The Private Spaces of Top Fashion Designers

Christmas Day

I received this lovely book from my sister Lea for Christmas! Happily, it's been on my list to buy and she didn't even know it!

Along with fabulous images of their homes, the author, Marie Bariller, interviewed each designer, and she asked Damiano Biella [artistic director of Escada]:

"If you were a color, what would you be?" Chocolate. (I've added my interpretation with photos of their answers)

If you were a house, what would you be? An English Manor house.

If you were an item of furniture? A chaise lounge.

If you were an era, what would you be? Tomorrow.

If you were a fabric, what would you be? Velvet

Is decorating a house the same as clothing a body?

It is exactly the same. In fashion design, you need an overall vision. When you imagine a shirt, you think of what goes with it, how it will be shown, the places where it will be sold, who will wear it, and how it will be arranged with other garments bought elsewhere. . . It is exactly the same with interior decoration: a combination of elements, materials, colors, fragrances, and light. The senses are alive in both these spheres.

Interview with Dolce & Gabbana: If you were a fabric, what would you be?
Stefano Gabbana: Slightly torn denim; Domenico Dolce: Black Velvet

If you were a painting, what would you be? S.G. A Passion or an Ecstasy from the Mannerist period, or perhaps a painting by Andy Warhol.

D.D. Something by Julian Schnabel


What are your favourite color combinations in interior design? Are they the same as those you use in fashion?

D.D. I find that black is, absolutely, the most elegant color. An ebony chest of drawers is, in my view, highly stylish, just as a black evening dress can be.

S.G. Art and architecture have always been a great source of inspiration for me. Similarily, the fashion that we create influences the way I see other art forms. Animal motifs, black, and gold are the colors I prefer, both for clothes and for furniture.

Interview with Christian Louboutin: [Creator of the celebrated red-soled shoes]

If you were a color, what would you be? The red of my shoes.

If you were a painting, what would you be? A poster for the Adventures of Tintin: Land of Black Gold.

What sort of atmosphere do you like to create in a house? The only things I don't like are empty interiors and interiors that are too technical, where the most important place is occupied by the stereo or television.
Interview with Elie Saab:

If you were a color, what would you be. Stone.

Do you have a motto in interior decoration? Space and Light.

Elie Saab

What sort of atmosphere do you like to create in a house? An atmosphere that reflects who I am, and where there is life.


That is a motto we could all strive to decorate by!