ALEXANDRE DE BETAK has been designing fashion shows for the past 25 years: from Dior in Moscow’s Red Square to Tiffany’s in Beijing’s Forbidden City. The last Jacquemus show staged in a wheat field outside of Paris? That was the work of his creative agency, Bureau Betak. In a regular non-pandemic year, the agency might conceptualise and stage 100 productions for both new designers and veterans alike, up-and-coming and heritage brands (among them, John Galliano, Michael Kors, Rodarte), on gigantic presentations and smaller, more thoughtful shows. After over 20 years based in New York, de Betak is back in Paris, the city he grew up in, although Bureau Betak still retains an office in in New York, along with Shanghai and Los Angeles.
Today, we’re looking at his design work for his Left Bank Paris apartment that he shares with wife Sofia (an Argentine, graphic designer, creative director and style influencer known Chufy), and daughter Sakura. What began as a former 17th-century hôtel particulier that housed offices, de Betak stripped down to the framework, creating a home of four separate units on three floors. The result is a beautiful eclectic bohemian mix of styles and times⏤white rustic ceiling beams offset dark elegant wooden parquet de Versailles; contemporary furniture such as Mario Bellini’s Camaleonda pieces intermingle with Pierre Augustin Rose Minotaure armchair (all reupholstered in the same heavy blouclé) and flea market finds and antiques mix with marble, wicker, terracotta and stunning trelliage. Scroll through for a glimpse…
via WSJ Magazine
Above, the stunning winter garden with its beautiful trelliage and climbing plants, where de Betak’s wife Sofía set up her home office during the pandemic.
Above: The custom open kitchen includes a spiral staircase made of white gesso plaster that passes through all three floors of the former hôtel particulier.
Above: Every one of de Batek’s homes have secret passageways and a party room. The party room in this Paris apartment is located in the basement, and takes the form of a nightclub, which the designer has named Betak Clandestino.
