Family
Laure de Sagazan’s Warm and Cozy Family Apartment
)
At
Laure de Sagazan and Edouard de Fraguier, Joseph 7, Marceau 6 and Pio, 3 years old
The wedding dress—an iconic symbol of the big day—is designed to highlight grace and beauty. But for the designer, it’s more than just fabric and stitches. Creating this emblem of celebration demands a keen sense of femininity, a deep well of empathy—even psychological intuition—and, of course, boundless creativity. Who hasn’t felt a mix of excitement and anxiety during those endless fittings, obsessed over every detail of the silhouette, or feared smudging the precious fabric with a brush of powder or a streak of mascara? And then, there’s the anticipation of that moment—the first glance, the first reaction, from the bride, the partner, and everyone else. When we set out to meet Laure de Sagazan, the renowned bridal designer, we pictured someone larger-than-life—perhaps a Miranda Priestly type with a flair for high drama or a delicate, Austen-like figure come to life. We couldn’t have been more wrong. Laure is refreshingly down-to-earth, with a warm, direct gaze and a hint of tomboy charm that makes her instantly likable. She welcomed us into her bustling home, where the joyful chaos of her three sons and the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee—courtesy of her husband, Edouard de Fraguier, the strategic mind behind their brand—set the tone. Their bright, lively apartment, filled with holiday cheer, made the perfect backdrop for our conversation.
Location
Paris
Author
Elsa Cau
Photos and videos
Jeanne Perrotte
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
TSF
Laure, Edouard, who are you?
Laure
That's a huge topic! I'm 38 and I chose the very feminine world of fashion, despite a constant male influence since childhood, since I only had brothers and no sisters. And this mix has hardly changed, since I'm now married and mother to three boys. Yet I chose to break this pattern, working for women and surrounded by women. In the studio, there's no gender parity, there are about 35 girls... I have a life in two rooms, two atmospheres!
Edouard
For me, it's the other way around. In the studio, I'm one man surrounded by women! I'm 40 years old, I love traveling, wide open spaces and water sports. I love the idea of making beautiful things in our Parisian studio, of promoting French know-how internationally, and of doing it all as a family.
TSF
What are your respective backgrounds?
Laure
I studied fashion design before working for 3 years in ready-to-wear in Paris for Ba&sh, and soon realized that there might be something new to offer in the wedding dress sector. Édouard, my trusty sidekick, pushed me in this direction. We started out together 13 years ago, creating our own brand of wedding dresses.
Edouard
I, on the other hand, studied Economics in Paris. I worked in financial audit consulting, then organization consulting in an American firm. After a few years, we took the first steps to establishing Laure de Sagazan together. I held onto my job for two years before committing to the studio full time. It's been just over 10 years now.
TSF
How did you get into wedding dresses, Laure?
Laure
It's funny because I didn't think I had any predisposition for wedding dresses. It wasn't a clothing genre that really inspired me. When we cleaned out our family home, rummaging in the attic, I found my first wedding dress collections: designed when I was ten!
TSF
What are the ins and outs of being together in the city, on set, and the rest?
Laure
It takes organization, that's for sure! When Edouard arrived, we were working with a four-colour Bic pen and with paper planner. He forced us to have meetings and shared planners (laughs). We had to make sure we were all on the same page. That same month, we bought our first apartment, got married, and started working together! We made sure we both kept our independence. In the morning, we head off to work separately. We don't wait for each other to go to work, or to come home after. And then, we work in quite separate areas in the studio.
Édouard
Yes, we allow each other freedom of movement and action. We can go days without seeing each other, and we have a golden rule: only talk about work during the day, never in the evening or at weekends.
TSF
What environment did you grow up in, and how did it influence your vision of interior design?
Laure
I grew up in Lille in a family that seems quite traditional on paper. But I had a pretty crazy father, so it was a fun and lively atmosphere, just like childhood itself! My father had us very late and didn't like living by the book. Coming from a rather classical background, I ended up having quite a rock'n'roll childhood! My parents used to go bargain hunting a lot and take us to flea markets and such. They accumulated a lot of stuff. Later on, I went against the grain with a desire to declutter and minimalize. By the same token, it gave me a taste for objects that have lived, that have a patina, that are imperfect. I hate anything too smooth, whether it's people or decor!
Edouard
I was born in Paris. I grew up near Grenoble, at the foot of the mountains. With lots of sports and wide open spaces. Then I spent my college years in Versailles before returning to Paris. My maternal grandparents built a house in Brittany with an architect, Le Flanchec, a disciple of Le Corbusier. The house, which I love, is very atypical, built in a quarry, with lots of play of light thanks to bay windows, skylights and wood. You really feel like you're in nature and we actually organized a shoot there for one of our collections in 2015.
