Narwhal horn or vibrant exotic of Laura Kirar
Arabian Nights' Entertainments, young Jacqueline Kennedy, the golden era of Hollywood, traveling to Franz Josef Land... – the new collection of Laura Kirar causes a burst of unrelated associations from different spaces and times. Let’s try to understand.
If the design style of Barbara Barry is often compared to the style of the great Coco Chanel (see "Chanel of interior design"), the delightful Laura Kirar can be compared to the young Jacqueline Kennedy.
For us today Jacqueline’s knee-length tweed skirts, her flirty pillbox hats, A-silhouette dresses, three-quarter sleeves and flat ballet shoes are absolute classics. And then, in the early '60s, they looked ultramodern. Yes, it was perfect, but definitely fresh and bold with that noble courage, for which is impossible to blame one, but that you naturally notice.
It’s the same with Laura Kirar. Her collections are perfect classic. Our grandmothers will never look out of place in her armchairs, and her sofas will not disturb the aesthetic comfort of our parents. However, at the same time, look how modern it is, as the 21st century is there in every detail – a century of wide-open doors, ease of travel and post-postmodern eclecticism. The century, in which globalism on the one hand and the resurrection of national identities – on the other, freely move towards each other, to the finale, yet undefined and unobvious.
The new collection Laura Kirar for Baker is her design self-analysis of her own extensive travels and study of different decorative traditions.
The love for distant wanderings brings Laura Kirar far away up to the Franz Josef Land, and to the shores of Greenland, where in the cold ocean the delightful and mysterious narwhals (sea unicorns) gambol.
The narwhal horn’s carved spiral has become the prototype for the wonderful legs of Narwhal Chairs, armchairs from the new collection of Laura Kirar for Baker.
For many years, Laura has been reconstructing her own Moorish style hacienda in Mexico.
South American (not just Mexican, but Peruvian and Brazilian), and Moorish-Moroccan motifs can be seen in many items of this collection.
For example, the legs of Carta desks for home office or library are decorated with the golden Inca chakana – the Peruvian cross. The lovely shaded green upholstery with whitish scuffed parts, used in the chairs Ironage and Narwhal, reminds us of aloe and the densely populated southern lands.
Another reminiscence of the Moors is the sensual, luxurious bed "Arabesque", whose lyrical form was suggested by Moors’ arches and Arab architecture in North Africa and Spain.
Also the multi-bar’s Tonio’s pattern comes from Moorish Spain: its design repeats that of Spanish woven carpets and crocheted ornaments.
Now let’s switch from exotic latitudes to exotic eras. Another obvious source of inspiration for Laura Kirar (like many of her colleagues in recent years) is The Golden Age of Hollywood, the American Art Deco. Optical geometric patterns, shell chairs, mother of pearl upholstery, golden legs, black finish and a combination of black and white are all there, from the roaring twenties and the golden 30s. Black and white chest of drawers L'Eau («Water"), for example, is even equipped with a golden brush, resembling sautoir brushes, the most popular decoration of the Art Deco era. The luxurious mirror Petalo («Petal") looks as if it were composed of luxurious petals or feathers, which also adorned the heads Flapper-girls and sensual divas on black and white screens.
All of this exotic from distant countries and the golden eras, when remade by Laura Kirar, seems to vibrate, flickers, joining together in surprising combinations, telling exciting stories.
Open your eyes widely and let yourself get carried away in this delightful pilgrimage through time and space, a vibrant journey along the roads of pearl and gold leaf. And may you, like Laura Kirar, be engulfed by a “passionate commitment to discovery”.
