Harrods HOME Spring Summer 2023

COMFORT ZONE

From familiar surroundings to far-flung destinations

Prada’s soft power and the ultimate fabric library

ROCHE BOBOIS - Third floor Mah Jong. Modular sofa, designed by Hans Hopfer. Upholstered in Missoni fabrics. Twin. Floor lamps and table lamps, designed by Clarisse Dutraive. Rockford. Rug, Missoni. French Art de Vivre

CONTENTS

Spring/Summer 2023

This issue’s highlights

026 Close encounters

Spotlight on lavish furniture with fluid lines, enveloping shapes and touch-me materials

045 Scents of place

Four perfumers reveal the influences behind picks from their own fragrance portfolios

050 Dinner dates

Tulip candleholders plus checkerboard-style vases equals dining with an eclectic flavour

060 Impeccable taste

Step inside Shiza Shahid’s LA residence –as desirable as her brand’s Always Pan

068

Swatch this space

Corduroy? Silk? Velvet? Harrods’ Fabric Library has you covered for all things textile

072

Mind your language

Ceramicist Martha Freud has a distinctive way of embellishing her designs. Write on…

050 026

Interiors, lifestyle and property

017 The moment

Looking to create the perfect ambience? Step forward Savoir, Aquazzura Casa and co

020

New in

For the dreamiest sleeps, the chef-iest cooking or just chilling poolside with a drink in hand

022 Easy does it…

Laid-back styling is the in-vogue vibe, with minimalism and bouclé leading the way

034

Prada power

So what sets the Italian maison – going from strength to strength – apart from its peers?

038

Bringing it home

Three designers reveal how their homes reflect the countries in which they live

056

The art of the craft

Fornasetti’s latest collections shine a light on the Italian atelier’s unparalleled expertise

066

Spoilt for choice

Struggling with a multitude of interior-design options? Grace Cain is on hand to help

079

Tome, sweet tome

Seeking design inspo in book form? Draw on the know-how of Harrods’ in-house team

082

Front-row suites

The world’s most stylish stays, in hotels where fashion’s finest have left their (designer) mark

087

Power up

Introducing cutting-edge and elegant pieces to elevate your tech to the next level

089

Estates

The lowdown on some of the most exclusive properties for sale and rental in London

098

Tea for tu?

