I invite you to discover my story through a series of episodes - from 1 to 13.
They trace fragments of experiences, encounters and creations that have shaped my approach and nourish my universe today.
Episode 1
MY BEGINNINGS
After graduating from the École des Beaux-Arts in Saint-Étienne and ENSAD in Paris, I had an early desire to cross disciplines: furniture design, scenography, interior architecture... I chose ENSAD with this in mind; its director, Richard Peduzzi, valued multidisciplinarity.
I've always sought to explore design differently: as a space for encounters between disciplines, cultures and materials. My early experiences led me to work with Ron Arad in London, and in the agencies of Jean Nouvel, Kristian Gavoille, Christophe Pillet and Nelly Rodi.
Each of these encounters has broadened my outlook and shaped the way I think about space and creation.
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Episode 2
FIRST PROJECTS
Very early on, I felt the need to assert my own path: to experiment and create. Here are some of my first creations.
Alongside my role as project manager in various interior design agencies, I designed lighting fixtures for Habitat, imagined scenographies for the VIA, collaborated with Shu Uemura, and designed furniture for the SNCF VIP lounges.
Since my early days, a fascination has accompanied me: innovative materials or materials diverted from their function, reacting to light, capable of arousing emotion. Thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture, the City of Paris and VIA, I've been able to develop creations that explore the relationship between body and space, in a hybrid approach, between art and design.
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Episode 3
EXPOSITION CHARNIÈRE
My first solo show, at Galerie Public> in Paris in 1999, was a seminal event. In this emerging, high-profile art venue, I sealed my desire to build bridges between disciplines.
I present furniture pieces conceived as scenographic installations, capable of evolving and dialoguing with other art forms as the exhibition progresses. To give substance to this dialogue, I invite several artists to a collaboration where performance interacts with my pieces: musician Joana Preiss and Vincent Epplay, choreographer Christian Rizzo, stylist Shinichiro Arakawa, ... and Françoise Darmon for a design encounter. A high point where disciplines cross and confront each other without borders.
"... Fashion, art, architecture, design, music, dance, set design and video are all different disciplines, but at the same time, and sometimes in the same space, they invent identical modes of enunciation. Exposure, confrontation, confrontation, marking a stage, as if to better explore new ways of envisioning and practicing modernity..."- Gilles de Bure, excerpt from the exhibition catalog.
VOIR - Public gallery exhibition
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Episode 4
FIRST STEP IN JAPAN
Shock and revelation - In 2000, I left for Tokyo for my first project, driven by a deep passion for Japan. It was a total immersion, a vertigo, and a transformation that left a deep impression on me.
I designed the architecture for a hairdressing salon in the heart of Aoyama; this trip was a real revelation. On my return to France, all I could think about was REPARTIRING. So I dared. I set off alone, without any contacts, without speaking the language, without any concrete plans... but with the firm determination to carry out projects in Japan.
Immersion is a real culture shock. In Tokyo, the names of subway stations were still written only in Japanese, tourism was almost non-existent, and very few foreigners lived in Japan.
I felt dizzy in the face of this new world, but also immensely excited: that of the quest for the unknown.
Japan transformed me. It taught me to look differently, to perceive the delicacy of gestures, shapes and materials, to apprehend time and space differently... to welcome beauty in every detail.
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Episode 5
ABSENCE" EXHIBITION
Explore space differently: an exhibition where movement generates sound, and visitors become actors in the work.
I pursue my quest for space by imagining scenographic objects and installations that convey meaning, always in dialogue with artists from different horizons.
In 2002, I presented this exhibition at the Rocket Gallery in Tokyo. I conceive an experience that explores the relationship between design, space and sound. The structures architect the space, suggesting the environment, and the visitor's movement triggers interactive sound compositions. I then invited Slipped Disc, the duo of Japanese composer Keiichiro Shibuya, to imagine this sonic immersion. Visitors find themselves immersed in a new perception of space, where their bodies become actors in the work.
