Chanel-owned Studio MTX flexes its artisanal craft prowess in the Invisible Collections New York model apartment

Lovers of Chanel, especially its Haute Couture, need no introduction to the French powerhouse’s Métiers des Arts. Brothers Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, both owners and guardians of Coco Chanel’s legacy since taking over from their father Jacques in 1996, continued the brand’s tradition of salvaging many of France’s unique artisanal fabricators. In 1984, Chanel started acquiring studios with handmade skills, quickly becoming endangered by a changing automated world. Today, these craftspeople are housed under one roof at Chanel’s Metiers building, le19M, in Paris. One such atelier, Montex, known for its Haute Couture embroidery, has flourished from this partnership, expanding the craft into home design. Studio MTX’ Broderie Archtecturale’, launched in 2013, took the stitching techniques, enlarged it for a grander scale, and applied it to interior design, becoming a Chanel ‘Métiers d’art de la décoration’ brand.

As Studio MTX turns the corner on its eleventh year, the atelier is ready to take on the US market. It presented its savoir-faire with design marketplace Invisible Collection in the highly curated platform’s exclusive showcase apartment in the Steinway Tower on West 57th  Street in Manhattan. The two-day event hosted press, designers, and VIP Chanel clients who were treated to a tour and talk by Studio MTX Head of Design Mathieu Bassée. The French designer explained the various creations and their processes and spoke to FashionNetwork.com about its stateside visit.
 
“This is the right moment because we are mature enough to penetrate the US market. We have the processes, the sales forces, and the customer service behind it to serve it. Before, it was more of a boutique creation. But now, we are ready and see that the American market is booming for this type of creation,” Bassée said in the expansive living room overlooking Central Park on the 76th floor of the Steinway Tower across from Carnegie Hall. It’s known as one of the ‘thinnest’ skyscrapers in the world. Indeed, the strip of 57th Street as Billionaires Row was buzzing with the construction of more luxury developments the day of the event.
 
It’s also an interesting time for Chanel to promote its interior design muscle as fashion and home design are ever increasingly joining forces. “It’s true that most of the fashion brands are overlapping into interiors, but for Chanel, it’s recent, there is no ‘Chanel Home.’ They are rooted in fashion but feel something might be happening in the interior design sector,” Bassée continued. “They definitely don’t need to do it. We see at the beginning that interior design creations benefit from a fashion heritage, but maybe in a few years, they could bring new techniques or ‘flavors’ into fashion. It’s so recent, so we shall see,” he added, proposing a reverse scenario.
 

Oddly enough, while Studio MTX creations are assembled meticulously by hand, the components used are created with 3D printing techniques, which are increasingly used in fashion but not generally in the ateliers of Chanel’s Haute Couture. (Though the late Karl Lagerfeld presented a classic Chanel suit rendered with 3D printing in a 2015 presentation.) “Chanel is preserving the centuries-old savoir-faire techniques; they don’t need 3D printing. When there is a design challenge, they have the skilled hands to resolve it,” he said.
 
Bassée walked guests through some of the processes to make its screens, wall hangings, and window décor with key signatures such as multi-faceted metal tubular octagonal, hexagonal, and pyramid shapes; delicate ribbon and cording textiles paired with metal tubular accents and paper-thin mesh panels trimmed in metal—an engineering feat in themselves according to the designer. He showed examples of a glass room covered in Studio MTX screens made for  Chanel, presumably in the brand’s new Fifth Avenue watch and jewelry flagship, screens made for Cartier that depicted its famous panther, and a project on a yacht that had to consider minor vibration frequency caused by the giant ship’s engines.
 
Naturally, Studio MTX’s designs blended well with the modern space and panoramic views of New York. “The works here are selected based on this sleek penthouse; they are flatter with gradient colors. Other creations, like in the Invisible Collection’s early 20th-century townhouse, can be adapted with colors, finishes, and textures; it can be vibrant and reflect more historical details,” he noted.