old tile at a restaurant. Every surface, every threshold, every hinge felt considered. Hannah and Chelsea photographed everything — not as souvenirs, but as reference material for future projects. Paris has a way of reminding you that even the smallest details deserve attention.

What Followed Them Home

Beyond the suitcases full of fabric samples, a few takeaways kept showing up across showrooms:

Tapestry and jacquard weaves were everywhere — at Holland & Sherry, Pierre Frey, and Nobilis. Handwoven quality you can feel immediately, and a nod to centuries of European textile tradition. Fitting, given that many of the antique tapestries at the flea market told the same story.

Revivals of iconic eras — Art Deco references, '70s and '80s motifs, and archival patterns brought back to life, particularly from Nobilis and Jim Thompson.

Luxe performance fabrics are officially no longer an afterthought. Loro Piana and Pierre Frey both showed outdoor and performance textiles and furniture that felt as refined as their indoor collections.

Paisley made a quiet but confident return at Loro Piana and Holland & Sherry.

And the color palette leaned warm across the board — sumac, cinnamon, chocolate — with Rosemary Hallgarten leading the charge.

And the Food

We can't write about Paris without mentioning the meals. After long days on our feet, sitting down together was where everything landed. Dinner and cocktails at Maxim's. A tasting dinner hosted by Holly Hunt and Pagani Lighting. Endless coffee stops. French frites between appointments. And a Belgian food truck hosted by Omexco Wallcoverings that might have been the most delectable waffles ever made.

The Takeaway

There's something about experiencing Paris through the design industry that stays with you. You stop walking past the details — the hardware, the tile, the way a room is lit — and start really looking. That's what Deco Off does. It pulls you back to why materials matter, why craft matters, and why nothing replaces being in the room.

We're already thinking about next year.