What began as recollection soon expanded into a deeper historical study. Working from examples in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s archive of American quilts, Bargo immersed himself in flower-basket motifs, geometric patchwork, and the “crazy quilt” tradition, a style that emerged in late nineteenth-century America and abandoned orderly repetition in favor of asymmetry, collage-like construction, and an almost painterly layering of disparate fabrics. The quilt thus becomes a language of collectivity: anonymous, collaborative, and symbolic of an American tradition of shared making.

This transatlantic partnership is sharpened by Bargo’s particular sensibility. Kentucky-born and self-taught, he has built a singular reputation in contemporary interiors through a practice that marries the rigor of twentieth-century French design with a nonchalance that resists preciousness, shaped in part by the time he divides between New York City and his pied-à-terre in Paris. His interiors are distinguished not only by connoisseurship but by use: pieces are lived with, and elegance is allowed to loosen. His expertise in French modernism, paired with the texture of his southern upbringing, makes Bargo uniquely equipped to merge these worlds in a way that feels both emotionally resonant and formally cohesive. As Yves Salomon himself notes, “I was immediately drawn to his perspective. He has that rare ability to create a dialogue between eras, styles, and objects with great freedom, while maintaining a sense of balance that feels just right—almost instinctive.”

That premise takes material form in nine fur quilts, which draw on traditional American patterns; reimagining these forms through mink, fox, marmot and rex rabit, and translating a deeply American language of shared making into the rarefied craftsmanship of the Paris ateliers. Working across both textile and object, Bargo extends this language through the extraordinary expertise of Yves Salomon’s workshops, where archival hides sourced from previous fashion commissions are reworked using in-house techniques that preserve the tactility, sheen, and depth unique to each surface. “Working with Yves Salomon opened up an entirely new understanding of material. Their knowledge of the hides, the way each surface carries light, texture, and memory, allowed the furniture to become something entirely new,” Bargo says.

From quilt to chair, the same material intelligence moves through three iconic forms selected by Bargo, each illuminating a different facet of America’s design legacy: Frank Lloyd Wright, Paul Frankl, and Eero Saarinen.

Frank Lloyd Wright approached furniture as an extension of architecture itself, insisting that every objectparticipate in the total spatial logic of the room. The angular wooden chair selected here, with its octagonal backrest and disciplined geometry, carries the same formal rigor and structural clarity that define his interiors. Here, Yves Salomon’s dark green mink introduces a rich, velvety surface whose depth softens the chair without compromising its precision. The result is a piece that retains Wright’s upright discipline while absorbing a new layer of tactile richness.

Paul Frankl, the Viennese-born designer who helped define American modern interiors between New York and Hollywood, brought a rare synthesis of formal discipline and social glamour to twentieth-century furniture. His celebrated rattan lounge chair and ottoman, with their looping bentwood silhouette, collapse structure and ease into a single fluid gesture. Here, Bargo’s choice of skunk hide feels both formally intelligent and knowingly theatrical: the black-and-white striping echoes the linear sweep of Frankl’s frame while foregrounding the hide’s natural graphic drama. The result heightens the chair’s innate glamour while preserving the relaxed sensuality that made Frankl’s furniture so socially alive.

Eero Saarinen’s contribution to American design lies in his ability to reduce furniture to its most sculptural essence. His Tulip chair retains the clarity and formal purity of his iconic mid-century forms, where line, curve, and support are distilled into a single continuous gesture. Bargo’s restrained intervention introduces Yves Salomon’s pale astrakhan, a softly irregular texture whose tactile richness recalls patchwork and hand-stitched surfaces. The result is quietly luxurious, amplifying Saarinen’s sculptural calm with a layer of domestic memory and material warmth.

Presented at Casa Mascagni, a 1960s-era Milanese residence, the pieces are installed within a fictional apartment imagined as the home Michael Bargo might have made for himself had he been born an American heir to the Yves Salomon lineage and relocated to the Italian design capital. Part fantasy, part interior autobiography, the installation transforms the collection from display into narrative, allowing the viewer to encounter the works within a lived interior logic. Here, the pieces are no longer merely shown but lived with, staged within a domestic fiction that lends them psychological and emotional resonance. “They’re these great, luxurious, one-of-a-kind works of art,” Bargo says. What emerges is a collection in which American and French legacies share memory, craft, and material intelligence, each tradition refracting and sharpening the other. As Marcellin Boyer, Creative Director of Yves Salomon Éditions, notes, Bargo’s “ability to move between creation and curation” made it possible to conceive a collection that brings together “new pieces and vintage works, selected and then transformed.” The project, he adds, reflects “an expanded vision of our practice: to create, but also to observe, select, and transmit.”

About Michael Bargo
Michael Bargo is an interior designer and curator recognized for his expertise in mid-century French design. His interiors bring together art, furniture, and rare objects in carefully balanced compositions, where Mid-Century Modern, Nouveau, and Art Deco styles are reinterpreted with contemporary clarity. Beyond his design practice, Bargo is known for his eye as a collector and advisor, guiding clients in building significant twentieth-century collections. He divides his time between Manhattan and Paris.

About Yves Salomon Éditions
Yves Salomon Éditions extends the legacy of the century-old Parisian house into the worlds of collectible design, furniture, and objects. Rooted in the House’s longstanding mastery of materials and artisanal craftsmanship, the Editions brings contemporary designers into close dialogue with its historic ateliers. Working across limited editions and one-of-a-kind pieces, it continues the House’s tradition of refined material innovation and understated luxury.

About Marcellin Boyer
Marcellin Boyer is the creative director of Yves Salomon Éditions, where he oversees the Maison’s expansion into collectible design and interiors. Trained in artistic design in Paris, with previous experience at Hermès petit h, Boyer brings expertise across craftsmanship, retail architecture, and contemporary design.

Practical Information

Casa Mascagni, Via Mascagni 22 Milan
April 20-23 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM