The crystal maker’s new Marcel Wanders collection joins its heritage designs to celebrate a milestone
Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL
BACCARAT is launching its first-ever pop-up stateside in Costa Mesa, open through September 4, as part of the French crystal maker’s ongoing 260-year celebration. The immersive exhibition, Discovering Enchantment, situated inside the South Coast Plaza, includes an array of heritage designs from beloved collections like Mille Nuits, with subtly alternating stripes; Harcourt, based on Napoleonic codes; Zenith chandeliers with 19th-century roots; and Louxor bar pieces inspired by ancient Egypt and its architecture. Joining them are nine new Marcel Wanders creations on display in the United States for the first time. The tables, vases, bowls, and more devised by the inventive Dutch architectural, interior, and industrial designer combine marble and crystal using reflective geometric cuts that blend codes of Baccarat’s past with fresh avant-garde innovations dreamed up for the future.
In another room, a bright orange ball of fire becomes an intricately braided transparent rope across screens surrounding viewers, and sparkling crystal facets reflect off floors as part of the pop-up’s digital component called Alchemy, The Immersive Experience. Artisans who train for 15 years before working on the house’s crystal can be seen firing, cutting, and polishing pieces that become glasses, candlesticks, or elements of chandeliers. Shot at the French house’s ateliers in France, the film details the durability and brilliant transparency of its designs and the skills of those who craft them. Following the exhibition, such works will soon be on display in the house’s new Costa Mesa boutique, slated to debut later this fall. 3333 Bristol St., South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, 714-435-9600; baccarat.com.
August 28, 2024
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