A graduate from Ecole Boulle and with a passion for exceptional furniture, Nicolas Souchet is considered by his peers as France’s most talented seat carpenter of his generation. In 2006, he founded Souchet, a company specialized in high end, made-to-measure pieces, whether traditional or contemporary. Based in Liffol in the Vosges region of France, birthplace of seat carpentry, the company has continually grown and today counts 18 craftsmen. With his team, Nicolas has aspired to develop to an international level, to achieve the highest degree of excellency. For two years now, the company has been certified “Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant”, a stamp of recognition from the State that is used to distinguish excellent industrial and artisanal companies and savoir-faire. In 2021, Souchet joins “Par Excellence”. Founded by Charles Jouffre in New York in 2015, this collective gathers excellent French craftsmen with unique savoir-faire, specializing in high-end interior decoration, and who are looking to expand in the United States.
Ever since we met, we have shared the same vision and values as Nicolas Souchet’s company: to shine a light on our artistic trades while accompanying creative minds as they fulfill their most daring projects. “The value that stands out to me at Jouffre is rigor. He applies it in all fields of his workrooms. The rigor that he imposes on himself, to have humane and coherent collaborators, to accompany him in studies, production, packaging, and installation. This isn’t an easy thing to do daily, let alone in a company counting over 60 people. But it’s Romain’s vision and his goals, in his passion and ambition, that make it all possible.” Underlines Nicolas.
To meet the challenges that both our firms face, we adopt methods traditionally used in our trade, but also contemporary tools and methods thanks to new techniques that are sometimes borrowed from external savoir-faire. Everyday, the craftsmen from both our firms work together to bring to life various sofas, armchairs, and other complex made-to-measure creations of sometimes extraordinary dimensions, entrusted by international designers and interior architects. “We are lucky to work with the best carpenters. In the last few years, we have developed a special relationship with Nicolas, because we agree on many aspects such as our values and the way we approach our trade. Something that we really like about him, is that nothing is impossible for them. They know how to create with the same detailed perfection, a traditional style armchair with remarkable details and finishing touches, and a contemporary sofa with large solid wood sections and the most astonishing porte-à-faux.” Reveals Romain.
Driven by the same passion and rigor as we are, Souchet Woodwork are seeking to make each piece of furniture unique, by pushing the limits of their excellent savoir-faire. From the idea on paper to its final touches, through ever more modern materials, machines, and tools. They aspire to improve their knowledge and mastery of wood, to reinvent their trade and insure its durability in time.
Today, more and more people put their trust into Jouffre. To continue accompanying these growing numbers of clients who chose to work with us, we needed to include a seat carpenter. After much consideration based on the prowess of our historic partner Nicolas Souchet, it was evident that the opportune choice was to form a partnership with him. Last September, we realized our wishes and entered Souchet’s capital at 49%.
There are various goals behind this strategic acquisition:
We wish to encourage the expansion of a strong and committed partnership with Nicolas’ workrooms and teams. Our craftsmen have been collaborating for many years with Souchet, creating wooden structures and frameworks for contemporary and traditional seats. For instance, our teams worked together on the seats included in Raphaël Navot’s Acrostic collection, on the shell armchair for the agency GRADE New York run by Edward Yedid, and even Jean Royère’s iconic Polar Bear for Maison Royère.
This important partnership allows us to develop our expertise in the creation of traditional style furniture, to able us to suggest much more relevant ideas to our clients who come to us with more traditional projects. Nicolas’ expertise in this area is evident. This is due to the early immersion that he had in reproducing models from the 18th century to modern day. Therefore, he has expert knowledge in the rules of art, which is the essence of his being.
Together, our teams will be able to answer to the ever more demanding projects and develop the technical nature behind our models. Souchet uses the best craftsmen of the digital world including computer assistance, to explore new ways of creation and to reinforce the capacity that his workrooms have, to respond to complex and high-end projects. They are innovating the world of carpentry in contemporary seats, by including a logical digital aspect to their craftsmanship.
Nicolas has modern workrooms of over 1000 m2 at his disposal, along with a stock of traditionally hand finished wood, but also modern machinery such as two Commandes Numériques 5 Axes. One of the most advanced and modern machining techniques that models pieces of different shapes and sizes, that cannot be easily worked with using only traditional methods and machinery. All these advanced artisanal techniques allow his craftsmen to work on very sharp assemblies with much valued wood.
Finally, this micro edition has showed great success. It consists in elaborating, developing, and creating many small collections of high-end furniture for our designers, destined for the most prestigious galleries. This demands great regularity when ordering frameworks. Thanks to this partnership, our provisions in seat carpentry are secured, in a field that is today in crisis. At the same time, this allows us to respect our production time and guarantee continual quality, in according to the high standards of our work.
“I believe in this partnership, simply because our craft is in constant modernization. Today, Jouffre and Souchet represent in their own field, this new development and modernization in our crafts. I believe that they use new methods anchored in the history of our techniques, while still being tied to the transmission and durability of these savoir-faire. They are evidently inspired by the past to innovate the future.”– Nicolas Souchet
“Today and I am extremely proud and happy to join forces with Nicolas, one of France’s most talented carpenters. I believe that this is an important moment for our workrooms. It will allow us to continue accompanying our clients, interior architects, and designers, in their most ambitious and eccentric projects. By combining both our savoir-faire, we are creating the opportunity to complete extraordinary things together, on contemporary furniture or traditional style furniture. I believe that if we tried to create our own seat carpentry, we would probably never have reached the level that Nicolas has managed to reach with his team.” – Romain Jouffre
This partnership marks a turning point in the history of our workrooms and confirms our ambition: to surround ourselves with the best craftsmen to bring to life the exceptional projects that we are honored to work on.