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GEN X FRED PINEL AND THE FUTURE OF LUXURY DESIGN
“Customization with luxe brands today is ‘de la poudre au yeux,’ translated as ‘a lot of hype.’ They have lost their total credibility in this domain.” So said Fred Pinel, founder of Pinel & Pinel, at the start of my recent interview with him. I knew right then that I would be in for some serious surprises from this Gen-X designer.
We met in his atelier right at the foot of Montmartre, in a small street that reflects the secretive feeling of a new luxury brand. When you enter the showroom, the sensuous smell of leather mingles with the hundreds of colors that are Pinel & Pinel’s hallmark, radiating an energy that makes the luxury goods on display feel like a part of the future and not the past. Let’s call it new luxury.
In contrast to major brands like Vuitton, which have walked away from their tradition of creating customized luggage and trunks for the exclusive few, Pinel has made this the foundation of his craft. Looking at his client list, which includes Gucci’s Francois Pinault, soccer star Ronaldo, Michael Jordan, and diverse commercial brands such as Nike, Piaget and Krug, I started to muse that this underground brand with a strong Internet presence might be capturing an untapped segment of the market that longs for customized design, imagination and craftsmanship.
Pinel is a prototypical Gen-Xer. He has a passion for entrepreneurship, a need to break the rules, a desire to be known for something unusual, and ultimately, a love of his craft and all things authentic. Five years ago, he started his atelier with just a handful of people. After a solid career in advertising, he had done what any Gen-Xer worth his or her salt would do – he changed direction and learned a new trade, following his passion for making luggage. This interest came at an early age, when he found some antique famous-name luggage in his grandmother’s attic and decided to break it apart to understand its components, before putting it all back together perfectly. This experience was one he promised himself to return to one day, and now this dream has been realized.
“Modern travel is spiritual as well as real. A trunk is not just a functional object you take away with you, but could be a symbol of travel in your own home. This new type of furniture might stay with you but at the same time constantly take you on a journey,” Fred explained, showing me one of his first creations, a trunk designed as a mini garden for Bonsai trees. In this way, the trunk becomes a symbol that helps you connect with the emotions you feel when on an adventure of discovery. You can see this in another one of his creations, a small trunk that holds the famous Brompton folding bicycle, a whimsical project that he had long wanted to do.
This is where the creative juice comes in. As soon as you redefine the object to connect to an emotional experience, you break the boundaries of its usage and make it a symbol of our human need to escape. “It could also be an object that helps you travel through your life with fond memories,” Fred added. “Take this trunk for a two year old baby, with its mystery drawers where the child can hide his shoes or other personal things. This trunk will stay with that person forever, even to be passed on to another generation.” I realized that I was hearing something different from this designer. His work is not just about aesthetics or selling stuff but perpetuating a tradition, stimulating people in their imagination, and helping them realize a dream even if only virtually.
And Fred’s atelier is truly a place of dreams come true, a place where there is no limit on how far you can think and create quality innovation. A picnic trunk with a lid that converts into a table is yet another example, a “picnic without concession,” as Fred likes to say. Among the many items included in the trunk are an Isotherm container that keeps ice for 24 hours, handmade plates and cups from cold porcelain master Rena Menardi, steel and glass containers from WMF, a Bounds salt and pepper grinder with three grind settings, an Alfi thermos, and a cashmere plaid blanket for comfort on the grass. And, of course, you have drawers for your Krug champagne and crystal flutes to match.
His accessories show the same creative spirit. His bag “The Kilt,” inspired by the famous Scottish apparel, has a small purse on the side that can be detached and customized in various colors. His custom-made crocodile shoes for Nike are unique and special, and to design them he completely disassembled an original Nike shoe and put it back together in the most precise manner. “Customization of a model, limited to a single person and not to be seen on anyone else, is the true spirit of luxury and a trade that has disappeared,” says Fred. His design talent is being recognized in other applications now, such as a new knife design commissioned by Hyatt for its luxury hotels, and his latest trunk, an homage to Mies van der Rohe.
After five years in his 8,000-square-foot atelier, Fred and his 15 craftsmen continue to carry out his dream of pleasing those who can’t be easily pleased. Being a craftsman is not an easy task, but if you look around Paris today you can see a variety of shops, from patisseries to boulangeries, that are renewing the science of the handmade and the mystique of one-of-a-kind experiences. People are seeking out this human touch, another example of which is Etsy.com, the successful website where artists and craftspeople sell truly compelling handmade goods. It seems we are looking more and more for symbols that can offer us an escape, to take us away from the processed life we get led into.
The Web helped Fred launch his business, but he is quick to note that his generation was born to it and the possibilities it created. Gen-Xers want fix the world, and even if they can’t, they will at least try to bring back to it an element of sanity and authenticity. After all, the original purpose of branding was to tell a real story in a compelling way, not to inspire fake dreams of a reality that doesn’t exist anymore. Gen-X might then have an alternative message to inspire us, a message of truth.
Anybody can indulge themselves with something from Pinel & Pinel, from a purse or wrist cuffs to summer shoes, bags, dog leashes, cigar holders (including an innovative cigar box with a unique humidification system), belts with a uniquely designed buckle for improved fit, and credit card holders in hundreds of colors. But if you are truly fortunate and money is not an object, this designer can help you realize any dream that can be made with crocodile skin, leather, wood and brass.
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