Superbrand Prada diversifying into homewares? Happily, Miuccia said, “Si”…

BROWNHILL

PHOTOGRAPHER KATIE BOSWORTH

STYLIST JOANA MIGUEL RAMIRES

ASSISTANT PROP STYLIST KEVOULEE SARDAR

PICTURE EDITOR FRANCISCO LUDOVICO

CONTENT AND CREATIVE OPERATIONS

CREATIVE OPERATIONS DIRECTOR BETH HODDER

HEAD OF CONTENT JODIE BLACKBROUGH

HEAD OF CREATIVE OPERATIONS DAWN HALL

LEAD PROJECT MANAGER SUZY CHAPMAN

PRODUCTION OPERATIONS MANAGER PAUL BRADY

SENIOR PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE ANDY MCDOWELL

PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE DAVID BROWNING

PARTNERSHIPS DIRECTOR ALEX UNITT

HEAD OF PARTNERSHIPS LUCY FREDERICKS

FASHION, ACCESSORIES, WATCHES AND JEWELLERY

BRAND PARTNERSHIPS GENERAL MANAGERS

NATASHA DUNK, SOPHIE READ, RAPHAELLE VANDERHOEVEN

BRAND PARTNERSHIPS MANAGERS SHEENA ANADKAT, ANOUCHKA GRANON, MOLLIE TOYE

BRAND PARTNERSHIPS EXECUTIVES ALANNA HILTON, PHOEBE MASTER, CHRISTY ZAREMSKI

BRAND PARTNERSHIPS ASSISTANT SARAH MUTTARDI

BEAUTY

BRAND PARTNERSHIPS GENERAL MANAGER LOUISE HOBHOUSE

BRAND PARTNERSHIPS EXECUTIVES SOPHIE MERCER-JONES, GABRIELLA WHITE

HOME, TECHNOLOGY AND THIRD PARTY

BRAND PARTNERSHIPS GENERAL MANAGER STELLA LEE

BRAND PARTNERSHIPS MANAGERS MARYAM OTHMAN, ASTRID TENTORIO

BRAND PARTNERSHIPS EXECUTIVES MILLIE JANE MCFARLANE, NATASHA PEARS

STRATEGY AND OPERATIONS

PARTNERSHIPS DIGITAL MEDIA STRATEGY GENERAL MANAGER LUCIE LEVERTON

PARTNERSHIPS DIGITAL MEDIA MANAGER LOTTIE LANDRA

PARTNERSHIPS DIGITAL MEDIA EXECUTIVE NIKHITA PARMAR

PARTNERSHIPS MARKETING GENERAL MANAGER LIZZIE CANTOR

PARTNERSHIPS MARKETING MANAGER KELLY BADDELEY

PARTNERSHIPS MARKETING EXECUTIVE EMILY MCLEAN

PARTNERSHIPS STRATEGY & OPERATIONS GENERAL MANAGER HARSHEEL BAINS

ACTING PARTNERSHIPS OPERATIONS MANAGER OLGA PYLYPENKO

PARTNERSHIPS PLANNING & OPERATIONS EXECUTIVES ALLANA ALLEN, EISA KHALIFA

PARTNERSHIPS OPERATIONS ASSISTANT DARIA WERNER

PARTNERSHIPS GENERAL MANAGER JACKIE YEE

PARTNERSHIPS EXECUTIVE KAYLEIGH WONG

‘TAKE CARE’ WAS the theme open to interpretation at design fair Maison&Objet in January, and the response was simple: the interiors world urged us to seek comfort in our surroundings, be that in the form of vibrant travel-inspired décor, tactile fabrics reminiscent of a childhood teddy, or abstract centrepieces that simply bring joy. And Roche Bobois’ Bubble chair captures the mood perfectly; cloud-shaped and sumptuously soft, it has been made to engulf you like a hug – and what could be more comforting than that?

CONTRIBUTORS

We ask this issue’s cast list…

WHAT TRAVEL EXPERIENCE HAS MOST INSPIRED THE DESIGN OF YOUR HOME, AND HOW?

MARK ANTHONY FOX

Photographer Mark Anthony Fox (Tea for Tu?, p98) grew up in southwest England before moving to Australia for the best part of a decade in his twenties. Influenced by a new environment, as well as the quality of light in Australia, he began documenting his everyday life on film. This quickly turned into commissioned jobs, and he hasn’t looked back since, delivering imagery with a warm and minimal aesthetic that portrays a sense of calm. Now resident in London, he says, “With this city so far removed from what I loved about the lifestyle Australia brings, I find it important to surround myself with objects and artworks that remind me of my connection with Australia and the outdoors.”

LETITIA FITZGIBBON

TANYA SMALL

Tanya Small (Your wildest dreams, p84) is motivated by a passion for storytelling and a penchant for interior design. She is currently furthering her love for both as a copywriter at Harrods, having garnered a degree in English literature, American literature and creative writing, a CAD qualification from KLC School of Design and a diploma in professional interior design. “After a trip to Oslo, I thought I was sold on minimalist Nordic interiors, but now I can’t resist the allure of Portugal’s playful colours and patterned tiles. All the art in my home was primarily chosen because of its vibrant palette, and I’m always on the lookout for soft furnishings and accessories to build on that exuberant mood.”

As well as heading Harrods Interior Design and being a mother of two, Letitia Fitzgibbon (Tome, sweet tome, p79) loves sport, starting each day with a martial-arts session and playing netball at weekends (go, Saints!). Having completed the renovation of her current home – think neo-Georgian with an eclectic mix of antique, contemporary and bespoke furniture – her latest project has been restoring the family’s much-loved 1973

T2 VW camper van.

