Timeless architect, Rémi Tessier loves the audacity of perfection, the ultimate emotion of beauty and the ethereal feel that we call the “soul” of a place.
Spaces, justly, lie at the very heart of his work. Whether he is drawing the outlines or dressing them with his own furniture, Rémi Tessier dedicates his life to imagine pure and modern spaces where functionality remains harmoniously uncompromised by aesthetics.
As a cabinetmaker, trained by the “Compagnons du Devoir” for eight years, infatuated by materials and subtle proportions, the designer imagined, at first, the interiors of luxury boutiques before focusing on private developments. His insatiable curiosity naturally urged him towards new challenges, from private residences to interior design of both sailing and motor yachts. Self-taught, he learns the secrets of this blue ribbon vocabulary, demanding no limits, pushing techniques to the extreme, where each individual millimetre calls for reflection.
As soon as he took his first steps into the yachting world, Rémi Tessier was entrusted with designing the interiors for a handful of the world’s most spectacular yachts, earning him numerous international awards. Just a few years later, this man stands among the world’s most elite and decorated yacht designers. Yet, despite this success he has never undermined his original philosophy: ‘the client remains the guideline to every step’. In fact, Tessier’s designs are envisaged during his first client meetings, where he translates the clients’ personality to form a unique blue print in the space. The timeless elegance in each design is immersed in this personality, while the designer’s touch is profoundly implicit: in the details of a grand atrium, the precision of an elegant curvature or in the sophisticated accuracy of a mechanism, not dissimilar to the meticulous skills in watch making.
From his past as a cabinetmaker, Rémi Tessier has preserved a love of precision and a taste for rare materials. The man willingly defines himself as a craftsman of extreme luxury, whom thinks and rethinks elegance within places, where technicalities mingle ceremoniously with pleasure and well-being. Wood is ever present in his work and used in many facets. Driftwood, sanded, polished, brushed, waxed, discoloured; he does not cease to play with natural textures, so as to improve the reflection of light or to allure a sensual touch. Rémi Tessier has abandoned convention through mixing simple woods with precious ones, confidently uniting maple and ebony, and combining natural elements, such as woven leather, etched glass or palladium. Depending on the selected material, Tessier surrounds himself with the very best craftsmen in that field, in order to provide limitless possibilities and guarantee rigorous technical expertise.
A contemporary art lover, he aims to compose refined and harmonious perspectives. The importance of art is greatly impacted by Rémi’s lighting, which he uses to reveal details and textures thus providing sensory and intimate comforts. Whether natural or artificial, his subtly intuitive understanding of light is always evident in his work. For Rémi Tessier, the manipulation of light is a continual process; he strives to develop new technologies with light designers and with the help of their research establishes new ways to enhance space, often through imperceptible sources.
Based in Paris, Rémi Tessier now heads an international team of fifteen. These designers offer more than just their complementary skills and qualifications, for savoir-faire and client-tailored service are at the pinnacle of demand in his studio, which now, as well as yachts, develops large residences, private jets and exclusive hand-made haute couture furniture lines. Each project is completely unique to the one before, in order to guarantee aesthetes worldwide the satisfaction of a truly bespoke service.
1964: born in Paris, January 2nd
1979: begins his apprenticeship with the Tour de France of trade guilds as a cabinetmaker
1987: graduates from the Tour de France of trade guilds and settles in Lyon
1988: sets up his own design studio (Dernier Etage)
2000: designs his first yacht interior
2003: « Squall » - 52 metres sailing yacht
« Best Sail Interior » Award, part of the International Superyacht Design Awards
2006: « Parsifal » - 54 metres sailing yacht
« Best Sailing Yacht Interior » Award, as part of the Show Boat Awards 2006
« Interior Designer of the Year » Award, as part of the World Superyacht Awards 2006
2008: « Salute » - 56 metres sailing yacht
« Best Yacht Interior » Award, as part of the Superyacht society design Award 2008
2010: « Riela » – 56 metres sailing yacht,
« Best Sailing Yacht Interior » Award, as part of the World Superyacht Awards 2010
2011: « Zefira » - 50 metres sailing yacht
« Sailing Yacht of the Year » Award, as part of the World Superyacht Awards 2011
2011: launches his own furniture collection, and opens a showroom in Paris 8e, located at 4, rue de Ponthieu, in the same building as his design studio