The Concorde Is Dead, Long Live the Concorde

Concorde may be on a permanent vacation, but Lawrence Azerrad’s supersonic collection is ready for takeoff. What began with building a model airplane as a child has morphed into a compilation of about 700 pieces of Concorde memorabilia, ranging from models, stamps and matchbooks to menus designed by Christian Lacroix and Jean Boggio, dinnerware by Raymond Lowey and baggage tags. (Though stateside we often call the jet “the Concorde,” it is properly referred to as “Concorde,” much as the British say “at university” or “in hospital.”) “As a child, I just loved the shape of Concorde. I immediately could see that it was different from other airplanes, this pointy little airplane that went really fast,” he says.

Today Azerrad is an L.A.-based graphic designer, and design is still piloting his collection. “The most interesting things are the brochures from the ‘70s that describe the jet culture and lifestyle and fashion. The style of photography and the graphic language of the typography is so different. Concorde was the manifestation of the best--speed, altitude, travel, style. Through the objects designed for Concorde, we see the uniqueness of Concorde and the Concorde experience. As a designer, I’m really attracted to that element.”

Next on the horizon for Azerrad, who specializes in design for the music industry and teaches photography at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, is a collaboration with photographer Francois Robert on a book about the history of design surrounding Concorde. The book, scheduled for publication in 2005, will focus on Azerrad’s collection, highlighting some of the more visually stunning pieces, such as a sterling silver-embossed flask that was given to passengers in the ‘70s, or a sleek bottle opener shaped like the jet. Coinciding with publication, Azerrad hopes to create an exhibition based on the jet’s design history.

With the recent retirement of Air France and British Airways’ Concorde planes, the cost of memorabilia has seen a steep ascent: The nose of a plane fetched $554,000 at a Paris auction last October. “There’s a finite amount of stuff now that Concorde is over,” Azerrad says. “And for me, there’s the practicality of storing it. But I can’t imagine that I’ll ever be completely done. I’d love to get some of the early uniforms. I’m usually surprised by what’s out there. I never knew the bottle openers would be such a special shape, or that there would be a stamp from Tajikistan commemorating Concorde, or a $20 bill from Singapore. It’s a search and discovery.”

Perhaps the best discovery was experiencing Concorde firsthand. Last summer for his 30th birthday, Azerrad flew Concorde from New York to London. “Before I flew on Concorde, I would ask people who’d flown it for as many details as possible, such as, ‘Do you hear it when you go Mach 2?’ ” he says. “When we reached Mach 2, there was clapping and all these flashbulbs going off. It’s strange to be in an airplane and feel like you’re at a sporting event. And then you’re there, you get off and are in this haze. It was kind of all over before it began.”