Boutique Design - July 2013 - 24

HAUTE
WORLDS
Art and fashion take center stage in boutique hotels
from small-town America to Asian gateways.

BENTONVILLE, ARK., and Bangkok,

Thailand, are worlds apart on a
variety of levels. Bentonville, population 36,000, is best known as the
home base of Wal-Mart, which
started as a small-town discount
store and grew into the world’s largest
retailer. Bangkok, by contrast, is an
exotic Asian capital that has evolved
in recent years into a regional business hub that’s home to 8 millionplus residents. Nonetheless, those
two disparate locales are home to two
new hotels that reflect the growing
impact of art and fashion on what
makes world-beating interior design.
On the fashion side, Sofitel
wanted to make a major splash with
the opening of the second member
of its luxury Sofitel So brand. The
French giant’s new boutique hotel
flag involves the collaboration of
an internationally known fashion
designer or artist in the design of
each property. To help make that
happen in Bangkok, the hotelier
brought in French couturier Christian Lacroix as the signature designer.
24

boutiquedesign.com JULY + AUGUST 2013

Lacroix created murals, mobiles,
uniforms and an emblem for the
hotel. All those items incorporate
interpretations of the traditional five
elements of Oriental philosophy—
water, earth, wood, metal and fire—
along with some colorful and quirky
twists by the designer.
Serving as the foundation for
Lacroix’s contributions to the hotel’s
design is his “Tree of Life” emblem.
Featuring a rainbow of colors, Lacroix
says the graphic element is “an Asianinspired reinterpretation of an ancient
symbol found in nature in both the
East and West. It perfectly epitomizes
the essence of the Sofitel So Bangkok
by being rooted in its locale, while
growing upward and outward.”

1 To help create an energetic vibe at
the Club Signature at the Soﬁtel So
Bangkok, Christian Lacroix intermixed
images and motifs of old Siam and
19th century France, along with an
oh-so-modern color mural bearing
stylized ﬁgures of women shoppers.

C O U R T E S Y O F S O F I T E L S O B A N G KO K (1, 2 , 3 )

BY MAT THEW HALL

http://www.boutiquedesign.com

Boutique Design - July 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Boutique Design - July 2013

Boutique Design - July 2013
Contents
From the Editor
In This Issue
The Buzz
The Edge
Haute Worlds
A Perfect Match
Mashups and Remixes
Products: Flooring
Products: Outdoor Furniture
Last Detail
Boutique Design - July 2013 - Intro
Boutique Design - July 2013 - Boutique Design - July 2013
Boutique Design - July 2013 - Cover2
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 1
Boutique Design - July 2013 - Contents
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 3
Boutique Design - July 2013 - From the Editor
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 5
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 6
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 7
Boutique Design - July 2013 - In This Issue
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 9
Boutique Design - July 2013 - The Buzz
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 11
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 12
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 13
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 14
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 15
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 16
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 17
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 18
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 19
Boutique Design - July 2013 - The Edge
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 21
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 22
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 23
Boutique Design - July 2013 - Haute Worlds
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 25
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 26
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 27
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 28
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 29
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 30
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 31
Boutique Design - July 2013 - A Perfect Match
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 33
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 34
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 35
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 36
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 37
Boutique Design - July 2013 - Mashups and Remixes
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 39
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 40
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 41
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 42
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 43
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 44
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 45
Boutique Design - July 2013 - Products: Flooring
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 47
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 48
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 49
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 50
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 51
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 52
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 53
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 54
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 55
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 56
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 57
Boutique Design - July 2013 - Products: Outdoor Furniture
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 59
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 60
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 61
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 62
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 63
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 64
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 65
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 66
Boutique Design - July 2013 - 67
Boutique Design - July 2013 - Last Detail
Boutique Design - July 2013 - Cover3
Boutique Design - July 2013 - Cover4
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