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Arcadia, a gaming station by Hervet Manufacturier.
LifestyleArts & Culture

Daft Punk are dead but their creative director’s style comes to life in Hong Kong through retro-futuristic luxury furniture brand Hervet

  • Gilbert Yeung’s tapas bar Cassio in Lan Kwai Fong reopened with a sci-fi-inspired DJ booth designed by Daft Punk’s creative director and his woodworker cousin
  • Cédric and Nicolas Hervet’s luxury furniture brand, Hervet Manufacturier, will also be centre stage at an IFC pop-up featuring 14 retro-futuristic collectibles
Architecture and design
Peta Tomlinson
Peta Tomlinson
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Unless you were back on the nightlife scene as soon as Covid-19 restrictions were lifted for restaurants last week, you may not be aware that the signature style of retro-futuristic luxury French furniture brand Hervet Manufacturier has quietly slipped into Hong Kong.

When it reopened on February 18, Gilbert Yeung’s Lan Kwai Fong tapas bar Cassio was sporting a fresh look. He’d wanted a more sophisticated dance party vibe for the place originally opened in December 2016, and Hervet’s association with French electronic music duo Daft Punk sparked the entrepreneur’s interest.

Cédric Hervet, Daft Punk’s long-time creative director, had earlier studied wood sculpture at prestigious Paris art school École Boulle, and joined his cousin, Nicolas, a master woodworker, in designing and making furniture in 2014. Together, they’ve built something of a cult following, with limited release collections selling out.

The planets aligned when Lane Crawford, which was planning to bring Hervet furniture to Hong Kong, suggested an introduction to the co-founders. “I so loved this idea – just talking about it I get goose bumps,” Yeung tells the Post.
DJ Alex Nude behind the Hervet-designed DJ booth at Cassio.
Having grown up with their music, Yeung remains a “massive fan” of Daft Punk, who announced their break-up this week, and credits their influence on his company’s DNA. He had an instant rapport with the Hervet cousins who, with previous generations of cabinetmakers and carpenters in their family, infuse childhood memories of arcade game and sci-fi themes into their inherited passion for woodworking.

“[Like Cedric and Nicolas], I also grew up playing Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, and watching James Bond and Star Wars movies,” Yeung said.

Hervet’s Passenger chair is a statement piece that is a cross between a hammock and a rocking chair.

For the new-look Cassio, Hervet designed a DJ booth, sofas and tables. According to him, the intent was always to hand-make at least the DJ booth in their workshop in Normandy, France, but Covid-19 restrictions made this too difficult. Instead, the furniture was made by local bespoke manufacturer HKP International, under the supervision of Hong Kong architect Hernan Zanghellini.

Made of walnut veneer, in a sci-fi-inspired hexagonal shape, the DJ booth is unmistakably a Hervet creation.

Hongkongers will get a fuller look at what makes this brand tick when, from March 2, Lane Crawford transforms the IFC Mall atrium in Central into a Parisian Haussmann-style apartment living room, complete with moulded wall panels, vintage rugs, vintage vinyl records and plants.

Mirage, a coffee table made with a South American rosewood.

Some 14 pieces of furniture will be shown, among them Arcadia, a gaming station encased in walnut with about 3,000 playable retro arcade games, and the Star Wars-inspired Satellite, described by the Hervets as a vision of their “dream ship”. Plated in white ebony on a stainless-steel base, it houses a very down-to-earth Bose sound system.

Also part of the collection are the Passenger chair, a minimalist statement in steel and full-grain leather designed as a cloudlike cross between a hammock and a rocking chair, and Mirage, a coffee table crafted from palissandro santos, a South American rosewood, whose two-way mirrored top conceals a display space underneath.

There’ll be two versions of the James Bond-inspired Terra Firma planter: one made of eucalyptus and aluminium, the other of grainy paldao wood and stainless steel.

Cedric Hervet (left) and Nicolas Hervet.
A James Bond-inspired Terra Firma planter.

While the display at IFC may be fleeting, Yeung is chuffed that his venue Cassio will remain “a living showcase” for Hervet.

Hervet Manufacturier’s Lane Crawford pop-up in IFC Mall atrium runs from March 2-April 30.

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