Who are the founders of Diptyque and what was their vision?

Paris, 1949. Desmond Knox-Leet, a painter trained at the Beaux-Arts and heir to a British aristocratic family, and Christiane Montadre-Gautrot, an interior architect from the Decorative Arts, formed a mirrored friendship, with one an accomplished artist and the other passionate about craftsmanship. Inspired by sensory memories, such as Desmond’s summers in the South of France and Christiane’s childhood garden near Fontainebleau, they designed furnishing fabric patterns for Liberty and Sanderson.

A decade later, the decorator and administrator Yves Coueslant, who had grown up in Indochina, joined the pair. Between Yves, Desmond and Christiane there was an immediate connection, three free spirits united by the same creative drive and the ambition to found their own Maison.

Find out more about the history of Diptyque here.