Clooney and Kubrick: Promemoria Features Celebrity-Inspired Furniture
Irwin Weiner ASID - Jay and I recently visited the Promemoria showroom on East 59th Street in the Fine Arts Building for a cocktail reception, and we spoke with Lizzie Schofield, the showroom manager, about two extraordinary furniture pieces we wanted to tell our viewers about: the Stanley desk/cabinet (top photo) and the George wardrobe. Lizzie gave us the scoop on these two great items.
We have a lot of pieces that are named for writers, actors, and arts patrons. So the two pieces you’ve called out here are actually Stanley, the desk/cabinet, named after Stanley Kubrick, and George, the wardrobe, named after George Clooney.
The Stanley – This is an aptly named piece because the legendary filmmaker is known for writing the screenplays and directing his films, Romeo Sozzi, Promemoria's master designer and cabinet maker, thought that Stanley Kubrick could use a desk like this, one that has many compartments for different projects, as well as a lock and key so that the projects could be kept secret until they premiered. Look at the beautiful LED lighting and the built-in storage area for the chic writing chair/bench.
Mr. Kubrick and Mr. Sozzi share an affinity and reputation for perfection, attention to detail, and innovation in their materials. While Mr. Kubrick borrowed lenses created for science research, Romeo often uses exotic woods that no one else has experimented with (ours is shown in Zyrecote), but also materials like shoe leather to upholster casegoods.
Here we’ve used calf skin leather because of the need to make very small, fine stitches along the pieces, and you’ll see in the detail shot that we’ve used two different color leathers in the magazine boxes. The refinement and utilitarianism of the piece, aside from its obvious use, made Mr. Sozzi think of Mr. Kubrick, and so our Stanley desk was introduced.
The George – This modular custom cabinet/wardrobe (above) is a similar story: Romeo Sozzi lives in a villa on Lake Lecco, which is a branch of Lake Como (the lake splits in two in the south). So, George Clooney is a neighbor of Mr. Sozzi. When Mr. Sozzi designed the George, he based it on the classical proportions and structures in his villa.
He was thinking about who would use such an elaborate wardrobe, and who would have the various pieces of a wardrobe that would require the watch turners, leather hangers, and valet that Mr. Sozzi had designed for this piece.
And then Romeo Sozzzi thought of his debonair neighbor, Mr. Clooney. While we show ours in a heavy linen weave, the original was upholstered in velvet, with the same cypress interior, LED lighting, and leather finishing details. The entire piece is configurable – from the dimensions of the exterior, to the individual closets.
In the time since it was introduced, we’ve seen many different iterations – 2 to 4 cabinets wide, sometimes with glass insets as dining hutches or curiosity cabinets, other times as their original purpose.