In times of flux and friction, there’s comfort to be found in celebrating endurance. Such was our feeling on learning that Ralph Pucci, the esteemed New York mannequin designer-and-fabricator-turned-gallerist, would be hosting a large show for Parisian artist-designer Hervé Van der Straeten, to celebrate 20 years of their collaboration. In the somewhat fickle frippery of the contemporary design landscape, this is a partnership of heavyweights, which we wholeheartedly applaud.
Van der Straeten pitched up on Pucci’s doorstep two decades ago in the hope of capturing the New Yorker’s eye with his work. The young Parisian was not long into furniture design himself, having moved from jewellery into the burgeoning field of collectible design. Serendipity played its part. Pucci happened to be emerging from an elevator when he met Van der Straeten, who persuaded him to look at his portfolio. Eyes and heart alighted on the work. A first show was quickly pulled together, which sold out in a week (despite Pucci’s formidable mother warning it wouldn’t sell). As they say, the rest was history.
