Photo credit : Oleg Covian

MURIEL GRATEAU

In 1992, Muriel Grateau, at the height of her international fashion designer career, left Italy to open her first gallery in the Palais Royal’s Gardens: a space dedicated to creations which will better stand the test of time for her brand, accessories and ready-to-wear. Since september 2012, the 37 rue de Beaune gallery was entirely refurbished in 2012 to present her collections of tableware, accessories and jewelry as well as hosting new collections which will enlarge her unrivaled skills of a timeless savoir-vivre.

CAREER

Ever since she first started, Muriel Grateau followed her own path in the creative world. At a time when designers’ ready-to-wear didn’t exist, she designed her own unique clothes, which got noticed by Hélène Lazareff, founder of Elle magazine. She then worked and learnt at the side of the legendary designer Peggy Roche. In the middle of the 70’s she took part in the creation of Promostyl, the first Trend Agency. Gifted with an inquiring, audacious and nonconformist mind, she captures fashion trends, adding her own signature to it: a masculine / feminine wardrobe, ahead of its time, which made her successful with the most popular Italian brands, such as Basile and Mario Valentino, for whom she designed collections every season. Based in Italy, she decided to present her fashion shows in Milan when everybody else was still rushing to Florence, and contributed in turning the Lombard capital into the new place-to-be in the Italian fashion world. Muriel Grateau was drawing near to 1500 models per season during the 80’s, including the « Complice » collection for Basile, Diego della Valle and her own line which was met with international success. At the peak of her activity, Muriel Grateau felt the need to enlarge her creative horizon and to go beyond clothing at a time when design entered a mutation phase. She understood that from now on, time would be dedicated to the cocooning trend and that customers were looking for sophisticated atmospheres that would fit their wardrobe as well as their home. Faithful to her spirit, which led her off of the beaten tracks, the designer went back to France and settled in 1992 in the Palais Royal’s gardens. There, Muriel Grateau invented a new kind of boutique, which brought together her multiple creations: accessories, flat laid knit, linens, white shirts, objects and tableware. In 1997, Muriel Grateau opened a new gallery in rue de Beaune, in the heart of Carré Rive Gauche. In 2005, she presented her first jewellery lines, body adornments jewels that renewed with her fashion past. Galerie MURIEL GRATEAU 37, rue de Beaune – 75007 Paris Tel 01 40 20 42 82 – www.murielgrateau.com Press : FAVORI - Grégoire Marot : 01 42 71 20 46 - Nadia Banian [email protected]



SPIRIT

In the early nineties, Muriel Grateau felt that the world of tableware had new possibilities to offer: « A table is the first thing you notice when invited somewhere, and I think that the offer in this area is very conservative. » After several months of research, she developed collections that stood out from the French production. Refined but never minimal plates, subtly shaped containers, porcelain tinted in the biscuit, ultra-fine high quality porcelain, matt or high gloss, available in a completely new colour palette, sophisticated glassware, plain or damask table linens in a dazzling gradation of a hundred colours: each item is at the forefront of the contemporary creation. Refined and sober, they follow the repertoire of Scandinavian, Italian and French forms to invent their own language. “I enjoy purity and simplicity because they create timeless forms. Simple forms are as beautiful on a 18th century table as on a designer’s.” Muriel Grateau is always looking for an understated style that clear objects off the « fashion message in excess ». Nonconformist, she enjoys breaking the rules of the “what can and can’t be done”, such as her plates, tinted in the biscuit itself: an invention of Muriel Grateau but a sacrilege for the traditionalists. Her creations have received the approval of cutting edge international decorators and a unique clientele for more than 20 years (Lee Mindel, Peter Marino, Chahan Minassian, Tristan Auer, India Mahdavi, Pierre Yovanovitch, Orlando Diaz-Azcuy, Axel Vervoordt, François Joseph Graf, Thierry Desponts…) who ask for Muriel Grateau’s collaboration for their most outstanding project.

