What made you become an interior designer?
That came straight out of my heart. I like global and accomplished things above all. I want to create complete stories.
Before working in interior design, I worked in fashion. And I find that there is a great similarity between these two fields. We tell complete stories about sensations, volumes, materials, period style and heritage. I like working with all this.
What is your philosophy of interior design?
First of all, you have to be yourself. You shouldn’t be ashamed of your tastes. It is necessary to create a DNA, that is to say to be able to read and live a space. With the DNA, you know who signed the space but in the same time it is not too invasive. Attention to detail is also essential. My philosophy is also to never give up anything, I want to make each project an extremely smooth result. With a lot of tension and rigor upstream, and a great lightness and a lot of softness at the end. You must not look at what others are doing, you must continue to be constantly demanding, and demanding does not mean expensive. You have to look for harmony.
What are your current projects?
We just finished a huge penthouse in London with a 500m2 terrace overlooking the city, incredible. We also took care of a very beautiful project in St Barth. Instead of designing a large, cold and metallic American villa, we proposed to our clients to make a small village lost in nature. We just finished a very nice project in Neuilly. A dozen of new design pieces have been released in my collection. I am also the artistic director of a new brand called Dragonfly that is entirely based on craftsmanship and inspired by nature. It will be launched during Art Basel in Miami. On this project, we only worked with craftsmen who produces completely atypical objects. All pieces are slightly different, beautiful, graphic and made in France. I also continue to design pieces for Giobagnara, and we will release new pieces in January. Finally, I am the artistic director of the Webster, a multi-brand fashion and design store based in New- York, Miami and on the West Coast.
Which project are you most proud of?
Behind each project, there is a human adventure. When you accept to do project, it means that there is a fantastic fit. Each project has fortunately a different flavor. We give so much energy in these projects, that the people involved in it must all be fantastic, professional and human. It happens to us very often, so we are very lucky. That’s why there are so many projects that I am proud of.
Par Excellence is the address of the finest French Craftsmen in New York. What place does craftsmanship occupy in your work?
Craftsmanship is a huge component of my work. Because this is a philosophy to me. If we could, we would work only with craftsmen. Of course, there are sometimes budget, time or even geographical constraints. But when you have put your finger on the gear and start working with these masters, it becomes a drug. Craftsmanship is like a second nature to our design office. We speak the same language, we understand each other, they are never afraid to go further, to dialogue and to put themselves into question. What I love is the upstream phase where we are in interaction with the craftsmen, where everything is built. This is the experience of “making the space”.
I really hope we could work together in the future; it will be an amazing experience!
