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This series, COLLECTIBLE In-Depth, unveils the backstage of contemporary creation. Tackling various topics from personal designer processes to the position of collectible design on the global design market, COLLECTIBLE In-Depth offers different views to suit all tastes. Today we speak with Atelier de Troupe.

C: Can you talk about designers whom you admire?

ADT: In 1929, a group of rebellious French designers created the Union des Artistes Modernes (UAM - 1929 to 1958). Could this happen today, with designers unionizing for a better cause? Their members, including Robert Mallet-Stevens, Eileen Gray, Jacques le Chevallier, Charlotte Perriand, and Sonia Delaunay, freed themselves from the tradition of decorative arts. Motivated toward making a clean break from the past and struggling against objects in style, the artists of the Union proclaimed, through actions, everything that still today constitutes the basis of the functionalist movement; stating and implementing the spirit of Modernity. Since the middle of the 19th century the most important and truly creative arts have come from advanced groups like UAM; the mass of derivative and mediocre art soon fades, leaving only the daring work that remains vital due to its unique vision.

C: Can you discuss a specific cultural or historical reference that inspired your recent collectible design work?

ADT: At the Studio, we like to study the past. Our collection has roots in the romanticism of Art Deco and the plasticity of Modernist designs. Still, it has been updated and reshaped with a more sculptural, utilitarian, almost brutalist style for the modern collector.

C: Can you talk about a new collection you released for COLLECTIBLE this year?

ADT: The TRANSATLANTIQUE furniture collection by Anthony Guerrée for Atelier de Troupe refers to the French Ocean Liners of the 1930s by the "Transatlantique" company that linked France to New York. With nods to Art Deco, clean and radical designs and luxurious finishes.

Our ALEXANDRE armchair, LAFAYETTE table, and ATLANTIQUE screen symbolize the artistic exchange maintained with Guerrée’s French studio and the US-based Atelier de Troupe, accompanied by the ABALONE vase series by Emilie Halpern's Los Angeles studio.

C: How do collaborations with artisans or craftspeople influence the final outcome of your collectible design pieces?

ADT: Aligning with artists who share common values and vision, especially with respect to materiality, allows Atelier de Troupe to expand the bridge between past and future while connecting the modern world through design.  

C: What have you been up to recently? What are the next projects/exhibitions you wish to highlight?

ADT: I am currently most excited to finalize the renovation of an apartment in the West Village, which I intend to use as an auxiliary space that hosts rotating artists' works and showcases Atelier de Troupe's ability to fully customize all fixtures.