SEE - Galerie Rocket exhibition
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Episode 6
Poetic Landscape" EXHIBITION
When light and technology become poetic. My FRAME award-winning installation Poetic Landscape.
In the same quest as my previous exhibitions, in 2004 I explored new technologies through an installation presented at Tokyo Designers Block.
I design hybrid block-objects/sculptures on the border between art and design, incorporating LED video technology. Their horizontal and vertical surfaces become animated screens, combining abstract and figurative images in motion.
This LED-lit scenography showcases clothing and accessories from the Frapbois fashion brand.
In collaboration with video artist Virginie Lavey, this installation takes on a poetic, sensory dimension, where light, image and material interact in a single work.
The project was awarded the prize for best installation by the international magazine FRAME.
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Episode 7
INTENSE YEARS IN JAPAN - A MAJOR TURNING POINT
Ten years of collaboration with HERMÈS in Japan. And a major turning point: the creation of the prestigious boutique RESTIR boutique in Tokyo Ginza.
Nothing was easy: I had to gain the trust and respect of the Japanese, immerse myself in a totally different culture and prove myself step by step.
In the early years, I co-founded the Postnormal studio with other designers, then opened my own design studio, Laur Meyrieux Studio.
I had the good fortune to work with Hermès, on the merchandising direction of their 40 store windows across Japan, as well as on the scenography of numerous events. This wonderful collaboration will continue for the next ten years.
In 2005, I was offered an ambitious project: the brand concept and interior architecture of the Restir boutique, 500 m² in the luxury district of Ginza.
For this multi-brand fashion boutique, I created a dark scenographic universe where every noble material interacts with light. The façade, a veritable black box glazed over two floors, plays with reflections; interior and exterior light transform the space throughout the day. I imagined every detail: the architectural concept, the furniture, the lighting fixtures, right down to the door handles. Walls, too, become creative elements with unique wallpapers.
My heartfelt thanks go to Takashita-san, president of Restir at the time, for his audacity and absolute confidence.
This project was a huge media and commercial success, marking a turning point in my career in Japan and confirming my desire to think of space as an immersive, total experience.
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Episode 8
INTENSE YEARS IN JAPAN - WHEN LIGHT BECOMES ARCHITECTURE
A lighting installation, a sensory experience at Ebisu Garden Place, enjoyed by over 150,000 visitors.
These years in Japan enabled me to explore what drives me: inventing sensitive worlds. In 2005, I was invited to design a scenographic installation open to the general public, in the heart of Ebisu Garden Place, Tokyo.
I'm designing an installation for an immersive sensory experience: an architecture of light that seems to stretch into infinity, accompanied by images and an enveloping sound space.
I've invited video artist Virginie Lavey, whose images structure and extend the space, and musician Aoki Takamasa, who is composing an original sound creation. His music accompanies the scenography and sets the pace for a unique moment in time.
An experience in which light, sound and space interact to create a living work of art. The installation meets with great public acclaim, attracting over 150,000 visitors.
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Episode 9
INTENSE YEARS IN JAPAN - BOUTIQUE RESTIR, WHERE LUXURY BECOMES EXPERIENCE
Tokyo Roppongi Midtown
The success of the first Restir boutiques paved the way for new projects. In 2007, the Tokyo Roppongi Midtown luxury boutique (a 1,000 m² space) was born.
I conceived the brand's identity and experiential concept upstream of the architecture, with the ambition of redefining the codes of contemporary luxury. Everything is imagined as a sensitive journey, where light, materials and space interact to create an immersive atmosphere.
The entire project is designed down to the smallest detail: interior architecture, furniture, lighting and decorative elements. Each component contributes to a coherent, scenographic and refined experience.
From the outside, the store reveals itself with mystery: no traditional display windows, but a facade animated by a large LED screen.
