StudioCé founders Aurélie Lapierre and Célia Jourdheuil.
Courtesy of StudioCé
In France, setting a table is considered such an art form that there are workshops to learn it. But tablescaping? Still something of a foreign concept.
For Célia Jourdheuil and Aurélie Lapierre, it was clear there was a gap in the market. They launched StudioCé six years ago with the aim of raising table design to an art form, by taking care of everything from the food to the plates that it’s served on.
Since then the agency has developed a reputation for orchestrating tailor-made events in prestigious locations for brands including Schiaparelli, Piaget, Givenchy and Chloé.
For beauty company Clé de Peau, StudioCé staged a regal dinner for 100 at the Château de Versailles. For Iris Van Herpen, a more intimate meal for 30 to celebrate her exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, with a custom 52-foot tablecloth dyed to match the surrounding artworks.
At a recent showcase for clients organized in partnership with caterer MPépite and LeBarParis, the official mixologist of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, tables were laid out by theme, with matching food and drinks.
“It’s a bit like our version of haute couture, because this is where we demonstrate our know-how,” Jourdheuil says. “The idea was to show that each table tells a story and that table design is also a form of communication, because it plays well on Instagram and closely reflects the identity of each brand.”
Until recently, tablescaping was not part of the cultural mindset in France, where the etiquette of dining dates back to the court of King Louis XIV.
“For a long time, fine dining experts would say, ‘We have the best food in the world, that’s enough. We don’t need the rest,’” Jourdheuil says. “And we were convinced we needed something extra, to match our gastronomy with a more elaborate décor, so we imported some Anglo-Saxon ideas to France and gave them our own spin.”
They see themselves as directors, and the table as a stage. “We create the set design and then according to the brief, we gather the best people around the table to make sure it’s distinctive and unique — from the porcelain to the glassware and flowers,” Lapierre explains.
In some cases, StudioCé will develop custom tableware. It created honeycomb-inspired crockery for Chaumet’s afternoon tea experience at the Peninsula Paris hotel, inspired by its Bee de Chaumet jewelry collection, and designed a dinner service for Graff that the high jeweler uses for all its formal events.
Jourdheuil and Lapierre share creative duties and enjoy working with houses ranging from Revol, a family-owned porcelain manufacturer founded in 1768, to artists like Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert, winner of the 2019 Liliane Bettencourt Prize for the Intelligence of the Hand.
They commissioned the glassblower to create one-of-a-kind presentation plates for chef Christophe Cussac’s Michelin-starred restaurant Les Ambassadeurs at the Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo.
StudioCé’s custom tableware for Chaumet.
Courtesy of StudioCé
For Jourdheuil, it’s all about bending the rules. “It bothers some people, but we think it’s interesting to play with the codes. We respect them, because there is this traditional French art de vivre, but we twist them and mix in elements of novelty and vintage,” she explains.
“For example, we love to use identical wine glasses, instead of having a larger glass for red wine and a smaller one for white wine, or we’ll use a whisky glass for water,” she says.
“We rarely go for a total look. Most of the time, we like to mix materials and juxtapose things in unexpected ways,” chimes in Lapierre. “The advantage of events is that we can think outside the box because it’s a one-off occasion, and you can really push the details. It’s not something you would do at home.”
Neither woman has a background in luxury. Jourdheuil spent 12 years at Endemol Shine Group, promoting the Miss France beauty contest, while Lapierre came from a pharmaceutical marketing background.
But they both grew up with a traditionally French appreciation for the culinary arts. “Célia is from the Burgundy region, I’m from Champagne, so we love sitting down to eat,” Lapierre says with a laugh.
StudioCé’s boudoir table setting.
Courtesy of StudioCé
These days, they work regularly with top chefs like Alain Ducasse, Yannick Alléno and Thierry Marx, while also creating sets for advertising, editorial shoots and film.
But while catering to the world’s most demanding clientele is a serious business, the StudioCé founders like to think of the table as a playground. Case in point: in a dark tent in a corner of their presentation, a tongue-in-cheek boudoir tableau featured a centerpiece of eggplants and striptease-themed plates.
“That’s a little wink from us to say that the potential is unlimited. When you break free from conventions, you can have endless fun,” Jourdheuil says.