Incollect Magazine - Issue 4

Issue 4 30 www.incollect.com Italy where for centuries, foundries and stone artisans have flourished. Side-by-side with the craftsmen, he worked out the details of the design and the finish. The piece is composed of an asymmetrical surface in rock crystal, supported by 3 triangular column aluminum legs finished in naturalistically textured bronze with prongs that grasp the tabletop, giving the appearance of a jewelry setting. The shape of the tabletop was inspired by the Gemini constellation, which also happens to be Jean- Yves’s birth sign. Friends admired the table in his home and urged him to offer the piece commercially, and expand upon the concept. That was all the encouragement he needed, and his next step was to invest in the foundry where he developed Gemini, having established a rapport with the craftsmen there. Soon, the Gemini Console and Gemini Wall Sconce were created, and he now had a small but growing body of work. All of his designs begin the same way, he says, with inspiration coming from the natural world, “keeping my mind open, looking at shapes and designing in my head and in my imagination.” The next step is developing the idea through hand sketching, translating ideas to visual language. He does not use computers or design programs, he works out concepts with paper and pencil to refine and reconsider, and to use as reference when communicating with his foundry. Some of his renderings are quite detailed, with scale and measurements exact, and some are very basic, just a rough concept. Each piece is then created at full scale, the process both thrilling and difficult, with multiple rejected or failed models until perfection is achieved. Lanvin likens the process to giving birth, noting that it takes about nine months to Left: A scene from the foundry. Center: At the Tuscan workshop where his work is created, Jean-Yves Lanvin monitors finishing touches on the Gemini Table. Right: Hand sketching is a part of his design process, the time when ideas and dreams take shape. The Stalactite Console in rare Afghan onyx.