Michèle Lamy and Mel Ottenberg Strike a Match in the 7th Arrondissement

MONDAY 11:39 AM NOVEMBER 4, 2024 PARIS

Michèle Lamy has worn many hats—fashion icon, defense lawyer, restaurateur, muse—and for years, she’s brought her design genius to the world of interiors. Now, she’s collaborating with the art object upstart House By on their very first release, Object 001, an oversized, rippled candle on a bronze base, inspired by petrified wood and made to be melted. Our editor-in-chief Mel Ottenberg dropped by Lamy and Rick Owens’ Paris home to strike a match and talk scents, sculpture, and the perfect drip.

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OTTENBERG: You look really cozy this morning.

LAMY: Mm-hmm.

OTTENBERG: How’s your grandchild?

LAMY: They went on a tour of some tombs in the countryside with Scarlet. We want to show them some history of the family. 

OTTENBERG: Gothic. Tell me about your new candle. Is there one here?

LAMY: Yeah. Let me tell them to bring one. [Walks away]

RICK OWENS: I’m going out for cigarettes.

OTTENBERG: I’m sure you’ll find some.

LAMY: Here. It’s just one thing.

OTTENBERG: But I’m happy to make a big deal of it. What’s the brand?

LAMY: House By. It is the first time they are doing something like this.

OTTENBERG: What? Luxury, fancy, big?

LAMY: No, I know that Gérard Mialet got together with Philippe Pérès, who is doing a lot of prototypes for big guys, especially Marc Newson. So they decided together to do House By.

OTTENBERG: Okay.

LAMY: They were thinking for me to do something in bronze, so it started with that sculpture that I did in polyurethane that was a part of my body. But then I thought the bronze was silly and then, for some reason, we were just talking and I said it should be a candle.

OTTENBERG: Right.

LAMY: Okay, I got one.

OTTENBERG: Merci. Oh, it’s beautiful. Oh, wow, so there’s an imprint. I see. This is sloped so that when it burns it should drip, drip, drip.

LAMY: Well, we are going to see.

OTTENBERG: Let’s light her up. There aren’t enough giant candles in the world like this candle. I am actually really excited that you’re doing this because when I was in Mexico City and I saw what people there have in their houses, I’m like, “Fuck, we have nothing.” Those huge candles from the religious places are so stunning and bring so much light. I love a huge candle. It’s a rarity these days.

LAMY: I sort of know why. This is all organic wax, but in the beginning they were thinking that there would be a perfume. But you can’t have a big candle with [fragrance], it’s something in the chemicals. So I think that’s one of the reasons. There was no way we could do a big candle like this that was a scented candle.

OTTENBERG: Oh, got it. Okay, so most people want to buy a scented candle, and that’s fine, but I want a huge candle that just looks great in my apartment. And I want this one, Michèle. I want your candle. And it comes with a base?

LAMY: Yeah. It comes on a little bronze base that is pretty heavy, that makes a nice ashtray afterwards. And it’s in a nice wood box.

OTTENBERG: Fab. I’m going to take a picture of you.

LAMY: Okay, I need to put my thing on for the picture.

OTTENBERG: Yeah, yeah. Styling.

LAMY: Voila. That’s that. With the cigarette.

OTTENBERG: Smoke Break. Exactement. Okay, one more drag. Nailed it. What is your scented candle of choice at Maison Rick and Michèle?

LAMY: I’m always trying a lot of Diptyque. A lot of scents are great. It could be figs. Right now I’m very into roses. But mainly amber, santal, we like these kinds of scents.

OTTENBERG: You think that Diptyque has the best scents?

LAMY: Yeah.

OTTENBERG: I think you’re right. I need some Diptyque.

LAMY: Yeah. At the end of the day, we always end up with a lot of Diptyques. And it’s nice to mix it up, but I think this one is roses. This one is santal.