From her past as an engineer, Catherine Chagnon made a clean sweep ……. To make armchairs and chairs! This Franco-Canadian, originally from Quebec, has just launched her company Uniquechair Design, in Houston, specializing in the manufacture of armchairs entirely designed and upholstered by hand which make them unique pieces.
Catherine Chagnon designs the seat which takes shape under the fingers of a carpenter before being dressed by the designer. Currently, its catalog offers three models: the Sophie chair, the Alia chair and the Agnieszka chair. ” It takes me between 60 and 70 hours of work to design an armchair. This includes a search for the personality of each client, their interior, their way of life, their history, their journeys to achieve the art object that will reflect their universe. It’s an amalgamation of all these values»She explains.
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Catherine Chagnon’s goal is to offer everyone the opportunity to have a unique interior. “We find the same furniture, the same brands in every house around the world, which is repeated and has invaded us. From time to time, she indulges herself and searches for unique pieces, preferably from the 1950-1960 period, which Catherine retypes and brings up to date. This getaway allows him to recharge his batteries, to let his creativity run free.
At the heart of his work, the choice of fabrics. These furnishing fabrics come for the vast majority of Europe (80%) from the big houses like Pierre Frey, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Christian Lacroix or the Italian Designer Guild, distributor of young designers. Ultimately, Catherine wishes to take the time to increase their number by going out to discover new North American stylists who deserve to be highlighted. For someone who has traveled the world and lived in seven different countries, the next step is to make Russian, Indian, Mexican, Moroccan, flamboyant, embroidered or mottled fabrics fashionable to inspire her again and again.
But the designer does not intend to stop there. She has already contacted local artists and successfully acquired the copyright to a work by a Brazilian artist. “The idea of transposing a sample of a painting onto an armchair is a nod to the culture of the master of the house »Explains the latter, who is also interested in contemporary culture, particularly that of the street, through tags and graffiti. Why not ? ” My project is to have these alliances with artists and to decline them», She adds. Moreover, each piece produced is stamped with its logo. Because Catherine wants to become above all a reference in creation, a leader in change.
