SEEING THE LIGHT
Rooted in his family’s business in upholstery and furniture, Pierre Frey scion Matthieu Frey decorates his home in Singapore with a rich mix of styles and cultural influences
“I would describe my aesthetic as being optimistic and open-minded,” says Matthieu Frey. “Interior decoration should be elegant but, most importantly, fun!” Indeed, that much is evident in his light-filled home. The Asiapacific director of Pierre Frey has lived in this apartment for six years, with his wife and their two children. He professes with some relief that the couple can finally own “nice furniture”, now that their children are of schoolgoing age and less prone to doodling on the seats.
Together with his brothers Pierre and Vincent, Frey is part of the third generation that is continuing the family trade. Established in 1935 by their grandfather Pierre Frey, the French upholstery and furnishings company is led by their father Patrick. Frey oversees the regional development of the company from the brand’s Singapore office, while Vincent and Pierre are the firm’s deputy general manager and communications director, respectively. Frey tells us more about the design of his home in Singapore.
My favourite nook at home is …
a cosy spot between the kitchen and the dining area. I have my morning coffee and juice here when my kids are having breakfast before heading to school. It overlooks the luxuriant gardens and, most importantly, has direct morning sunlight which is essential to starting my day.
The biggest challenge for me in 2020 was … not being able to head back home to Europe. It is usually a yearly pilgrimage with my wife and our kids to spend some time with our families in France and Denmark. We have been living in Singapore for more than 12 years now and loving it, but we do need our European summers with our close ones.
A silver lining of 2020 is ... spending quality time at home with our two kids. In normal times, we have lesser free time due to long working hours and I personally spend half of my time flying. So the time spent playing, reading, cooking and laughing with my children this year has been priceless.
In 2021, my wife and I are looking forward to … not burying ourselves in work, to try and devote more time to our little ones and have a better balance in our professional and personal lives. I also hope to be able to do a two-week trek in Bhutan. Professionally, I hope to expand our business in Southeast Asia, launch our line of furniture in the Asia-pacific region, and find new talented artists to work with.
Singapore is a fantastic design hub. It has amazing creative designers, very impressive projects, from hotels, apartments, black-and-white bungalows to restaurants and bars, but is lacking a major event to showcase these and promote young and talented creative minds. Hopefully, when everything is back to normal, we will see this dream come true.