Bridging the Gap Between Fashion and Interiors
A few years ago Philippe Starck made a splash by collaborating with Italian cashmere company
Ballantyne
, just as
Missoni
started building hotels and Zac Posen designed interiors for the
16w21 condos
. After decades of determined separation, interior and fashion designers are playing nicely together—or at least sharing the same playground.
According to some, this trend is a throwback to the past. “In the 18th century, fashion fabrics and decorative fabrics were very similar,” says
Patrick Lelievre
, chairman of the Parisian textile house
Lelievre
, which has successfully partnered with
Rochas
,
Kenzo
,
Sonia Rykiel
and most recently
Jean-Paul Gaultier
in a merger of the two mediums.
“There are design principles that both practices share when creating furnishings in a space or an ensemble of clothing: determining a focal point, creating the silhouette, balancing proportion and details,” says
Lindy Donnelly
, who established her own interior design practice in 2003 outside of San Francisco, after 18 years as a fashion designer in New York. There she worked her way up from design assistant at Liz Claiborne to head designer for Tommy Hilfiger.
“We work a lot like fashion designers,” says Patrick Reymond, co- founder of
Atelier Oï
, a Switzerland-based architecture and design firm who has collaborated on bottles for Bulgari Parfums and, most recently, furniture for Louis Vuitton. “We have to have materials in our hands. Playing with materials, experimenting, being inspired by them,” says Reymond. “There’s always a connection between materials and the story.”
“Working with fashion companies helps us to develop products that are not in our range, like a new challenge,” says Lelievre. That makes sense to us, from both a creative and business sense. Consider that while perusing a few of the most interesting collaborations between interior design and fashion that have come to market in recent months.
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More:
Are Interior Designers Seduced by Automobiles?
Women in Design: Confronting the Glass Ceiling
What Can Contemporary Design do for Religion?
