Christophe Pillet has been designing objects and environments from his eponymous studio in Paris since 1993. Lately, though, he is becoming something of an authority on the “visual” nuances of alcohol by designing places and things that define a somewhat elite ritual of drinking. Earlier this fall Rémy Martin launched Pillet’s Les Lumiéres collection of vessels and presentation pieces for its Louis XIII Cognac. Appropriately, he took his design cues from the interaction between light and his material palette—specifically crystal, stainless steel, acrylic glass. Likewise, for his recent renovation of Bar du Port, a sliver-like 1,600-square-footrestaurant located on the Saint Tropez waterfront—Pillet again looked to the light for inspiration. “We are right in front of this charming harbor, where these super-luxurious yachts are parked and the light is amazing all day long,” he says. “I really wanted this image to come into the space.”
Pillet knows Bar du Port well. When its owner, Gregoire Chaix, inherited his family’s then-37-year-old restaurant in 2000, he hired Pillet to undertake the first renovation of the space since its original opening. At the time, the designer, who spent his childhood in the south of France, wanted to create a counterpoint to the Parisian-looking bistros found all around the port. The result offered a contemporary interpretation of regional style that Pillet calls “peaceful, silent, and in keeping with Saint Tropez.” Just seven years later, he recalls, “We decided we were bored, and Gregoire wanted something more powerful and international in style—for those party people who sail in from Russia and the U.S.” The “new” bar reopened this past March, marking the start of Saint Tropez’s high season.
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