Let them eat cake
MANILA, Philippines - The storied maison Ladurée peddles a sweet dream.
The French luxury pastry-maker and confectionary company evokes a rococo-gilt vision, a laurel-wreathed Napoleon III imagined as an habitué of a Parisian high-style tea room. Wainscoted walls and Baroque-style poufed chairs, frescoed ceilings and marbled surfaces, a pastel wall in delicious robin’s egg blue molded in wood panels – the Ladurée global aesthetic is Madame de Pompadour meets Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. The maison goes far beyond simple pastry and sweet confectionaries, a landmark establishment in the field of luxury. Ladurée brings to life a timeless world, short of synonymous with the French ideal of “Art de vivre.”
Ladurée in the Philippines is franchised by H&F Retail Concepts Inc., and is set to open its doors on Aug. 29 at the newly opened 8 Rockwell, G/F. The boutique space and interiors were designed by Ladurée’s parent company: notable fixtures include a white Carrare marble serving space, crystal chandeliers, a ceiling fresco, plaster angels and a beautiful ribbon door.
The patisserie is known most famously for its macaron; a family-kept secret composed of two meringue shells sandwiched by a delicate ganache — counting 16 unique multi-hued flavors (some seasonal, some limited edition) from the staples of pale pink rose petal, the paper white vanille, and the acid yellow citron. The jewel-hued macarons sit behind glass encasements showcased to look as appealing as possible. Ornate in its approach, Ladurée offers a taste of Paris in all senses of the word.
The maison is legendary for parlaying their strong visual language to encompass not only their pastry, but their packaging as well. Ladurée offers a covetable range of paper gift boxes (available in various iterations from square, heart-shaped to tubular) and shopping bags, constructed to feel collectible for many a Ladurée aficionado. Romanticized mementos from a confected universe — the trickle-down is product lines in the form of room sprays, scented candles, a full-on makeup catalogue and fragrance.
Founded in Paris in 1862 by Louis Ernest Ladurée at 16 rue Royale, the heritage company is now chaired by David Holder of the Holder Group. As quoted in the press, Holder reconciles his approach to the expansion of Ladurée’s vision as if “drawn from the principle of fashion houses. In all modesty, Ladurée is the Haute Couture of French pastries.”
With no want of reinvention, Ladurée maintains a strong tradition of collaborating with luxury fashion houses for limited-edition collectible packaging. Be it whimsical Christian Lacroix in 2004 and 2010, a gilded Marni box for 2009, bejeweled Tsumori Chisato and Hello Kitty in 2012, a red grosgrain sealed box from Lanvin, and of most recent note, a kaleidoscope-inspired box from the Italian house of Emilio Pucci in 2015.
H&F Retail Concepts Inc. will debut Ladurée as a take-away boutique, with a full concept salon de thé to come at a second location. The initial product mix will include macarons (confected and flown from a single laboratory), fine chocolate, candy, jam, honey, tea leaves and tea bags, coffee grounds – apart from the food, the gift shop will include shopping bags, key rings, candles and room sprays.
Ladurée opens its doors on Aug. 29, 2015 at the newly-opened 8 Rockwell, G/F, Hidalgo Drive, Rockwell Center, Makati City, neighbored by a Lanvin standalone boutique, Balenciaga’s Manila flagship store and the Makati branch of Homme et Femme multi-brand concept.