“Melbourne is my favourite city,” reveals Fitzgibbon. “I’ve always admired the relaxed modern-meets-quirky creative style, and I adore the Victorian-era colonial houses. It has definitely inspired the design of my home, where I’ve tried for a vibe that is relaxed, luxurious, artistic and full of character.”

KRISTY NOBLE

BEYOND THE MAGAZINE

Discover more on the Harrods app, and by following us @harrods, @harrodsbeauty, @harrodsfood and @harrodsman

Influenced by sculpture and fine art, photographer Kristy Noble (Dinner dates, p50) uses colour, shapes, mood, negative space and a 360-degree view to explore domesticity and the everyday. Objects, interiors and spaces are treated as star attractions, and she is in demand for projects spanning subjects from Japanese ceramics to geometric handbags via the Bauhaus. “I’m heavily influenced by the wonderful National Trust properties I’ve explored over years of family holidays. Colour is so important to me in my domestic life, and these historic buildings and their heritage tones have truly inspired my palette. My all-time favourites: a light bronze green for its comforting depths, and a rich red brown, which I use for long dark corridors.”

AQUAZZURA CASA

With design virtuoso Fiona Leahy as Aquazzura Casa’s co-creative director, the Italian shoemaker continues to make great strides into the wonderful world of homewares. Nature motifs distinguish the brand’s latest collections, which include the romantic (and aptly named) Secret Garden dinnerware and linens, as well as the pineapple-emblazoned Jaipur ceramics in striking cobalt blue. Tablescaping enthusiasts, consider this a sign to update your wishlists.

THE MOMENT

BETTER WORLD FRAGRANCE HOUSE

Rapper, songwriter, producer and… fragrance connoisseur? Who knew Drake had so many strings to his bow? The Canadian superstar has a strong connection to the olfactory world, relying on fragrances to give him a sense of comfort and familiarity while he’s on the road. Now, his candle line, Better World Fragrance House, is launching in the UK exclusively with Harrods after a sold-out first release in the US. And included in the four-candle range is Carby Musk, a blend of florals, amber and sweet musk made with Trail Air technology, which allows the scent to linger for longer.

From left Aquazzura Casa Jaipur dessert plate £130 and charger plate £155, and Goa dinner plate £170 and napkin £60

Better World Fragrance House Carby Musk scented candle 300g, £80

WORDS GRACE CAIN & NIAMH MURPHY

SAVED NY

A flair for Gothic maximalism, a cabinet-of-curiosities aesthetic and a respect for old-world craftsmanship make the work of British artist Fee Greening the perfect match for Sean McNanney’s Saved New York. Her dip-pen illustrations of flora, fauna and celestial bodies adorn the American brand’s signature cushions and throws, which are all handcrafted using Mongolian cashmere harvested by nomadic goat herders. The methods used are generations old and involve gently combing (rather than shearing) the fleece from the goats, all while working sustainably to protect Mongolia’s natural environment.

Saved New York Blue Birds throw £1,699

SAVOIR

THE MOMENT

Furniture and interior designer Francis Sultana is acclaimed for an artistic approach that mixes classicism with contemporary style. Building on a five-year relationship with Savoir, during which time he regularly commissioned custom beds for his discerning clients, Sultana has now teamed up with the luxury bed company to create his own headboard. Inspired by the designer’s love for 16th-century portraiture and the glamour of the Art Deco era, the Louis has curved winged edges to echo the shape of an Elizabethan collar and is upholstered in sumptuous green haute-couture tweed.

Savoir Louis headboard on No. 2 bed set £56,201; exclusive to Harrods

The Beauty Halls, Ground Floor; Furniture and Home, Third Floor; and harrods.com

POUR ME ANOTHER…

Esteemed luxury fashion house Fendi has brought style and class to both high fashion and home design for almost a century. And now, with its first-ever home accessories range, you can complete the look. Creative director Silvia Venturini Fendi has interwoven colours and logos from past collections onto cushions and candles, and designed glassware with the help of her mother, Anna. Among the lifestyle line, you’ll find extensive tableware, as well as a bar kit inspired by Fendi’s O’Lock jewellery collection.

