Maison Pierre Frey

I knew of maison Pierre Frey as I was coming of age in the 80s and 90s, but it wasn’t until I stumbled upon the company offerings at Milan Design Week in June of 2022 that I felt a renewed interest in their seemingly expansive product lines which include wallcovering, fabrics, rugs, and newly added furniture to their repertoire. Since then I feel as if I’ve seen their collection everywhere: in magazine features like Veranda September-October 2022, any google search will end in an ample supply of visual inspiration from the company founded in 1934 in Paris.

Since it’s founding, the family-owned company has continued to inspire us with their outside the box thinking and collaborations, which include everyone from New York design studio, Apparatus, to graffiti artist, Toxic, paper maker, Caspari, artist Yves Klein and even Louis Barthelemy and the Louvre Museum, and this doesn’t even begin on the furniture collaborations.

Egyptian Inspiration

Honestly, the collection is astounding and I can’t imagine there is anyone who couldn’t find something to love. After my recent trip to Egypt, I’m astounded by the Merveilles d’Egypte collection. While I was stumbling through the “Valley of the Kings,” last April, I thought to myself how fabulous paintings inside the tombs would make as wall coverings. And here I find it is Pierre Frey who has brought them to life and market in the most elegant way. In the words of Patrick Frey, president and creative director of Maison Pierre Frey, Ancient Egyptians were masters of proportion, of colors after his trip along the Nile River.

Historical Roots

But it isn’t just their designs depicting history and present like masterpieces in a museum, Pierre Frey have some of the finest mills in the textile industry, and are members of the esteemed Comite Colbert, whose role is to protect and promote the finest goods and manufacturers France has to offer. It is a lofty goal with very esteemed members such as Hermes, Bernardaud, Guerlain, Christofle, Baccarat, Cartier… you get the idea. Oh to be in such company…

Pierre Frey is renowned for their expertise in making beautiful wools and high performance outdoor textiles, but with their acquisition of smaller specialized firms such as Braquenie, Le Manach, Fadini Borghi, and Boussac, their range of offerings is from classic to contemporary, and seemingly limitless in potential.

*Founded in 1935, Maison Pierre Frey creates and produces fabrics by taking inspiration from classical and contemporary art or from faraway ethnic groups, always interpreting it in a very French style. (https://www.pierrefrey.com/en/page/maison-about)

One of the better ways to appreciate their brand, is to wander through some spaces designed with their product lines: