October 6, 2008

EUROPE | FRANCE | PARIS

Mama Mia!

By Suzanne Steinert

The world’s most iconic designer brings his style back to Paris.

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Philippe Starck, the 59-year-old Frenchman whose name is most associated with the invention of boutique hotel design, is finally bringing it all back home. Having conceived some of the world’s hippest hotels from New York (Morgans) to London (Sanderson) and Hong Kong (Jia), he’s now, for the first time, turned his attention to doing the same in his hometown of Paris.

He’s started straight at the top, too, restyling Le Meurice (news of which globorati broke exclusively last year). The landmark palace hotel unveiled its new whimsical décor earlier this year, with Starck crediting former Le Meurice regular Salvador Dali as inspiration. (Think brass chairs with stilettoed feet and a frosted foyer mirror maintained by its own chilling system.) In the restaurant — dubbed Le Dali, of course — guests choose from two menus, “Indulgence” or “Abstinence,” while dining beneath a 1,500-square-foot canvas mural painted by Starck’s own daughter (who insists she got the gig anonymously.)

But Le Meurice is barely the beginning. Starck has already moved on to another Parisian classic, Le Royal Monceau, set to open under the Raffles brand next fall. The designer aims to transform the 80-year-old property into a “21st century palace” with modern art and eco-friendly components such as a solar-heated swimming pool and a fleet of Hybrid cars.

In the meantime, Starck has ventured outside the bourgeois box with the just-open Mama Shelter (pictured). Call it the democratization of design (Starck’s new self-declared mission, having recently declared that “design is dead”). The 172-room hotel was once the site of a parking garage in the gritty boho district of Belleville, best known as the birthplace of Edith Piaf. An urban experiment by ex Club Med president Serge Trigano, Mama Shelter fuses high design with a raw street vibe. Artful graffiti covers the ceilings and floors of public spaces, while superhero-themed nightlights glow in the bedrooms. But there are plenty of up-market touches, too, including pure satin sheets, Apple iMacs, and Starck’s “Louis Ghost” polycarbonate chairs.

Mama Shelter’s restaurant strikes a similar balance, featuring a menu by Jean Claude Elgaire (who left a 50-year career at the Plaza Athénée) and communal tables in the dining room (a Starck signature). You can also rub elbows in the yoga room or round the giant foosball table. Just remember to check the chalkboards on each floor for the city’s latest happenings — such as the new must-see Picasso exhibit, starting October 8. Nearly 200 works by the artist have come to Paris from private and public collections across the world. They’ll show collectively through February at the Grand Palais, Musee d’Orsay and the Louvre.