THE BIG SLEEP

Heading for bed with hautecouture home linens… what could be better? Woven by artisans in the heart of Portugal, Celso de Lemos’ bedding uses only the finest raw materials from across the world: think Mongolian cashmere and Belgian linen, plus rare cotton from Giza, Egypt – a fabric famed for its exceptional softness and strength. So the only thing that might keep you up at night is trying to decide between a classic design in a chic neutral or a statement print.

We could try to steer well clear of this opportunity to make a cheesy ‘hot-seat’ joke, or we could just lean into it –after all, that particular moniker is the perfect fit for the striking bronze-coloured chairs and sofas that make up Indian Ocean’s Marina Collection. With sleek lines, all-weather rope detailing and an obvious penchant for poolside posing, there’s simply no better place to sit out the summer. Indian

WHAT’S COOKING?

A favourite among seasoned French chefs, and admired by food influencers for its convivial charm, copper cookware has become synonymous with high-end cuisine. But that’s not to say it can’t have a broader remit. You too can take your culinary skills (and cottagecore aesthetic) to the next level with Samuel Groves’ elegant collection of pots and pans, lined with sterling silver for total cooking mastery.

Samuel Groves five-piece silver copper chef collection £4,999

Celso de Lemos Bourdon pillowcases from £169 and duvet cover from £899

Fendi O’Lock bar kit £7,220

EASY DOES IT…

With a relaxed vibe setting the tone, this year’s trends range from contemporary minimalism to sink-right-in Italian bouclé. PIP RICH highlights what’s in vogue

We’ve come a long way since designer John Pawson – arguably the biggest name in modern minimalism – declared the brush strokes in raw plaster “a little too much detail”. Warm minimalism could actually be termed ‘celebrationism’ – it’s not so much about a lack of stuff, but about choosing sparingly what to put on display, only showing what you really love and leaving space around it so as to truly appreciate it. Honeyed tones are used on backdrops by designers such as Vincent van Duysen and Axel Vervoordt, while whatever you love can live centre stage.

The boundary between design and art is blurred – and while some furniture is more collectable than it is comfortable, that doesn’t make it any less valid or covetable. This year’s collaborations bring the worlds even closer. Magritte x Lalique looks to the surrealism of the painter as the lead for oversized goblets and glass giraffes, while muralistsdeGournaytookthejoyof 1930s

artist Paul-Etienne Saïn’s work for a wall covered in swinging monkeys. And Cole & Son has used Fornasetti illustrations for wallpapers covered in faintly smiling sun for art that entirely wraps the room.

A standout among the new launches this year has been L’Objet’s Tokasu porcelain, a curation of bowls and vases, each one hand-syringed with indigo dye for a unique drip-effect pattern. Imperfections and handworn edges are key for 2023, adding personality and charm, and making rooms feel tactile, lived in, loved in,even.BrunelloCucinelli’sasymmetrical vases seem as if they’ve come straight off the potter’s wheel with an elegance in an uneven silhouette, while Les-Ottomans’ Palm Tree plate seems so hand-daubed it could have been made especially for you.

Italian superbrands have fallen in love with bouclé. Its thick pile and comforting woolliness are perfect for large pieces of furniture that you can sink into and which then cocoon you in the shoes-off-yetstill-glam way Italians like to live. White cloud-like fluffiness reigns supreme, with Maxalto’s gently curved Apollo sofa and Porada’s much-loved Smile footstool now wrapped beguilingly in it. Added into the mix for 2023 is B&B Italia’s reissue of its classic Le Bambole armchair, which now comes in mustard or burgundy bouclé, as colour, too, joins in to cosset you.

No need to sugarcoat this aesthetic… it’s already as sweet as can be. Marbled, glimmering and often iridescent, this cotton-candy approach to using pink in design softens hard edges and has a soothing effect. Seek out the shimmering surfaces seen at Lalique and Baccarat, or make like architectural firm YSG Studio – which has embraced pink-tinged onyx sinks and kitchen islands – for subtle strawberry-tinged schemes. It’s all part of a move to colours that wash over you peacefully (no jarring tones or unexpected jolts) and a desire to live in calming spaces.

