Le Drugstore, Paris
Tom Dixon brings Mad Men style to France.
As of this summer, fans of Tom Dixon Design have a new must-visit destination in Paris: Le Drugstore, a refresh of a former Parisian hotspot (Publicis Drugstore) located street level within the 133 Avenue des Champs-Élysées shopping complex.
The original brassiere was founded by advertising magnate Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet in 1958 with the intent to transfer elements of American-style consumer convenience to Paris bar culture—an all-hours destination, guests ordered items like jewellery, books, cigars, and champagne until two o’clock in the morning. Pierre Dufau designed it with an eye to Madison Avenue.
Dixon (who fondly recalls ordering aspirin at Publicis Drugstore one late night) hoped to keep the focus on sleek convenience alive at Le Drugstore today, saying of the project: “What interested me was to slow people down, to put them at ease.” Spread over 350 square metres, the opulent interior features a library lounge as well as an open kitchen and patisserie that offers a glimpse into the culinary world of triple Michelin-starred chef Éric Fréchon, here serving classic club sandwiches, salmon tartare, and spinach salads.
Interior design marries timber walls with elegant marble, contrasted with splashes of oxblood, racing green, and brass, making for a sultry ambience that references the bar’s heyday years of the sixties—it’s all very Mad Men in Paris complete with views of the Arc de Triomphe. The pièce de résistance is the coffered ceiling, which Dixon originally launched at Milan’s Salone del Mobile in April earlier this year. It bathes the room in a warm, mellow light.
With its understated glamour, Le Drugstore is a perfectly modern homage to the past.
Le Drugstore, 133 Av. des Champs-Élysées, 75008 Paris, France.
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