Fashion Houses and Interior Décor
Fashion's foray into interior design...
Over the past ten years or so, an increasing number of fashion designers and fashion stores have decided to try their hand at interior decoration. It just goes to show the close relation between the worlds of fashion, architecture and interiors. And if you like a particular brand’s clothes it’s interesting to see how the design philosophy is translated into an interiors range. Here’s our pick of some of the best fashion houses turned interior decorators.
Zara Home
Taking inspiration from its popular high-street fashion collections, Zara’s interiors range is characterised by classic elegance and original detailing. A fashion edge is introduced each season to the base palette of neutrals – white, cream, greys, silver and gold - with new trend-led colourways and patterns. This season’s colours are hot pink, mimosa yellow and bright green, seen on bed linen, soft furnishings and tableware. Nostalgic touches such as vintage florals and eastern influences such as paisley prints, complement the classic yet quirky aesthetic. All reasonably priced, Zara Home’s product range spans occasional furniture and tableware to bed linen, soft furnishings and decorative accessories. Our pick of the collection has to be the Plates Tea Towel set. The brightly coloured print, featuring cups, teapots and plates, has a fun 1950s look about it and will add some pizzazz to your kitchen.
Missoni Home
Just like its eye-popping clothing designs, the Missoni Home range is a sensuous mix of intense colour, sumptuous fabrics and beautiful patterns. An Aladdin’s cave of lovely stuffs and shapes, Missoni’s 2010 collection is a heart stopping feast for the eyes. Curvaceous oversized furniture and gloriously plump footstools are upholstered in lush coloured fabrics with distinctive prints, repeated on cushions, throws and table linen. Rugs in stylised floral designs such as the Luanda, Bontanica and Bouquet have a 1930s feel, while others feature Missoni’s trademark zigzag stripes. Uplifting, opulent and visually striking, it’s difficult to choose a standout product from the bewildering array of beautiful pieces. But for its distinctive Missoni colour palette and sense of fun, the Rajahstan rug is our pick. A tactile wool rug in the shape of a tiger skin, it’s a fabulous interpretation of the tribal trend, with raised tiger stripes in jewel bright colours on a black background.
Armani Casa
Renowned for its sleek tailoring, the sophisticated simplicity of Armani’s clothing designs is translated into home furnishings at Armani Casa. As with the clothes, Armani’s emphasis is on high quality materials, finish, and attention to detail. The neutral colour palette allows material and formal qualities to take precedence in a contemporary collection with timeless elegance. Simplicity of design is combined with sensuous materials such as leather and lizard skin, glass and polished metal, wood and semi-precious stone. Furniture and lighting has a luxurious hotel feel, and it’s unsurprising that the next venture for the brand is the creation of a hotel chain, Armani Hotels and Resorts. Our pick of the collection, the limited edition Club cocktail cabinet has a 1930s cruise liner feel to it. The cabinet stands on an Art Deco style cross-legged metal frame, with a grey lizard skin exterior, and metallic bronze lacquered interior compartments.
Calvin Klein Home
Another fashion brand characterised by purity of design and modern luxury, Calvin Klein’s interiors range follows on from the classic clothing line. Again, the colour palette is predominantly neutral, with furniture upholstered in creams, greys and browns, and with an emphasis on the beauty of natural materials such as wood and leather. A recent addition to Calvin Klein’s home furnishings range, the exceptional wool and silk rug collection has a broader palette of vivid, rich natural tones as well as subtle hues. Our favourite is the painterly Luster rug in grey-green Beryl Wash. Luxuriously textured and handcrafted in 100% New Zealand wool, it’s a beautiful take on the naturals trend, the subtle wash of colour evoking abstract landscape painting.
Orla Kiely
Orla Kiely’s 1950s and 60s inspired prints are now available on a whole range of interiors products, from wallpaper and lampshades to rugs, cushions and blankets. Translated from the well-known prints on handbags, purses and clothing that made Kiely’s name, retro patterns in bright colours featuring stylised florals and fruits dominate the fun and uplifting interiors collection. Expanding the collection in 2009 Orla Kiely launched a 1950s inspired furniture range with Heal’s. Chairs and sofas in classic 50s shapes are upholstered in Kiely’s trademark fabrics, tactile walnut tables have softly tapered legs and subtly curved tops, while sideboards and cupboards are perforated with the signature Stem design. Our pick of the crop is the Flower Blossom bed linen in teal, white and brown. It’ll give your bedroom a bold new look for summer and touch of mid-century modern style.
Day Birger et Mikkelson
Danish fashion house Day Birger et Mikkelson has a built its reputation on an aesthetic of relaxed glamour and an emphasis on craftsmanship. Fashion collections are a fusion of contemporary styling, classic elegance and bohemian detailing. The home collection exhibits the same ‘global traveller’ aesthetic, with eastern-influenced prints and embroidered cushions, such as the Kasbah, sensuous fabrics including velvets and natural linens, and campaign-style occasional furniture such as the Camp table in black-stained mahogany. Decorative accessories such as bell jars and pierced silver-plated trinket boxes have a classic colonial feel. And continuing the expeditionary theme, our hot picks are the Bee and Beetle cushions, which highlight the trend for naturalist prints and imagery in interior decoration.
There are sure to be more forays into the world of interiors by fashion designers in the next few years, so keep a close eye on your favourite brands.
