Should you match your chair to your dress?
blame it on instagram (and let’s face it, who doesn’t these days), but never before have the spheres of fashion and interiors collided with such vigour. There’s Alessandro Michele at Gucci using Antoinette Poisson prints (the recherché Parisian wallpaper brand that makes individual panels according to 18thcentury techniques) in the silk clothes at his Cruise show this May, and London designers Preen by Thornton Bregazzi and Emilia Wickstead now sticking their signature florals on to eiderdowns and tablecloths, as well as dresses. The trend has hit the high street too, with H&M branching out into lighting and furniture, and La Redoute’s now-infamous Berberstyle rug, which went so viral it even has an Instagram account of its own.
‘Our personal style is no longer simply about having a statement wardrobe,’ explains Anna Garner, former buying director at Selfridges, who founded thegarnered.com, a website cherry-picking the best of craft and design around the globe – and full of unique finds that are hard to place immediately. ‘Design savviness – as we are constantly reminded through the prism of nine squares and multiple likes on Instagram – extends to what we eat, where we holiday, where we shop, signifiers of who we are or, more importantly, who we’d like to be.’
‘It’s harder now to stand out from the crowd through fashion; it feels easier to show individuality in your home,’ agrees Lisa Mehydene, founder of website edit58.com, which collaborates with global artisans. The boom in interiors is perhaps in part thanks to a new-found desire to shop with a conscience. ‘People want to invest in things that have longevity and aren’t simply a fad. The idea that something is out of fashion after six months feels dated,’ says Anna.
But, perhaps more simplistically, it’s down to a change in our behaviour, too – namely, we’re spending more time at home; and improving houses rather than moving. ‘I prefer to host now rather than go to restaurants so I love to surround myself with treasures that reflect my personality,’ says Mathilda Goad, a one-time fashion stylist whose scalloped-edge lampshades are so in demand she has just launched a collaboration with Liberty this month. Emilia Wickstead, a self-confessed ‘homebody’ agrees that ‘dinner parties at
home are as exciting as going out’. And yet such at-home entertainment still needs to feel like an experience – which is where the décor comes in.
Whatever the reasoning, it’s clear that in 2018 we all want homes with a point of view. It’s why traditional e-tailers such as Matchesfashion.com have started adding homesware to their offering; and new so-called ‘lifestyle emporiums’ are springing up. Take Cutter Brooks as the latest example: a spot in the Cotswolds founded by Amanda Brooks, a former Barneys buying director, peddling the chicest points of country living. News on the grapevine is that the £3,500 lily-of-the valley pots are selling like hotcakes.
It’s also why designers are broadening their scope. For instance, London design duo Preen by Thornton Bregazzi created eiderdown coats for their autumn/winter ’17 collection and then ended up making them for their home in Suffolk. ‘It was partly inspired by the fact that, sometimes, you just need a duvet day,’ says co-founder Justin Thornton, ‘but we’ve seen our eiderdown wrapped around a model and worn as a skirt.’ Meanwhile, Emilia Wickstead, who enjoys creating an interior tableaux that offsets the hostess’s ensemble, has designed linen dresses to match the blousy Chinese florals that adorn her tablecloths.
Fewer women would be better placed to parlay a chic and glamorous lifestyle into a collection of homewares than Lauren Santo Domingo, founder of the American e-tailer Moda Operandi. Given Santo Domingo’s love of entertaining and a life filled with soirées, couture and vases of peonies, the Moda Home collection (which launched in May) has proved a no-brainer. ‘It’s funny, my generation was taught to reject anything too housewifey and domesticated. But I think there’s a way to do interiors that doesn’t feel oldfashioned, where you can enjoy the design process of making a table look beautiful as a creative statement, rather than simply a social one,’ she explains. Her signature look sees De Gournay x Once Milano quilts as part of the mix, alongside less expensive but no less chic Laguna B tumblers and resin bowls by Dinosaur Designs.
Does Lauren believe that women shop interiors as they might fashion? Are you a diehard maximalist in the home if you like to slink around in a Vampire’s Wife dress? ‘Just as in fashion, one’s entertaining style takes time to evolve,’ she argues. ‘I grew up between the East and West Coasts in the US, where dinner parties were supremely casual and usually involved paper plates on the beach and a lot of sand in your food. My husband, on the other hand, was accustomed to a footman and finger bowls. And so, ironically, he now bristles against any formality and I am always looking for an occasion to set out the nice plates.’
Others see a clearer link between your approach to home decoration and how you dress. ‘If you favour bold colour and print, you may not go all out with a full-on maximalist room, but you might highlight with accents like the Preen or House of Hackney cushions to complement dark blue walls,’ says Natalie Kingham, the buying director of Matchesfashion.com – the e-tailer who recently introduced homesware to their offering.
Like fashion, however, it’s easy to get sucked into a vortex of buying a ‘must-have’ checklist. Alex Eagle, design guru and owner of Alex Eagle Studio, counsels that the trick to making your home look unique and individual is to buy only things that you really love. ‘If you love it, you will make it work; don’t be afraid to have things that are mismatched. Ultimately, this will reflect your personality.’
What are Lauren’s tips for creating the perfect home? ‘I like to use at least three eras in a vignette. If everything is modern or everything is antique, it gets boring. Something classic, something deco and something retro.’
So, prepare yourself – the race is on to find beautiful, considered objects. Thoughtful pieces that will transcend seasons – still making your heart flutter in a decade – and will go some way to elevating the everyday. Here are our suggestions…