The surreal encounter a flamboyant design for Chinese New Year by Vincent Darré
To celebrate the Year of the Dragon in 2024, Maison Martell has partnered with French designer Vincent Darré, who has brought his singular vision to Martell Noblige, envisioning a fantastical encounter between the Chinese dragon and the Martell swift.
A flamboyant artistic collaboration with French designer Vincent Darré
For the Martell Noblige Limited Edition 2024, Maison Martell collaborated with the designer and interior decorator Vincent Darré. He is known for his flamboyant creations which draw on different styles and eras to offer a luxurious, contemporary vision of French decorative arts. When he visited Maison Martell in Cognac as inspiration for the project, Vincent Darré felt like an explorer discovering an unknown land. He describes it as travelling through time, thanks not only to the illustrations and accounts he found in the archives, but also to the place itself, with its strange and wonderful alchemy.
A fantastical encounter marking the Year of the Dragon
Vincent Darré drew inspiration from the Chinese Year of the Dragon in 2024 to create an intensely colourful and richly symbolic limited edition of Martell Noblige. The design pays tribute to the meeting of two cultures, represented by a magnificent, dazzling dragon – a symbol of power and good fortune – and an elegant, stylised swift, symbolising Maison Martell’s spirit of freedom. Maison Martell cultivates close ties with China, which date all the way back to its first shipment to the country in 1858. It is this historic connection between China and Maison Martell, East and West, which is told through the Martell Noblige Limited Edition.
In the evocative, enchanted realm created by Vincent Darré on the Martell Noblige bottle and gift box, ships laden with precious cognac are guided on their voyage from France by flying swifts, while two majestic dragons welcome them on their arrival in China. The rich red and gold hues chosen by the artist herald a prosperous year.
Martell Noblige: a statement-making cognac with unique flair and energy
The Martell Noblige Limited Edition by Vincent Darré revisits this statement-making cognac, which was first launched in the 1980s as a contemporary symbol of French art de vivre. Its name was inspired by the aristocratic expressio “Noblesse oblige”. As Martell Noblige has evolved over time, two qualities have remained constant: on the one hand, its singular character and flair; on the other, its stylish, cutting-edge design. The iconic bottle, adorned with a large, engraved Martell swift, and the eye-catching, electric blue box, lent themselves to the vivid imagination of Vincent Darré. The rich blend of Martell Noblige is composed with a minimum of 100 eaux-de-vie from the finest terroirs in the Cognac region. Its singular woody character, generally found only in older cognacs, requires a specific savoir-faire to create.
Its generous structure offers a perfect balance between strength and smoothness.
About Vincent Darré
Vincent Darré spent 20 years as a stylist and artistic director with, among others, Yves Saint Laurent, Prada and Fendi, where he collaborated for six years with Karl Lagerfeld. He left fashion to found Maison Darré in Paris in 2009, applying his talents as a designer and interior decorator embodying the timeless luxury of French decorative arts. Vincent Darré imagines bjects, furniture, ephemeral or permanent decors, nourishing his insatiable curiosity for references from all eras, styles and creative realms, which he fuses together in his designs. He explains: “I always start with a story, which I write like a film script, before bringing my concepts to life through watercolours”.
About Maison Martell
The oldest of the great cognac houses, founded by Jean Martell in 1715, Maison Martell is renowned throughout the world for the finesse and elegance of its cognacs, the result of a legacy of savoir-faire handed down through nine generations. Together with a passion for its craft and a profound attachment to the terroir, Maison Martell is defined by the audacity with which it has challenged convention to create new expressions of cognac, including the icon Martell Cordon Bleu in 1912. The free spirit of the House is symbolised by its historic emblem: the swift.