)
)
)
In the family living room, our
sits alongside designer pieces and vintage finds.
)
)
On the sideboard, our
complements every season and any interior!
)
)
)
)
)
)
TSF
What atmosphere did you want to create in this apartment?
Laure
First of all, we really wanted to choose the right place. In less than ten years, we had moved four or five times. Here, the aim was to be in a central location, close to everything: work, daycare, school, shops, etc. And that's what we found. We had a hard time leaving a very quirky apartment with a lot of character, but we needed something bigger. An essential criterion was to be on the second floor so as not to limit our three boys in making noise! And they are loud, I promise you (laughs). So it was a reasonable apartment, not necessarily one that takes your breath away, but one we'll be staying in for a few years before the next one...
Edouard
We'll see about that! Truth is, as soon as it's almost done, you're bored and already looking at something else... All the while imposing constraints as time goes by. With three children to move, it's a different set of logistics than we'd had to deal with in the past. Not to mention the need to anchor ourselves in a neighborhood.
TSF
Has having children changed your view of interior design?
Laure
It encourages you to let go and accept imperfection and mess. We probably wouldn't have done the same shoot five years ago. Now it's more spontaneous, more imperfect. The Rotondo sofa is put to the test by children who walk on it like they were on a tightrope or who lounge around on it all day long, and it holds up superbly!
TSF
In any case, three boys must have changed your daily routine!
Laure
At the moment, everything seems simpler because our youngest is three years old. Up until now, we'd been on a roll, especially with our boys, who are only 18 months apart.
Edouard
We're also lucky enough to work together and have a certain flexibility in how we organize our days. We deliberately simplified all the logistics.
Laure
But also that means accepting imperfection: things do go wrong, things don't run as smoothly as you'd like. I mean, I think we love this mess, this whirlwind that's all around us. We wouldn't change that much.
TSF
Can you tell us about some of your favorite objects here?
Laure
I bought this large lamp on the living room floor 15 years ago for 20 euros on Leboncoin (a kind of French Craigslist)! I begged my mother to pick it up for me, since she was deep in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. For the past fifteen years, it's been the first object I've set up in every apartment.
TSF
There's a little Far Eastern influence here too.
Laure
It's very poetic, the furniture is Japanese, Chinese. And I find it helps create a very gentle, lively atmosphere.
Edouard
I love my Wassily armchairs, which I picked up in Brussels. But it's true that it's Laure who sets the general ambiance.
Laure
The boys have a hand in it too! Marceau with his wallpaper, Joseph with painting his bedroom, etc. Then again, of course, if we listened to them, there'd be nothing but Ninja Turtle posters...
)
)
)
)
In his room, Pio's temporary installation, created especially for the photographs...
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
TSF
So what are your latest news?
Laure
We opened our own showroom in Brussels last year, and just last month duplicated the model in Barcelona! We're continuing to expand, adding this new store to our twenty or so points of sale, mainly made up of resellers. We've also been developing our children's line, Détours par Laure de Sagazan, for a few years now. It's a wonderful playground to create little children's rooms with retro charm, for special moments.
TSF
What do you think of The Socialite Family?
Laure
It's a medium I love. The gateway to unknown territories, worlds sometimes new, sometimes more familiar. It's an exciting playground, a little exploration every time.
TSF
Do you have one or more favorite pieces from our collection?
Laure & Edouard
We obviously love the
which we've had in leopard print in the living room for a few years now. I never get tired of it, and as someone who grew up in Togo, I find myself rediscovering these seemingly insignificant, yet magical family moments. I also recently discovered the
candleholders, which I really like.
TSF
What are your favorite neighborhood spots?
Laure & Edouard
The Love & Dress (51 rue Condorcet, Paris IXe) thrift shop on rue Condorcet, for its brilliant selection. Mamiche (49 rue Condorcet, Paris IXe) for that comforting blood sugar kick. Balades Sonores (3 avenue Trudaine, Paris IXe), for Thomas and Esther, who embody this place and their unerring taste. L'objet qui parle (86 rue des Martyrs, Paris IXe), for their wacky objects, which always have a soul. The bookshop L'Atelier 9 (59 rue des Martyrs), which we frequent with our boys... you can always count on the guys there to give you a good book tip.
)
)
)
)
Our
perfect for long winter evenings and here used as a bedspread in the master bedroom.
)
Recreate This Setting with Our Pieces
Related Story
)
Next Up