India Mahdavi
Manufacture des Emaux de Longwy
India Mahdavi, an Iranian-born French architect, designer and scenographer, lives and works in Paris. Created in 2000, her studio is known for the diversity of its international projects, which explore the fields of architecture, interior design, scenography, furniture and object design. India Mahdavi is celebrated for creating unique settings that combine a modern sense of comfort and elegance with colour and humour: a playful art de vivre, pop and intercultural. All based in one single street, rue Las Cases, her two showrooms and project room display her exclusive collection of high-end furniture and home accessories, as well as an extensive program of exhibitions and occasional cartes blanches. Polyglot and polychrome, as she likes to describe herself, India Mahdavi has established her style and vision on the contemporary through a very special vocabulary that is all at once joyful, cosmopolite and elegant.
The Manufacture des Emaux de Longwy has been producing artistic ceramics since 1798. The factory became famous after the visit of Emperor Napoleon I, who ordered from Longwy the dinner services for the Maisons d’Éducation de la Légion d’Honneur. In 1835, the d’Huart family acquired the ceramics factory and made it prosper throughout the 19th century. Around 1870 – at the height of the vogue for all things Oriental and in response to growing imports from Japan and China – the ceramist of Italian origin Amédée de Carenza was hired to run Longwy, bringing his exclusive ideas with him: the first Longwy enamels were born, soon to become famous all over the world. Today the factory preserves its historic know-how and spreads it at an international level, working with important designers and happily embracing the culture of design. The Manufacture des Emaux de Longwy 1798 is now part of the Manufactures EMBLEM group.