Shagreen Writing Desk with Bronze-Patina Brass by Kifu Paris

Family is what brought Kifu Augousti into the world of furniture design. The daughter of celebrated designers Ria and Yiouri Augousti, Kifu has a bold, quirky style that is fiercely independent. Her exquisite handmade tables, seating and decorative objects — which typically feature pronounced geometrical forms and exotic inlays — set Augousti apart as an up-and-coming creator of modern furnishings made in the Art Deco tradition.

Augousti embarked on her creative career early. After attending Brown University, she followed in her parents' footsteps, carving out her own reputation as a design powerhouse.

While it’s often likened to her parents’ work, Kifu Augousti’s designs have a look that is distinctively their own. Offbeat materials, sinuous curves and wild patterns have become hallmarks of the designer’s furniture. In the workshop of her parent's design firm, R & Y Augousti, Kifu experimented with semi-precious stones, shells and other interesting materials as a child. Her parents gained fame for bringing shagreen — leather made from shark or stingray hide — back into fashion. (It reemerged as a luxe material among designers and decorators in 2017.)

Popular in the 1930s, this versatile material had fallen out of vogue over time. The Augoustis revived it for use in their own work, and Kifu Augousti continues to celebrate it, incorporating shagreen into her signature styles that are on offer at her Kifu Paris shop in Paris as well as in her New York City showroom. She favors bold, nature-inspired prints and silhouettes, and in many of her handmade benches, coffee tables, daybeds and other large pieces, an integration of shagreen blends wonderfully with the structures’ bold bronze frames or bases. In her smaller boxes, baskets and vases, stylish combinations of shagreen, shell inlays and decorative knobs with semi-precious stones are merged to create a sumptuous, unconventional look that is utterly unique.

Find Kifu Augousti seating, tables and decorative objects on 1stDibs.

R&Y Augousti was founded in 1989 by husband-wife duo Ria & Yiouri Augousti. Their artistic backgrounds brought them together as innovators in their field by reviving the artisanal techniques of shagreen and other exotic materials that were predominant in the Art Deco period of the 1930s. Through their mix of vintage and contemporary design their furniture and home accessories brand were met with worldwide praise. From a debut collection for the luxurious Hotel Crillon in Paris, to exclusive collections for luxury stores like Barneys New York & Bergdorf Goodman, they finally opened their flagship store on the famous Rue Du Bac in 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. From this they began to work closely with worldwide famous interior designers, architects and celebrities to create custom pieces for their homes and projects all within keeping to the Augousti universe. Although shagreen is their signature DNA, R&Y Augousti are known as pioneers of pattern mixes of exotic materials of shagreen, shell, parchment, eel-skin, semi-precious stones, snakeskins and metal. Their stunning patterns are identifiable by their worldwide clientele. Continuing and honoring the heritage of Augousti, their daughter recently opened a showroom in New York called KIFU PARIS, that carries the R&Y Augousti collection, her fiancée’s sculptural candle collection- Patrick Coard Paris-, and her own furniture and home accessories.