Upon meeting them, it becomes immediately clear that Guillaume Garnier and Florent Linker work well together. The two 30-somethings, who are gradually earning a following for their quietly luxurious lighting and furniture, tend to speak together, finishing each other's sentences in a manner that suggests one mind. The pair met as students at Paris's École Camondo, a school for interior architects and designers (renowned Camondo students include French designers Pierre Paulin and Philippe Starck and architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte). The two young Frenchmen graduated in 2012 and continued along their career paths, one with Studio KO and one with India Mahdavi, before deciding to work together: In 2015, three years after graduation, they founded their own company, Garnier & Linker, where they're making their mark on the design world.
The concept was simple: Source unusual raw materials from around the world and approach production with a quintessentially French savoir faire to create objects, lighting, and furniture with a contemporary point of view. This exploration of materials and techniques took years of research and sourcing, from obsidian in Armenia to cedarwood in Japan. And closer to home, the duo sought out craftsmen all over France looking for ways to push the boundaries of what traditional techniques would allow them to create. "We wanted to learn before taking on projects, and we knew it was better to take time rather than start something too quickly," Garnier tells AD PRO.
Opening this week in Paris is their second collection of lighting inspired by sculpture and the decorative arts and highlighting, as always, materials and techniques. These works are the result of new experiments with alabaster from Spain, molten glass, and bronze. "For us, the starting point is always the material and technique," says Garnier. Adds Linker: "The material is strong enough on its own; the shape can then always be simple."
“We draw first, sketch, and then do little mockups," Garnier explains. "We have a small workshop outside of Paris where we continue the research. We then produce prototypes and work with them."
Their work is largely informed by materiality. "Alabaster is such a beautiful material; we keep it simple and don’t want to 'smother' the design," Garnier says. "With the molten glass, even with a wax mold, every piece is slightly different. You can see the mark of the maker on every piece—they are very personal.”
On the heels of this Parisian exhibition, the duo will spotlight another body of work during Milan Design Week—this time, about eight pieces of furniture in Kitayama cedarwood, a species only found in the mountains north of Kyoto. Again, the unique texture of the wood inspired the collection and design. "We looked to express the beauty and strength of the wood in pieces of furniture," Garnier says.
These two are inspired by the work of French sculptor Philippe Anthonioz, who, says Linker, "will never go out of style," and, for patinas and surfaces, the work of Claude and Francois-Xavier Lalanne. They hope their work will also defy fashions and trends and remain timeless. Coming up next is a new, apartment-like showroom in Paris for showcasing their work in a residential setting. But these two creatives are taking things nice and slow. "We have a rather relaxed schedule and take our time," Garnier says. Slow and steady, but ones to watch.