JEWELERY

Since her first collection in 2005, Muriel Grateau has developed an outstanding high jewellery with the same philosophy she has applied to her creation in the fashion and home interior world: to go in the opposite direction of what is expected. Even if every single one of her pieces is manufactured in the Paris’ workshops of high jewellery and can take up to three months to manufacture, Muriel Grateau will often try to make the handcrafted feat or the notion of value disappear, to give priority to outstanding pieces that can be worn on a daily basis. “I quickly understood that in jewellery freedom consists in going beyond boundaries”. She seeks to free herself from “do’s” and does not think twice about combining poor materials, gem stones and high technology, using for example laser’s cutting to create her Italian looking gold laces. For Muriel Grateau, if her jewels are imposing, ”it’s only from their volume, and not from their flaunt value”. Following her will for understatement, she sometimes goes as far as hiding the most precious materials, covering for example enamelled 18 carat gold. In this aesthete’s work, gold is always black. “I create a high jewellery that has no ostentatious characteristics. My pieces are finery and not a social status”, says the designer. At times sensual, discrete and delicate, at times strong and firm, changing range at every new collection: her jewellery pieces invite to a impromptu meeting between the jewel and its future owner, the curious woman, young and cultured, well-read. In the shape of white golden spiders lace’s cuffs set with black diamonds, or pop brooches with light and slightly acid enamels set with sapphires, each one of Muriel Grateau’s jewels draws the map of a intuitive and sensual jewellery drove by the contrast between the stones, the metals and the imaginary.

Galerie MURIEL GRATEAU 37, rue de Beaune – 75007 Paris Tel 01 40 20 42 82 – www.murielgrateau.com Press : FAVORI - Grégoire Marot : 01 42 71 20 46 - Nadia Banian [email protected]

VERBATIMS « She was the first one to ever reinvent color on a table, and it was so nicely done… » India Mahdavi « Muriel Grateau is an unrivalled colorist. Her sense of refinery and her use of materials have a true strength. Radical and consensual at the same time, she manages to be simple while showing real sophistication. This is a rare quality. » Pierre Yovanovitch « Muriel Grateau is an artist who transcends the category of design for table and redefines the seemingly inevitable. The mark of a true genius : to make the traditional seem new and the new to seem familiar. The world of Muriel Grateau is one we look forward to the experiencing sur la table ». Lee Mindel « Muriel Grateau materializes the most distinctive combination of refine and diversity through her tableware and her jewellery. Her universe imposes itself in its timelessness and stands for an obvious component in all my projects. » Remi Tessier KEY FIGURES 10,000 high quality plates each year 5,000 exclusive references in tableware 100 tailor-made linen colors 1 Factory in France 25 lines 20 highly qualified workers (enamel, color, decoration) 1992 : First Gallery at the Paris Palais Royal Gardens 1997 : Opening of the Gallery at 37, Rue de Beaune, 75007 Paris 2005 : First High Jewelry line « Precious Collections » 2007 : Winner of the Wallpaper Design Award for her shopping bag 2012 : Renewal of the Rue de Beaune Gallery and reopening in September 2012 Galerie MURIEL GRATEAU 37, rue de Beaune – 75007 Paris Tel 01 40 20 42 82 – www.murielgrateau.com Press : FAVORI - Grégoire Marot : 01 42 71 20 46 - Nadia Banian [email protected]

NOMADE COLLECTION – 2015

Galerie MURIEL GRATEAU 37, rue de Beaune – 75007 Paris Tel 01 40 20 42 82 – www.murielgrateau.com Press : FAVORI - Grégoire Marot : 01 42 71 20 46 - Nadia Banian [email protected]

Galerie MURIEL GRATEAU 37, rue de Beaune – 75007 Paris Tel 01 40 20 42 82 – www.murielgrateau.com Press : FAVORI - Grégoire Marot : 01 42 71 20 46 - Nadia Banian [email protected]

Galerie MURIEL GRATEAU 37, rue de Beaune – 75007 Paris Tel 01 40 20 42 82 – www.murielgrateau.com Press : FAVORI - Grégoire Marot : 01 42 71 20 46 - Nadia Banian [email protected]

JEWELERY COLLECTION MIROIR DE SORCIERE (2014)

Galerie MURIEL GRATEAU 37, rue de Beaune – 75007 Paris Tel 01 40 20 42 82 – www.murielgrateau.com Press : FAVORI - Grégoire Marot : 01 42 71 20 46 - Nadia Banian [email protected]

COLLECTION BROCART

1 : BROCADE brooch in gold enamelled in glittered Black and White stripes doubled in black, set with diamonds 2 : BROCADE brooch in enamelled gold in glittered Prune, doubled in purple, set with sapphires.

