Inside the Industrial Chic Paris Home of Clara Cornet and Luca Pronzato

Hannah Martin

November 14, 2024 at 8:00 a.m.·6 min read

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When I hopped on a Zoom call with Clara Cornet and Luca Pronzato in early October, it was the last day of Paris Fashion Week. “We just got back from Disneyland for the Coperni show,” says Cornet, excitedly reporting that “We took our son, Leo, as a surprise to meet Mickey!” Today, she’s coolly multitasking. Luca hops on the call from another location—over the last week, his buzzy pop-up dinner project, We Are Ona, has organized culinary experiences for Valentino, Chanel, and Balenciaga. Cornet had a hard out in 30 minutes: Leo had judo.

The USM storage in the entrance is topped with a vase by Gaetano Pesce and an ashtray by Ettore Stotsass. The chair is by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the artwork is from Pesce’s Vieni a Vedere exhibition in 2023, and the mirror is by friend and collaborator Willo Perron.

This is just a regular day in the life for this busy young family. In Paris, it’s always fashion week, design week, or art week—Pronzato was already in prep mode for his Art Basel partnership with Carsten Höller, coming up just a few weeks later—and in their collab-centric, multidisciplinary occupations, they have their hands in all of it. Cornet, a Paris fashion insider who worked at Opening Ceremony and Galeries Lafayette is now a head of fashion partnerships at Instagram for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Pronzato’s roving dinner series pops up all over the world partnering with chefs, artists, and designers timed to cultural events like Frieze or Design Miami. Together, the two run Canetta, a cult-favorite canned natural wine brand. Somehow, they juggle it all with ease; never visibly stressed, finding time for friends and family in between.

Shop out the look of the house here⤵

Cornet and Pronzato commissioned Wall Panel, 2024, from their friend Marc Leschelier, a recent We Are Ona collaborator, which is hung in the living area, over the vintage COR trio sofa. The vintage paper lamp is by Ingo Maurer, the travertine cocktail table is from Galerie Blanchetti, and the vase is by Gaetano Pesce. — Cornet and Pronzato commissioned *Wall Panel*, 2024, from their friend Marc Leschelier, a recent We Are Ona collaborator, which is hung in the living area, over the vintage COR trio sofa. The vintage paper lamp is by Ingo Maurer, the travertine cocktail table is from Galerie Blanchetti, and the vase is by Gaetano Pesce.

A Gae Aulenti table and chair, editioned by Prisunic, is a highlight of the garden, where Cornet and Pronzato love to host friends and colleagues.

Luca Pronzato (left) and Clara Cornet in their Paris home

“We’re always trying to navigate the work-life balance,” Cornet says. So when they found a 861-square-foot industrial flat in the north of Paris with a cool, wrought-iron spiral staircase and a drool-worthy outdoor space, they knew it was the one. Here, Cornet reports, the various limbs of their life come together: “We work, we live, we host.” Pronzato might invite colleagues or future collaborators over for pizza or a wine tasting in the garden (“the corner with the bamboo is really good for creative thinking,” he reports.) “We adore hosting,” Cornet continues. “It’s in both of our DNA.”

On the stainless-steel countertops of their oak Reform kitchen sit Pronzato’s knife collection, a silver Christofle egg, and a couple cans of Canetta, with Sophie Lou Jacobsen glasses and tray.

The dining area features an Alvar Aalto table surrounded by vintage rattan chairs, purchased at auction, and a hanging Isamu Noguchi Akari light fixture by Vitra.

Despite the industrial appeal of the place, it needed a bit of work to feel thoroughly homey. The couple moved around a few walls, opening up the downstairs to create one large volume while rearranging the bedrooms and bathroom upstairs. In a subtler riff on their past Instagram-famous pink bathroom, they clad their new one in graphic white tile. Working with their friends Atelier au Dela, they carved out a wood-clad library nook to the right of the living space that cleverly doubles as Leo’s play area. “All of his toys are stuffed in those cabinets,” Cornet reveals. And around the house they replaced the lighting, mostly using paper fixtures that add contrasting warmth to the concrete floors and tall ceilings. “It just worked so well with the high volumes,” Cornet explains, “filling the house with a really cozy light.”

The cozy library nook, clad in wood with help from Atelier au Dela, is outfitted with a Le Corbusier Lampe de Marseille and a hand-shaped chair, scored at a vintage auction.

The serene space is a perfectly balanced cocktail of references, stirring together minimalist pieces from Japan and Scandinavia with pops of French and Italian design. In their Reform kitchen, for example, knives and other kitchen utensils brought back from Japan hang on the walls, across from an Alvar Alto dining table, vintage rattan chairs, and a Noguchi lantern. The cooking and dining areas open up into the main living space, which has a cloudlike, diaphanous feeling in the daytime, sunlight dappling vintage pieces like the COR trio sofa and a travertine table scored at Galerie Blanchetti, one of Cornet’s favorite shopping spots. Still, there’s a dash of radical flavor in every room: a jiggly resin vase by Gaetano Pesce, an Ettore Sottsass ashtray, a molded plastic mirror by their friend Willo Perron.

A Flos Gatto light by the Castiglioni Brothers and a Gaetano Pesce vase on the bookshelf in the serene bedroom. The linens are by Tekla.

A Pierre Paulin Pumpkin chair, by Ligne Roset, in the bedroom, with drawings by Michael McGregor (depicting Cornet and Pronzato’s usual order at Harry’s Bar) and a lithograph by Inès Longevial. The shades are by Maison Thevenon.
Matthew Avignone

The allover tile-clad bath delivers a graphic punch. Towels by Tekla.

“We like surrounding ourselves with pieces that remind us of the people that we admire and love,” Cornet says, noting the artwork in the living room by collaborator and friend Marc Leschelier, a stool by their friend Sophie Dries, and the drawings by Michael McGregor hanging in the bedroom. “He hand-painted our favorite dish at Harry’s Bar in Paris—a Negroni, an espresso martini, and a plate of fries to share.”

Since moving in earlier this year, Cornet and Pronzato have been settling into their groove. They’ve planted tomatoes in the garden, thrown a birthday party for Leo, and already conceptualized a handful of new ideas over pizza. “Even though it’s a big, open floor plan, each space feels autonomous,” Cornet reflects. “If one of us is working on the kitchen table, the other can hang out on the couch, and Leo can play in his reading nook. Everyone can have their own independence.”