Aurélie Bidermann’s eponymous jewellery brand was launched in the early 2000s. Now Aurélie designs not only jewellery, but also pieces for the home. She shows us inside her Parisian apartment, where she enjoys entertaining family and friends …
“I’ve always been passionate about the arts, in all their forms; my tastes are quite eclectic,” declares native Parisienne Aurélie Bidermann. “I can be inspired by a trip to Italy or a fleamarket find. I’m open to a host of different things.”
Aurélie wearing solid silver cuffs from her Babylone collection for Christofle.
Aurélie could easily have envisaged a career as an auctioneer. In fact, she studied history of art in Paris and London, and began her career at Sotheby’s New York, before she headed to India and succumbed to the magic of gemstones. Then it was off to Antwerp to specialise in gemology and train in technical drawing. She began making jewellery, and in 2004 she launched her own business. Her first collection, called Charms, featured lucky charm bracelets and necklaces, and would be followed by many more wonderful creations. The brand still exists [you can find it at Electra, in Donnybrook, Dublin 4], but she is no longer involved.
“I like to entertain my friends. Just four guests in the kitchen, or eight in the dining room, when I mix different groups of friends.”
Plates, candle holders, tumblers, and napkin rings from the Babylone collection for Christofle.
Nowadays, Aurélie expresses her creativity through partnerships ranging from jewellery to tableware and home décor. For Christofle, she has designed her Babylone collection, combining dining, home decoration, and jewellery, and based on the recurring motif of curvaceous, silver-plated braids. The collection borrows its paredback lines and graphic elegance from the aesthetic of art deco, but with a femininity, softness, and generosity that are all its own.
In the living room, shades of pale pink, white and gold create a soft, warm atmosphere.
Needless to say, this dinner service is to be found gracing Aurélie’s own table. “I like to entertain my friends. It could be just four guests who come regularly to eat in the kitchen, or eight in the dining room, when I mix different groups of friends. I vary the menu according to whether my guests are vegetarians, vegans, or carnivores.” “These days you have to be flexible,” she laughs. “But mostly it’s fish, which suits most people. My own preference would be for Mediterranean cuisine, but I’m naturally very open-minded.”
In the living room, a vintage coffee table with a rattan base and white lacquer top.
This openness can be seen even in the layout of her Left Bank interior, with its atmosphere of comfortable elegance. Here, an armoire by Jacques Adnet (1900- 1984) sits alongside travel mementoes and fine art photographs. Just a stone’s throw away lies the Jardin du Luxembourg, where Aurélie loves to go for walks with her daughter. A tranquil life but a full one.
Shells, pebbles, and bouquets of dried grasses decorate another coffee table.
From How They Entertain, At Home with the Tastemakers by Pierre Sauvage, published by Flammarion.
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