A TRIBUTE TO CLAUDE DALLE "ROMEO," THE WORLD'S GREATEST INTERIOR DESIGNER, WITH HIS LITTLE COMPANION DOGS
He was my mentor. Not just a superior, nor just another visionary designer. But the only man who, throughout my career, taught me a way of seeing, feeling, and talking business.
Mr. Claude Dalle, founder of Roméo, sculptor of baroque, antique, and flamboyant worlds.
In his main showroom on the famous rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine in Paris, amidst 5,000 m² of wonders, I learned to recognize the secret language of Louis XIV and Louis XV curves, and the uncompromising audacity of 1930s and 1960s Art Deco.
But beyond the furniture and precious materials, it was the human element he taught me: understanding a look, feeling a thrill, triggering desire through words and presence.
I was his top salesperson, in all stores in Paris and on the Croisette in Cannes. Not out of vanity, but because I was aligned with him—a living mirror of his creations. We had differences, especially in age, but our passion and mutual respect broke down barriers. In his eyes, I saw respect, and in my gestures, he recognized his own high standards.
And then one day... I chose myself as his mentor. Not to replace him, because we are all unique, but to honor his legacy by developing it in my own way. I, in turn, became the guarantor of an art of living, of a dialogue between tradition and modernity, between splendor and subtlety.
What to remember about Mr. Claude Dalle, the entrepreneur, decorator, and builder of universes. Mr. Dalle didn't simply create interiors: he sculpted refuges, three-dimensional poems, where one could breathe peace, intimacy, and discreet luxury. His creations, like his words, bore the mark of his time.
In his last breath, he left behind more than walls and furniture. He left a mark. That of a man who chose to live with tenderness and rigor. The heart of a deeply loved one—his loved ones, his colleagues, and even his two little Yorkshire Terriers, Fidji and Moka, who were much more than companions to him: they were confidants on legs.
Today, we don't simply mourn an absence—we celebrate a legacy. His.
Mr. Claude Robert Dalle, born June 25, 1932, in Montreuil, died March 13, 2025, in Paris.
Morgan Gautier