Editor’s letter
Ihad been feeling like a bit of a design imposter never having been to Milan during Salone del Mobile and this year I nally got to go and it was magni co! I was fortunate to have former Belle editor Eric Matthews, now with French house Hermès, as my travel companion for a couple of days to preview the marque’s new homewares and interview its deputy artistic directors Charlotte Macaux Perelman and Alexis Fabry (p53). The ve days in Milano were full of such serendipitous moments. At Armani Casa I had a eeting moment and photo opp with the dashing Mr Armani. When we visited Galleria Rossana Orlandi, British designer Lee Broom had just parked his elegant truck, which he had driven from London with his latest lighting collection, so we had a great chat with him. On entering the fabulous rambling gallery space, I immediately met the gracious Rossana and was morti ed that I was wearing trainers – only to look down and nd that she was too! We met the uber-talented, vivacious and funny Patricia Urquiola at the launch of Urkiola for Georg Jensen in her new hotel Giulia for Room Mate. We had whisked Ms Urquiola off to a suite to shoot a portrait of her and she was very enthusiastic, telling me that the women in Scandinavia and Australia were very strong and didn’t realise how good they were! We were also lucky to meet Mr Alberto Alessi and spend an entertaining hour with him and Australian designer Adam Goodrum who is about to release a design with the iconic Italian company. Mr Alessi patiently explained his formula for choosing which products make the cut and sketched it for me.
A visit to Fondazione Prada was a highlight – so many fabulous nishes and wonderful art – and the excellent Bar Luce, with interiors by Wes Anderson, makes you feel like you’re in a lm. The design fair itself is incredibly hectic and requires an experienced operator – fortunately we had our man on the ground, design expert David Harrison covering all the trends (p58).
Now back to extraordinary Australian talent. Please join us in congratulating this year’s world-class winners of the Belle Coco Republic Interior Design Awards (p95). Fiona Lynch is our Interior Designer of the Year and won Best Residential Interior and Best Bathroom Design – what a hat trick! Whiting A+I won Best Kitchen Design, Arent&Pyke took out the Hospitality Interior award and Woods Bagot the Commercial Interior category. We hope you are as energised and inspired by the looks as we are.