Interiors & Design Style & Fashion

Wear It, Live it: Designer Homewares

Not content with merely designing our wardrobes, the biggest names in fashion are putting their labels on everything from furniture to bedlinen

I felt like just creating the clothes wasn’t enough. It’s all an extension of something I wanted in my life—or my dream life,” Ralph Lauren told Architectural Digest in 2013, reflecting on the 30th anniversary of Ralph Lauren Home. And judging by the growing number of fashion brands embracing the world of interiors—Armani, Missoni, Versace, Fendi, Rick Owens, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Bottega Veneta, Etro, to name a few—it would seem that he’s not the only designer to recognize the value of creating a complete “lifestyle” look. 

It’s a successful strategy, because you may be what you wear, but home is, after all, where the heart is. And while fashion has a faster turnaround, with particular looks fading season-to-season, furniture is a longer-term investment; it has longevity. So when a chair—such as Raw Edges’ brilliant folding Concertina Chair for Louis Vuitton’s Objets Nomades collection—is priced at £11,500 ($17,940), you can argue it’s justifiable since these cutting-edge designs are destined to be family heirlooms of the future. 

Banner image: The Dimore Studio-designed Fendi booth at Design Miami 2014. Photograph: Fendi. Raw Edges' folding chair, pictured above,  for Louis Vuitton's Objets Nomades collection © Louis Vuitton Malletier/ Stéphane Muratet
Banner image: The Dimore Studio-designed Fendi booth at Design Miami 2014. Photograph: Fendi. Raw Edges' folding chair, pictured above, for Louis Vuitton's Objets Nomades collection © Louis Vuitton Malletier/ Stéphane Muratet
Today, Calvin Klein bed linen, Missoni’s exuberant zigzag home textiles, and Versace’s Medusa tableware are, literally, part of the furniture—but which designer was the first to saunter from fashion to furnishings? Futuristic couturier Pierre Cardin is often cited as the pioneer. The Frenchman segued from tailoring to cabinetry during the 1970s when he applied his “bubble” form to a line of space-age furniture. Around the same time, that Italian purveyor of hippie chic, Missoni, dipped its toe into homeware with a textiles range.

But it was the booming 1980s, the slick and image-conscious age of conspicuous consumption, when the seeds of the fashion monobrand were sewn and fashion designers started slipping into bed with interiors. Ralph Lauren initially transferred his sartorial lines into bed linen in 1983, and a range of porcelain produced by Rosenthal followed. And although Armani/Casa launched more recently in 2000, Giorgio Armani was evidently entertaining the home market when he produced his Logo lamp way back in 1982. Fendi Casa arrived in 1989 with its refined, hand-sewn upholstered sofas, armchairs, and chaises, while Versace Home livened things up in 1992 with its irrepressibly glamorous gilt thrones, iconic Medusa motifs, and Neoclassical Greek-inspired patterns—as Donatella Versace once quipped: “The furniture of fashion houses should be recognizable.”

HOME SHOPPING NETWORK
Certainly for these single-vision monobrands their identity is stamped into the palette, materials, silhouette, and historical influences of the furnishings—just like their clothing—and they have become a global phenomenon. Ralph Lauren Home offers its blend of “preppy glam Manhattan meets The Hamptons meets rustic cowboy-country cool” in its 138 Ralph Lauren stores around the globe. Armani/Casa’s sleek, often lacquered furnishings in the brand’s signature “greige” palette are sold in some 55 monobrand stores, and the ornate Versace Home can be found at more than 50 outlets. 

This Ralph Lauren room set is the embodiment of the brand's sophisticated, old Manhattan-inspired interiors.
This Ralph Lauren room set is the embodiment of the brand's sophisticated, old Manhattan-inspired interiors.
Despite their high profile, home collections generally only account for a small fraction of a fashion brand’s total profit, but this hasn’t stopped more companies investing in this area. Hermès initiated a different approach in 2010, entering the home market by re-editing pieces by the influential 1930s interior designer Jean-Michel Frank. At the time the brand was keen to point out that this was actually a return to its roots, as Hélène Dubrule, managing director of Hermès Maison, explains: “From the 1920s and 30s, Hermès proposed objects that complemented our clients’ lifestyles at home—decorative objects, office equipment, throws and covers, even lamps and furniture, manufactured in collaboration with designers such as Jean-Michel Frank.”

Hermès now produces 17 Frank designs, and has also commissioned several contemporary architects and designers. Ditto Louis Vuitton and Fendi Casa. It’s a clever solution when there is no single visionary behind a brand. And it’s worked. At Milan Design Week, when more than 300,000 people flock to the Italian city each year to see the very latest launches in furniture, lighting, and accessories, Hermès and Louis Vuitton have stolen the show with their installations Hermès en lumière (2014) and travel-inspired Objets Nomades (2015), respectively.

 

Renowned for its scarves and hand-crafted handbags, Hermès relies on a team of designers to shape and inspire the vision for its elegant furnishings, such as the seating pictured above, part of Studio François Lacour.
Renowned for its scarves and hand-crafted handbags, Hermès relies on a team of designers to shape and inspire the vision for its elegant furnishings, such as the seating pictured above, part of Studio François Lacour.
Presenting their home collections against the frescos and rich gilt of grand 18th- and 19th-century palazzos, these storied brands have proved that their fine leather craftsmanship, which originated in saddle workshops (Hermès) and luggage-making (Louis Vuitton), transfers most exquisitely to the realm of furniture and lighting. Heavyweights like Philippe Nigro, Michele de Lucchi, and Antonio Citterio have designed for Hermès, and a roster of talents for Louis Vuitton, from the Campana Brothers and Patricia Urquiola to Raw Edges and Barber & Osgerby. The pieces may be created by different designers, but each plays on the heritage of the brand and bears its imprimatur.

Meanwhile, Fendi Casa’s star pieces this year included the Campana Brothers riffing on their 2004 “Teddy Bear Banquette Chair” with the brightly colored “The Armchair of Thousand Eyes,” composed of Fendi’s fluffy Bag Bugs accessories. And at Design Miami 2014, the brand revealed pieces from its collaboration with leading Milan design duo Dimore Studio. Commenting on their collaborations last year, Fendi’s creative director of accessories and menswear Silvia Venturini Fendi told The Wall Street Journal: “The creative process for accessories and furniture is quite similar. Functionality and aesthetics are equally important. Between the worlds of art, design, and fashion, there is constant osmosis.” And long may it continue.  


Pared-down elegance from Armani/Casa, launched in 2000. Photograph: SGP srl

Understated luxury at Bottega Veneta. Photograph: Bottega Veneta Home Collection at its Via Borgospesso boutique, Milan.

Missoni’s enduring and instantly recognizable zigzag print bedroom accessories. Photograph: Missoni Home