Tori Mellott

Bespoke Elegance Finds its Way into a Pop-Up Shop

Written on May 5, 2011 at 4:11 pm
By Tori Mellott

Usually attributed to trendy stores and hipster subculture, “pop-up shops” conjure images of impossibly long-lines, cooler-than-thou gadgets, and frenetic teenagers swooning over the latest iPhone case. One certainly doesn’t equate that kind of tchotchke-filled hut with the elegance of bespoke furniture and a venerable name. Check your preconceived notions at the door as the father-son duo that make up the legendary establishment F.P. Victoria & Son have turned that idea on its head and done just that–married the pop-up shop and handcrafted, classically inspired furniture for a first-rate, luxury shopping experience, to be sure.

What began in 1933 as an antique shop specializing in museum-quality English and Continental furniture, F.P. Victoria & Son quickly expanded into a full-fledged custom furniture manufacturing business when high-profile decorators and clients commissioned bespoke pieces based on the antiques they admired in Mr. Victoria’s inventory. Instead of red they wanted blue, instead of wood they wanted plaster, instead of tooled leather they wanted honed marble.  Serge Roche, Syrie Maugham, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and Elsie de Wolfe, are just a few of the dazzling names that top the roster of clients who requested custom pieces.  Mr. Victoria quietly grew both arms of the business and eventually his son, Tony Victoria, took the reins.

When the youngest of the Victoria men, Freddie Victoria, segued into the family business, there were warehouses full of rendering, drawings, sketches, and prototypes. The father-son team knew they were sitting atop a gold mine of beautifully imagined pieces and decided to curate what is now The F.P. Victoria & Son Collection.

Elegant grandeur reigns supreme with everything from life-size Maccassar wood and beveled mirror obelisks to shocking blue lacquer Pagoda-shaped etageres. Subtle beauty abounds when contemporary mirrors are treated with a dose of the age-old Venetian glass-cutting techniques historically employed on girly-girl dressing mirrors (think Marie Antoinette meets Jean Michel Frank). Customization continues as their specialty. Been longing for one of Billy Baldwin’s iconic brass étagères but want it with an oxidized nickel-plated finish?  No problem. Dreaming about a 19th-century hairdresser’s chair with a heart-shaped back? Too easy. This line of bespoke furniture was intended for the designer and the consumer who won’t settle for off-the-rack pedestrian pieces but yearn for special and one-of-a-kind show-stoppers.  They’ve even expanded their line to include more contemporary silhouettes like ebonized maple stacking chairs that are reminiscent of the 50’s Danish modern aesthetic.

And while this esteemed 3-generation business will be around as they have for the past 78 years, their tasteful version of a pop-up shop will only be in action for a hot, New York minute. If you’re lucky enough to be in NYC from May 3 through May 15, stop by The Silver Peacock on Park Avenue and 90th Street for a peek inside a treasure chest of exquisitely crafted furniture and bespoke finery.