Lalique

Lalique... A brand that expresses French excellence. Its name has such a resonance today that one would almost forget that it is not only a brand but a family name.

The jeweler and jeweller René Lalique (1860-1945) is one of the great names of Art Nouveau and Art Deco. 
His glass creations have largely marked his time and dressed the most famous women of his time like the actress Sarah Bernhardt. But René Lalique is also a true all-rounder. His creativity led him to design perfume bottles, clocks and even radiator caps for cars.

His first successes came at the age of 24 at the National Exhibition of Industrial Arts. René Lalique then began to work as an independent jeweler for houses such as Georges Fouquet, Aucoc, Boucheron, etc. His jewels are then noticed for their modernity and their freedom of innovation. A spirit that would not be denied at the 1900 Universal Exhibition where his stand attracted crowds who came to admire his Pectoral with a dragonfly. 

Having created his own jewelry, René Lalique plays with floral and animal motifs of the Art Nouveau while borrowing from materials little used at that time their aesthetic qualities to renew a genre. These were glass, of course, but also enamel, mother-of-pearl and semi-precious stones.

After the First World War, René Lalique realized that times and fashion had changed. He reinvents himself and introduces geometry to his creations to become one of the representatives in vogue of the Art Deco style. This approach goes hand in hand with the industrialization of production, which allows him to integrate a wide range of products into the homes of his contemporaries with vases, bowls, candlesticks and perfume bottles.

René Lalique was everywhere, even in the dining room of the liner Normandie... In 1935, he decorated the dining room of the liner Normandie with huge luminous glass columns. 
Glass, always glass... His son Marc Lalique took over from his father in 1945. He turned the company into the world of crystal, further enhancing the brand's reputation and making it a French national treasure.