An avant-garde innovation in 2007, which has since become a code of contemporary retailing. Noble materials, play of light, shades of black and modular volumes punctuate the discovery, giving the place an almost theatrical intensity.
The opening was in collaboration with Chanel Haute Couture, which presented exclusive pieces.
An exceptional project, marking a decisive step in my thinking about space as an emotional and sensory language.
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Episode 10
INTENSE YEARS IN JAPAN - A FASHION BOUTIQUE DESIGNED AS AN ARTIST'S STUDIO IN MOTION
In 2006, I was given a new challenge: to imagine the global concept of a boutique, designing the brand image, interior architecture, furniture, graphic identity and selection of fashion collections.
This is how the Olifj boutique was born, in Tokyo - Nakameguro.
I'm inspired by the intimate atmosphere of an artist's studio. The long tables and steles are reminiscent of a sculptor's studio, serving as showcases for the accessories.
The walls become surfaces for artistic and evolving composition, where images, words, textures and garments hang - like a living, constantly evolving work of art.
I draw the material: brush marks, drips, wefts, wear and tear effects on furniture, walls and fabrics, giving the space a sensitive texture.
On the display window, an image of cherry blossom branches casts its shadow and blends with the golden dripping painting on the floor.
Together, they give the store a raw, precious and timeless dimension.
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Episode 11
IN THE SILENCE OF JAPAN - THE GESTURE BEGINS ANEW
After the trauma of Fukushima, I left Tokyo for Hong Kong. I return to the material and paint.
In 2011, the Tokyo earthquake and the Fukushima disaster left a deep traumatic impression on me. Tokyo took on the appearance of the end of the world: the city plunged into silence and darkness, streets deserted, supermarkets with empty shelves... And everywhere, the invisible fear of the explosion of the power plant and its radioactive clouds.
After 11 years of living and creating in Japan, I have reluctantly decided to leave Tokyo/Japan, a city and a country that have had a profound impact on my life and creativity.
I move to Hong Kong, a vibrant city of contrasts, between dense urbanity and lush nature. I continue to work with HERMÈS, designing several exhibition scenographies.
It was here, too, that an irrepressible need arose: to get back to the material. I began to paint on natural papers - rice paper, mulberry paper - working with ink, pigments and mineral powders. Japan stays with me: I draw inspiration from the traditional shibori technique to explore matter. I didn't know it at the time; these first paintings would pave the way, a few years later, for my wallpaper collection.
SEE - HERMÈS Christmas installation
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Episode 12
HONG KONG - EXPLORING LEATHER MATERIAL IN ANOTHER WAY: diverting, transforming, reinventing.
I've long been interested in leather as a material.
I've often used it in my interior design projects, with this constant desire to extract it from its framework, to transpose it from the world of fashion to that of design: by embroidering it, hijacking it, exploring its possibilities beyond its initial context.
In 2013, in Hong Kong, the Salon du Cuir entrusted me with a stimulating challenge: to imagine a project around the innovation of leather in contemporary design.
I then became curator, designer and artistic director all rolled into one. I selected international pieces - notably those by Domeau & Pérès, Bill Amberg... - designed the scenography, produced the catalog, and developed my own collection.
For this collection, I chose to work with responsible leather: reinvented scraps, recycled leather, fish leather.
I think, I explore, I reinvent; I look for what the material can tell when treated differently: a sofa draped in sheepskin, a pouf-table in fish leather, braided cushions, sheathed candleholders, a rug in yokes and tattooed leather, wall modules...
Presented at the entrance to the show, the installation welcomed almost 12,000 visitors.
A tactile and poetic space, where materials reveal a different way of creating: freer, more conscious, more intuitive.
SEE - EXHIBITION Live in Leather
Laur Meyrieux collection presents its wallpaper collection and new designs for 2025 at Maison & Objet with the Masamé decorating house.
MAISON & OBJET
Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center
JAN. 16-20 2025