Could this sofa be “the one”? Inspired by the world of online dating, the French company La Crèmerie connects architecture and design professionals with furniture through a catalog of personified products and a human-to-human connection.
The French company La Crèmerie found a way to combine technology with a personal human-to-human connection for professionals and individuals working on an interior design project. Inspired by the world of online dating, the founders developed a website that features select products from their catalog. Clients browse the personified products as they would profiles on a dating app, such as on Tinder, and when they click “like” on an object, it’s stored on their list of preferred products. Once the client has finished filling his or her “basket” and is ready to meet the products in person, they can schedule an appointment with a team of specialists at La Crèmerie.
Quentin Bourlet and Antoine Charpentier founded the interior architecture firm OZ Intérieur in 2016, then expanded their portfolio in 2019 by entering the sector of decorating and furnishing. In 2020, they decided to combine the two professions and put them under one brand: La Crèmerie. The following year, they filed for the trademark and officially launched the website for La Crèmerie, an “online dating site” for furnishings—tables, chairs, sofas, stools, light fixtures, decorative accessories and more. Today, the company features items from more than 60 brands and offers its clients the opportunity to visualize their select products in the destined location by using Virtual Reality. We discuss the details in our interview with co-manager Quentin Bourlet.
ArchiExpo e-Magazine: Can you tell us about the creation of La Crèmerie?
Quentin Bourlet: In 2016, we started working on interior architecture projects to accentuate this profession which is often confused with interior design, a term we refer to as a furnishing project. We’d always wanted to get into the furnishing sector, as a passion, but we thought we’d wait ten years. Instead, we opened this part earlier. The idea to develop an online dating site for furniture came from a saying we love: “Design is not consumed, it is experienced.”
During the Covid restrictions of 2020, we decided to create La Crèmerie, a brand that units architectural conception with decorating and furnishing. The idea is to accompany our clients, whether they’re working on a construction project or interior design. On our team, we only have specialists who focus on specific trades—interior designers, decorators, product designers and we’re currently looking to hire architects. We also collaborate with professionals outside our office when needed. This way, we’re able to assemble a team in accordance with what’s required for any given project and provide assistance throughout the entire process.
As for furnishing projects, this includes ordering and receiving the products, performing a quality check of the products and delivering the products to the place of destination in one go; by delivering the products at one time, clients avoid receiving multiple orders sporadically. We can also install the furnishings upon request. The idea is to offer a 5* service to our clients, a ‘service aux petits oignons‘—to treat each project with love and care.
ArchiExpo e-Magazine: How does the website work exactly? Does it use Artificial Intelligence?
Quentin Bourlet: Bouncing off the idea that “design lives”, we decided to create an online dating site for furnishings. To do this, we needed to personify the products and give them a story, a sense, a life because it’s the case—I think. We’re not big fans of ads, though, that require collecting personal data from users in order to sell products. On the topic of AI, since we don’t collect any data, it limits the search on our website to a simple setup. However, when the user prepares his or her “basket” of coup de coeurs, we’re able to intervene and have a human-to-human interaction, which is important and why our website isn’t classified as e-commerce—the client must connect with us after preparing a basket of products. This is when we have the opportunity to meet and have a personal exchange with one another, then we can propose complementary products in line with the client’s preferred style. And while the website doesn’t use AI, we can create 3D replicas and use Virtual Reality if the client needs it to develop his or her project.
ArchiExpo e-Magazine: Do you only feature French brands on the website?
Quentin Bourlet: Today, we have a lot more products available in our showroom than what the website exhibits. Still, the website presents the products we’d like to promote. In our selection of recommended furnishings, the users will find French brands with ¾ of the products made in France and nearly all made in Europe. The reason why we chose to feature only French brands on our website is that we realized we have a lot of quality products in France but it’s not always easy to find the brands. Our platform allows users to discover these brands and their products.
The only products made outside the continent we feature are those that require a savoir-faire we no longer have in Europe. For example, La Chance fabricates its carpets in Asia because the specificity of the job doesn’t exist in Europe anymore. We pay attention to where the products are made but it’s not easy. We seek to provide solutions for environmental concerns by presenting local products made using sustainable and responsible manufacturing methods. Some of the brands we feature use biobased materials or recycled materials. We don’t design or create products—although I’m not saying this can’t ever happen in the future. Our goal is to put attention on existing brands.
ArchiExpo e-Magazine: What’s on the horizon for LA Crèmerie?
Quentin Bourlet: We have a secret we’ll be announcing soon but it’s in the works now and we can’t communicate about it at the moment. Stay tuned!
