Delving Deeper

FROM SKYSCRAPERS TO BESPOKE
During what was arguably his business boom in the early 1930s—which included his innovative design of the first International style town house in New York City in 1934—Lescaze designed a group of chairs for the millinery department of the Hattie Carnegie Salon in New York. Located at 42 East 49th Street, the famous boutique was known for its style and reliable importation of the newest and chicest Parisian taste. After years of producing strictly custom garments, Carnegie began to produce ready to- wear under the label “Spectator Sports” in the early 1930s to accommodate the shrinking pocketbooks of its post–market crash customers.

How Carnegie came to court the chairs from Lescaze is not known, but the avenues of fashionista and architect invariably intersected. Made from chromiumplated tubular steel and leather, the chair’s modernist materials would be expected within typical modernist confines, but Hattie’s boutique echoed the Parisian salons from which many of the fashions came, and included gold boiserie and Louis XV-style furniture. In the millinery department, the Lescaze chair was placed before a mirror flanked by wood paneling, so clients could observe their appearances while trying on hats. Perhaps it was this practicality rather than leisurely shopping that dictated the modern design, but either way, Lescaze arranged a smart modern chair for the fashionable modern woman.