COLLECTION POP-PIN’S

1 : Pop Art pins of gold enamelled with Lime Lemon and Prune lacquer, doubled in Violet, set with one sapphire 2 : Pop Art pins of gold, enamelled with Black and White lacquer, doubled in Tango, set with one sapphire. 3 : Pop Art pins of gold enamelled with Tango and Black lacquer, doubled in Paon, set with sapphires 4 : Pop Art pins of gold, enamelled with Violet lacquer, doubled in Mandarin, set with one sapphire. Ce modèle est une création exclusive de Madame Muriel Grateau et bénéficie de la protection des dispositions du code de la propriété intellectuelle. Toute reproduction non autorisée est illicite et fera l’objet de poursuites judiciaires

Galerie MURIEL GRATEAU 37, rue de Beaune – 75007 Paris Tel 01 40 20 42 82 – www.murielgrateau.com Press : FAVORI - Grégoire Marot : 01 42 71 20 46 - Nadia Banian [email protected]

COLLECTION NOIR ONYX

Ce modèle est une création exclusive de Madame Muriel Grateau et bénéficie de la protection des dispositions du code de la propriété intellectuelle. Toute reproduction non autorisée est illicite et fera l’objet de poursuites judiciaires

1: Ring “ Button”, made out of 2 onyx cabochons and black diamonds 2 : Large ring composed of a round onyx cabochon and two sculptures in molten onyx encircled with black diamonds 3 : SLAVE BANGLE Bracelet made out of two sculptures in molten onyx and 6 black sapphires for a total of 23.24k set in 18k blackened white gold for a gold weight of 41g COLLECTION ROCK CRYSTAL

1 : Ring, “grooved stopper”, made out rock crystal and black diamonds 2 : Bangle made out of rock crystal with ‘ovals’ and black sapphires 3 : Ring made out of rock crystal, of “alveolus”

Galerie MURIEL GRATEAU 37, rue de Beaune – 75007 Paris Tel 01 40 20 42 82 – www.murielgrateau.com Press : FAVORI - Grégoire Marot : 01 42 71 20 46 - Nadia Banian [email protected]

TABLEWARE 2014 –NEW COLLECTIONS BRAZILIA & COPACABANA

Galerie MURIEL GRATEAU 37, rue de Beaune – 75007 Paris Tel 01 40 20 42 82 – www.murielgrateau.com Press : FAVORI - Grégoire Marot : 01 42 71 20 46 - Nadia Banian [email protected]

1 : SENSO Black – Senso WHITE 2 : ARTE – POP ART – MIROIR DE SORCIERE 3 : MOBILE – MOSTRA Galerie MURIEL GRATEAU 37, rue de Beaune – 75007 Paris Tel 01 40 20 42 82 – www.murielgrateau.com Press : FAVORI - Grégoire Marot : 01 42 71 20 46 - Nadia Banian [email protected]

1 : BAHIA – LATINO – TEMPO 2 : SENSO COMPOSITIONS

Galerie MURIEL GRATEAU 37, rue de Beaune – 75007 Paris Tel 01 40 20 42 82 – www.murielgrateau.com Press : FAVORI - Grégoire Marot : 01 42 71 20 46 - Nadia Banian [email protected]

Galerie MURIEL GRATEAU 37, rue de Beaune – 75007 Paris Tel 01 40 20 42 82 – www.murielgrateau.com Press : FAVORI - Grégoire Marot : 01 42 71 20 46 - Nadia Banian [email protected]