Sarah Bonallo is a British artist known throughout the world of art and design as the ‘chair genius’. Sarah creates vintage furniture resuscitated using traditional techniques and fantasy finishes.

Each piece of furniture in Sarah’s collections is achieved using time-honoured upholstery techniques, stitched by hand and stuffed with animal hair. Each of Sarah’s chairs take on their own character as the artist literally turns old furniture into contemporary sculptural pieces.

Having studied in Paris, France has been a constant source of inspiration for Sarah Bonallo, particularly the Cote d’Azur, where, even in winter, the sun always shines. Talking exclusively to Facconable, Ms Bonallo told us how she has been inspired by much of France, but particularly the Cote d’Azur.

“Being at the seaside in France reminds me a lot of images: the melancholy charm of a solitary walk to the Cote d’Opal in winter or making memories in pretty coves of southern Brittany, but the beauty and allure of the French Riviera are second to none,” Sarah said.

This summer, Sarah Bonallo launched ‘The Captain’s Chair’. This navy blue chair has been traditionally upholstered and pin-stuffed by hand, using pure Yorkshire wool and cashmere.

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When we think of the Cote d’Azur, the words that immediately form in our mind are ‘beauty’, ‘glamour’, ‘wealth’, ‘exquisiteness’ and ‘quality’, with the word ‘gypsies’ rarely making the list altogether.

Although you would be mistaken if you were to think that gypsies had no connection to this sublimely striking stretch of coastline. The town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, meaning “Saint Marys of the Sea”, is the capital of the Camargue and boasts a vibrant history of being a town honoured by a succession of cultures, including Romans, Celts, Christians and, most recently, Roman Gypsies.

After the arrival of gypsies in Europe in the early 1400s, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, became a popular place for gypsies to reside, although the reasons for this remain hazy and ambiguous. The town’s remoteness is one valid reason why this small fishing village on the Cote d’Azur became a prevalent destination for gypsies, meaning they could remain predominantly hidden from the bustle encountered on other places on this stretch of Mediterranean coastline.

According to local legend in the village, shortly after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, was the place of residence for Mary Magdalene, Marie-Jacobe, Marie-Salome  and several of the other disciples, who were forced to free the Holy Land in 45AD.

After a treacherous journey across the Mediterranean, the women landed their boat in the town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, where they became honoured by the local people. In light of this veneration, the church in the town, enshrines three wooden statues, one being Marie-Salome, one being Marie-Jacobe and the other being of Sara-la-Kali, whose identity remains a mystery.
The mysterious female statue remains the hub of worship of gypsies, who gather here each May, to embark on the ‘Pelerinage des Gitans’ meaning ‘Pilgrimage of the Gypsies’. Many of the gypsies believe that Sara was an important queen of the village who welcomed tired travellers to the shores of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

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Whilst there has been masses of literature written about the artistic influences the likes of Monaco, Nice and St Tropez have had, relatively little has been written about the hillside village of Biot, which for centuries has been one of the most pioneering places for the making and manufacturing of pottery and glassware.

Situated four kilometres inland between the cities of Antibes and Nice on the Cote d’Azur, this beautiful medieval village is dominated by one theme – its unique artisan creations. Lining the quirky cobbled streets are row upon row of extraordinarily crafted clay jugs, glassware and other ornately decorated hand-crafted objects.

With its surrounding terrain being rich in manganese, clay and fine sand, for centuries the village of Biot has been producing pottery that has been envied and copied around the world. In the eighteenth century the local artisans of Biot stretched their artistic skills even further and traded their magnificent pottery creations for making objects out of glass.

It was around this time that the talented Biot artists began to sell their exceptional glassware, primarily recognised for its renowned ‘bubbles’ inside of the glass, and began exporting their products from the nearby port of Antibes.

Biot’s exceptional influence on the worldwide art, pottery and glassware stage can be seen not only by the endless amount of pretty, colourful and decorative objects that line its streets, but in three distinctive museums this artistically-inspiring ancient town is home to.

Art and craft enthusiasts can enjoy watching the local glass blowers at work in La Verrerie de Biot. La Verrerie de Biot was given the “Enterprise du Patrimoine Vivant” label, intended to highlight the value Biot’s glassmaking has had on the French economy, the cultural identity of the Cote d’Azur and to promote the artistic renown of the area both nationally and internationally.

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Since the sensational Bridgette Bardot bejewelled the sands of Pampelonne in just a bikini for a scene in the film ‘And God Created Woman’ in 1956, the Cote d’Azur propagated a daring and provocative attitude towards fashion on this stretch of coastline, emboldening women and high-class tourists by liberating how they dressed.

Over the decades the Cote d’Azur’s reputation as being a ‘playground for the rich and famous’ has escalated and is now firmly rooted as being one of the most glamorous destinations in the world.

But has much evolved in 55 years regarding the provocative fashion the movie icon generated, who, almost single-handedly transformed a small yet albeit upmarket fishing village into one of the world’s leading fashion-statement towns?

Facconable caught up with Rebecca Jane, a dedicated follower of fashion from London, who spends many a summer musing over the fashion on the highly influential and stylistically world prominent Cote d’Azur.

One would expect that after sipping France’s finest champagne in a lounge at the Ritz in Paris watching Jonny Depp drink cappuccinos on the next table donning a cowboy hat that anyone else would look ridiculous in, the ‘glamour’ stakes and fashion statements would significantly decline.

On the contrary, however, after checking out of the Ritz, Paris and heading south to the Cote d’Azur, as the weather becomes warmer, the clothes become skimpier and a new sense of ‘provocative’ style and glamour suspends in the air. Comparing the fashion of Paris with the Cote d’Azur, Rebecca Jane told Facconable,

“The refinement and sophistication of the Ritz in Paris has become lost to a more revealing and provocative style.”

“The skimpier the clothes the better, but not the same kind of skimpy as in a nightclub in Essex, as it is like the people here, with their wealth, fantastic physiques and designer clothes, deserve to wear super scant outfits. In places like St Tropez and Cannes people like to flaunt their wealth,” continued the fashion critic.

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Diane Arbus was one of the most influential, bold and controversial artists of the twentieth century, whose astonishing photography has been said to have ‘revolutionised the medium”.

Born in New York in 1923, Arbus became notorious for her black and white square photographs of “deviant and marginal people”, including giants, dwarfs, nudists, circus performers and transvestites.

In 1971, the American photographer and writer committed suicide. Since her death, Arbus’s work has been exhibited at galleries and museums across the world, and she was the first American photographer to have her photographs displayed at the Venice Biennale.

Despite some of her photographs selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars in auctions, Arbus still provokes controversy, with the likes of Norman Mailer saying in 1971, “Giving a camera to Diane Arbus is like putting a live grenade in the hands of children.”

In October this year, a new book about the controversial late artist will go on sale. Titled ‘Diane Arbus: A Chronology’, the book reads like a contemporaneous diary and includes unpublished writings and private thoughts and motivations, drawn primarily from Arbus’s extensive correspondence with family, friends and colleagues, ranging from Lisette Model, August Sander, Weegee and Marvin Israel.

Coinciding with the launch of Diane Arbus: A Chronology, is an international travelling exhibition, which will premiere at the Jeu de Paume in Paris from October 18, 2011 until February 5, 2011.

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