For more than two years, Jerry Gomez has had a double life. From Monday to Friday, he officiates in a suit and tie in a large Manhattan law firm, to help his clients resolve inextricable commercial disputes. The rest of the time, with his companion, Joaquin Molina (former vice-president of Barneys New York), he manages the Objet LA/NY Instagram account, which they imagined together in the fall of 2020 as “a mix of personal diary and design gallery”.
A few months earlier, the two men were cruising between Los Angeles and New York – hence the name of the account. Surprised by the pandemic, they left their California residence for good to settle full-time in Manhattan: “We ended up with a hundred boxes full of objects on our hands and about as many pieces of furniture! The fruit of so many years spent collecting, first alone, then together since 2014…” They created Objet LA/NY to get rid of part of their (remarkable) collection and, faced with growing demand, resumed their work in china at junk shops, consignment stores and flea markets.
A penchant for the modernist period
Their sharp eye, their penchant for amazing pieces, signed or not, with this idea that “good taste can rub shoulders with bad taste”, make recipe. Brutalist walnut stool, 1930s mirrors framed with wrought iron plant motifs, vintage Hermès leather document holder, Vallauris ceramic coffee table signed Roger Capron… This spontaneous, elaborate catalog “without marketing calculation and without snobbery”, shows a certain penchant for the modernist period, French in particular. “Of course we love Charlotte Perriand, who is a superstar, all Americans are crazy about her, Jerry Gomez analysis. But also Pierre Chapo, Pierre Jeanneret, Louis Sognot, Jean Royère… And generally everything related to the style of the French Riviera of the 1950s and 1960s.”
Jerry Gomez and Joaquin Molina say they sell 50 to 100 pieces a month, which can make more than one gallery in town dream.
Today, more than 130,000 subscribers – including renowned architects and decorators such as Pierre Yovanovitch, Luke Edward Hall or Vincent Van Duysen – closely monitor their digital storefront. With a loyal clientele spread across New York, California, France, Italy, Scandinavia, Mexico, the Middle East and Australia, Jerry Gomez and Joaquin Molina claim to sell 50 to 100 pieces per month, which can make more than one gallery in town dream… “We want to charge very competitive prices, far from the prices of a platform like 1stdibs. Our approach, which is also more ecological, allows it. »
Understand: Gomez and Molina try to favor the short circuit as much as possible, to reduce the carbon footprint and the amount of packaging in the transport of objects. To do this, they flush out, often remotely on the Internet, Instagram and other apps, parts that are sent directly from the source to buyers established in the same country, a principle which at the same time shortens delivery times. While working on the upcoming creation of a merchant site, an inevitable step in the development of their small business, Jerry Gomez and Joaquin Molina continue to paraphrase the national motto of the United States, through these words: “In objects we trust. »
Instagram: @object_la_ny