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
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.
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.”
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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.
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.
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.