It's a French vision of beauty, one characterised by purpose and audacity. Where the mundane beams and transforms into a cultural experience.
It's an invitation to create grounding moments to be shared with others, through objects that bring people together. Where time translates into moments.
It's a generous sharing of the Eastern and Asian way of life. One that celebrates hospitality and authenticity. Where one is drawn in and spontaneously feels at home.
It's an alignment between one’s inner self and one’s interior, between matter and spirit, between immediacy and sustainability. A place where space lights up and inspires.
It's a sensitive journey, both energising and uplifting. Where creativity grows and blossoms.
CFOC, Where the sun rises
Our story
The story of CFOC began in the 60s.
It's a story of passion, travels and new encounters. It's also the story of a family who passed on their love for the beauty of the Middle Kingdom from one generation to another.
. It's the story of a man, François Dautresme, who strived to showcase Asian art de vivre and craftsmanship up to museums.
It's the story of a French company as well, one that navigated through the decades and got a second wind under the guidance of Laurent Dumas.
It's a beautiful human adventure which we take pride in, and which continues to drive us.
MONSIEUR DU AND THE MIDDLE KINGDOM
As a child, François Dautresme was captivated by the stories told by his uncle, the Master Mariner Jacques Dautresme, who spoke of China with passion and precision. So when, in 1963, he had the opportunity to travel to Mao Zedong's China, he didn't hesitate for a second. China quickly became the centre of his life: he wanted to see it all, know it all, understand it all. But above all, he wanted to share it all! He travelled through the country, discovering its treasures and
its people along the way, and brought back crates full of everyday objects, exemplifying the craft that dazzled him: stoneware, silks, baskets, cricket cages, ginger graters. He spotted unique skills, and devoted his life to preserving this heritage and helping people discover these crafts.
By 1966 , François Dautresme already had a fine collection, and he opened the first Compagnie Française de l'Orient et de la Chine boutique on rue Saint-Roch, generously sharing his passion for the fusion of aesthetics and utility. He brought along his cousins, Françoise Dautresme, who would manage the exhibitions, write the texts and design the clothes, as well as Gérard Dautresme, who would manage the commercial aspect of the business.
François Dautresme told the Chinese Foreign Trade Commission about his ambition to have everyday objects manufactured for export. His request was initially rejected. It wasn't until after several trips, dozens of meetings and the success of a sales exhibition organised in 1971 at Bloomingdale's in New York that a relationship of trust was established between "Monsieur Du", as the Chinese called him, and the Middle Kingdom.
He who does not lose his root can last. “ ”
This eccentric merchant knew how to create and pass on his innate sensitivity to beauty. A fervent defender of the irregularity of the cover of a plate, at a time when identical and infinite replication prevailed, he was a designer ahead of his time, often demonstrating audacity, not to say avant-gardism. Almost 50 years later, his values still drive CFOC.
LAO TSEU
A COLLECTION ON EXHIBITION
François Dautresme expressed his passion in the commercial adventure of CFOC, as much as in the personal collection he enriched along his travels - and these two endeavours sometimes merged, turning the rue Saint-Roch store into a boutique-museum, a concept-store before its time.
After the Miro Foundation in 1995, the exhibition "The Imperial packing Art of the Qing Dynasty" at the Forbidden City Museum in Beijing in 1999 showcased 34 pieces from his collection. A true consecration for François Dautresme, who was delighted to see rice-straw packaging on display next
My main goal has been to translate an attitude, a way of life, as faithfully as possible, through a selection of values, and through objects.
FRANÇOIS DAUTRESME
to artworks in China's most prestigious venue. Further exhibitions - in Nice, in Sao Paulo, then after his death (2002), in Monaco, in Bordeaux and finally in Paris in 2003 - continued to pay tribute to this great traveller, merchant and passionate collector, and to Chinese craftsmanship.
Un nouveau souffle
From the rue Saint-Roch, CFOC opened and closed several stores, setting up shop in Barcelona, Brussels and even Warsaw. In Paris, the boulevard Haussmann store, with its Art Deco glass decor designed by Emile Ruhlmann in 1930 , has become the brand's flagship address.
In 2011, Laurent Dumas, a businessman passionate about Art, decided to breathe new life into the legendary brand by giving it a contemporary twist. In 2016, Valérie Mayéko Le Héno took over as artistic director of the design office, and CFOC became a trendsetter by inventing a new style: the combination of French art de vivre with sophisticated, meticulous craftsmanship from abroad.
Art remains central to the brand, which regularly hosts exhibitions in its stores and frequently offers capsule collections created with guest designers.
In 2021, CFOC worked on its visual identity, carrying the promise of an ambitious brand, that of enabling everyone to align one’s interior with one’s inner self. With its new logo, conceived as a window both open to the world and protective of the interior, the brand asserts its French origins and its fascination for abroad.
Aiming to hybridise cultures, CFOC offers authentic and generous luxury objects, invents an art de vivre of its own, characterised by its unique and recognizable design, and invites you to take on a beautiful journey.
"Where the sun rises", its new signature, emphasises the brand's solar energy and its desire to bring a warm glow to its customers' homes. "Where the sun rises" also means shining a light on emerging trends, allowing talent to express itself and beauty to be revealed.
Where the sun rises
Our Way
The Way, or the Tao, is that which we seek in order to be in harmony with the universe, with ourselves, and with nature.
CFOC draws inspiration from this Chinese wisdom to create, manufacture and share. Each object invents a new way of life, and is an invitation to take part in a real journey, one that surprises, intrigues and moves. We believe that decoration enables everyone to align one’s interior with one’s inner self. To find one's Way.
