Le Faubourg is a stylish lounge bar in the fashionable Aoyama district of Tokyo. The area is to Tokyo what Madison Avenue is to New York. This is where you'll find showcase boutiques for famous Japanese designers, like Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto, as well as internationally renowned brands such as Luis Vuitton and Chanel.
Given the location, it is not surprising that a French designer -- Sidonie Ory -- was chosen to create Le Faubourg's interior. Inspired by such romantic novelists as Marguerite Duras, he chose a French-Asian love story as his theme. A cluster of pristine white couches and rows of champagne magnums at the entrance give it an elegant air. But the interior beyond is almost tongue-in-cheek chic.
Imagine an upmarket salon in Saigon -- before that city became known as Ho Chi Min City. Take a blend of Perspex and chrome, add a pinch of classic French renaissance and a couple of large screens showing old French movies -- flickering in black-and-white in the background. Then add a sophisticated sound stage -- designed by fellow Frenchman Francois Marcireau -- and some of Tokyo's coolest club-jazz DJs and you've got Le Faubourg.
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