The Tao of CFOC connects Asia and France, its past and its future, its creations and its customers. This is why we believe in rebirth. Every day is an opportunity to do better than the day before. To surpass ourselves. This demanding and perpetual rebirth is embodied in our signature promise: Where the sun rises.
CURIOSITY
CFOC is an invitation to take part in a unique journey: one in which one discovers another culture whilst getting closer to oneself. Both an explorer and a pioneer, François Dautresme passed on his curiosity, thus making it a part of our DNA. And today, it translates into our creations, which celebrate openness and the blend of different cultures.
GENEROSITY
We're creating a new art de vivre where beauty gives meaning to everyday gestures. An art de vivre that brings people together and invents a new kind of hospitality, both solar and warm. A new form of generosity.
RESPECT
We work with manufacturers and craftsmen in a spirit of respect and trust. We are proud to maintain strong and lasting relationships with them, and to be able to promote their expertise through our creations.
SUSTAINABLE LUXURY
We believe in responsible luxury, both in our concern to preserve nature, which remains our primary source of inspiration, and in our commitment to our fellow human beings. Responsible luxury is also sustainable: CFOC objects live, age, acquire a patina over time... But their beauty lives on.
Creation & craftmanship
VALÉRIE MAYÉKO LE HÉNO, CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Every season, CFOC presents a new collection, coming straight from the imagination of the design studio headed by Valérie Mayéko Le Héno. Following in the footsteps of the brand's founder, the Creative Director is a 21 st-century explorer, who discovers materials, skills and objects, which she then reinterprets to bring them up to date. Ensuring continuity of style, Valérie creates a contemporary, timeless design, combining French art de vivre with ancestral craftsmanship.
I like to work with a graphic and geometric repertoire, with highly stylized lines. In our search for pureness and the right shapes, we always go the extra mile in our attention to detail, because that's where the rightness of beauty lies. “ ”
CFOC objects are all original creations. The richness of the materials and the colours’ character are enthralling: softness is felt at first glance, hues and patterns express warmth... Such is CFOC’s sensuality, both distinctive and indescribable.
HAND IN HAND WITH CRAFTSMEN
From "Monsieur Du" to Valérie Mayéko
Le Héno, CFOC has built precious, unwavering bonds with craftsmen whom the brand calls its partners, as we call those with whom we travel. These manufacturing workshops often belong to families who pass on their skills from generation to generation.
CFOC cuts out the middleman and cherishes these relationships, thus preserving the cultural identity of each country. As Valérie Mayéko Le Héno explains, "the creative process doesn't stop at the design office. We then spend 3 to 6 months working with artisans, workshops and suppliers, researching colours and materials. We challenge them technically. We're able to do this because we have built very strong and trusting relationships with them.”
BASKETRY
CAMBODIA, CHINA, INDIA, MEXICO, PHILIPPINES, VIETNAM
Both meticulous and fascinating, basketry or the art of weaving is the result of a long manufacturing process, from harvesting to weaving. Strands of palm, rattan, sea rush or bamboo are first selected with the utmost care by craftsmen-farmers. They are then dried and woven using traditional techniques. By respecting nature's time, as well as that of harvest, drying and braiding, CFOC is able to offer high-quality products. Ones that already have a history…
CABINETMAKING
KOREA, INDONESIA, JAPAN, TAIWAN
Woodworking begins with the choice of wood species. Precious woods from Indonesia -Suar or Lychee - offer their hues and veins to create beautifully imperfect pieces. Petrified wood from the island of Java, a material between 5 and 20 million years old, gives each piece its own unique character. Each piece of furniture is a work of nature itself.
WEAVING
CAMBODIA, INDIA, MONGOLIA, UZBEKISTAN, VIETNAM
Regarding textiles, CFOC reveals the weaving techniques and skills specific to certain regions : ikat in Uzbekistan, passed down orally from mother to daughter ; khadi in India, evoking Gandhi and his pacifist struggle; linen embellished with embroidery entirely handmade by the virtuoso village women of Hao-Binh province in Vietnam ; the meticulous work of the weavers of Nagaland; the artistic and irregular compositions of Korean pojagi…
GLASSWORK
CHINA, HUNGARY, INDIA, JAPAN
Glassblowing techniques are an ancestral skill that originated 2,200 years ago in the cities of Phoenicia, now Lebanon. The glassblowers work at extreme heat to give the molten material the perfect, unique shapes of the glasses, vases and candleholders in the CFOC's various collections. The glass is then coloured, engraved and decorated, using other ancient techniques that are still used today, mainly in certain regions of China and India.
“ ”
We work with artisans in a dozen countries. Promoting these skills is part of our heritage.
VALÉRIE MAYÉKO LE HÉNO
CERAMICS
CAMBODIA, CHINA, JAPAN, VIETNAM
Ceramics is a multifaceted art. From translucent porcelain to resistant stoneware and bone china, CFOC considers ceramics as one of its favourite areas of expression, carefully selecting the clay used to make its collections. The earth from Yixing in China confers to our jars their qualities and their name. The glazes, found as far back as the Angkor temples, are then used to decorate crockery, vases, jars and even stools with inimitable designs.
LACQUER
CHINA, MYANMAR, VIETNAM
Lacquer has been an art form for thousands of years, and is certainly one of Asia's most emblematic crafts. From the natural resin extracted from the sap of the lacquer tree to Ming trays and stools, each CFOC lacquered object is a testimony to a journey through time and space. More than a trademark, lacquer is a brilliant signature to us.