Chandeliers by the likes of Jonathan Adler and Giorgio are still as showstopping as ever, but the spotlight is on other light sources, with designers such as Bryan O’Sullivan and Lee Broom focusing on table lamps, floor lamps and ceiling lights to create pockets of warmth for the things you want to do: reading, eating, chatting, playing games. Alternatively, follow the lead of Saint-Louis’ wireless LED table lamps, and take the glow freely to wherever you feel like sitting.

INSPIRED BY ART

PEARLESCENT

This page, from left Maxalto Apollo sofa £11,264; The Rug Company Comet Day rug from £1,987; Saint-Louis Folia dark wood portable lamp £2,374. Opposite page, from left Eichholtz Swivel Chairs Inger £1,790 each; Magritte x Lalique Le Bain de Cristal £36,000; L’Objet Tokasu Vases extra large £430 and large £340

Furniture and Home, Third Floor; and harrods.com

SPRING CLEAN

Keep things sleek and simple with a pared-back palette and sophisticated Scandi-style design

Italia; Baxter; Eichholtz; Flexform; Flos; Lee Broom; Raawii; Silent Gliss; Soho Home; Teddy London

1. Silent Gliss Metropole finials from £38.60 per pair; 2. Flos Viscontea suspension light £1.420; 3. Baxter Artik armchair £7,935; 4. Lee Broom Lens Flair pendant light £1,000 and Crescent table lamp £1,400; 5. B&B Italia Pablo armchair from £4,613; 6. Eichholtz Xperience table lamp £725; 7. Raawii Patch blanket £365; 8. Flexform Tessa S.H. armchair from £3,859; 9. Soho Home Amelia vase, wide £295; 10. Teddy London dog bed from £149 The Arcade, Lower Ground Floor; Furniture and Home, Third Floor; and harrods.com

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encounters

Sculptural lines, tactile materials and superlative craftsmanship command attention with a whisper, not a shout. When it comes to statement-making furniture, this is the shape of things to come

Roche Bobois Bubble pivoting armchair £2,790

“You don’t have to TOUCH; you already KNOW how it’s going to feel. Tactile materials and ENVELOPING ergonomic shapes deliver SUBSTANCE as well as style”

“A fluid table that REFLECTS the light… a sculptural chair that INTERRUPTS it. These designs quietly assert themselves by the SUBTLE ways they alter their surroundings”

This page Roche Bobois Silver Tree cocktail table £2,940; Villeroy & Boch

Manufacture Rock bowl (left) £22.90; L’Objet Terra medium bowl on stand £430.

Opposite page Baxter Hakuna Matata armchair £4,759

“Whether it’s a bench or a room divider, the best statement pieces COMPEL you to study their details. Each minuscule INFLECTION is a record of the skilled artisan who created it”

PRADA POWER

The superbrand appeals to conceptual artists, fashion insiders and Gen Z influencers alike. What are the secrets of its allure? Well, Miuccia is one…

WORDS BY NAVAZ BATLIWALLA

“YOU ENTER A PRADA boutique and find yourself in front of beautiful green armchairs, a Verner Panton velvet cloverleaf-shaped sofa and dark wooden trays with tall rims. And you drink Champagne from the most refined barktextured highball glasses.” Prada superfan Nicolò Zancanaro is describing in detail how he was first seduced by the Italian house. While the Venice-based fashion communications student loves and wears the geek-chic clothes, there’s something beyond fashion that has made the megabrand one of the world’s most desirable, earning it the numberone spot on Lyst’s Q4 index of hottest brands of 2022. And that ‘something’ is what some might call soft power – an amalgamation of lifestyle, design, culture and immersive environments, underscored by an innate intellectual allure that only a handful of brands are able to achieve.

“Prada has developed a cult following for a number of reasons,” says Elizabeth Paton, European styles correspondent for The New York Times. “One is Mrs Prada [as co-creative director Miuccia Prada is known] herself,

a powerful female designer and industry figurehead who has forged an empire by emphatically doing it her way and on her distinctive design codes. Another is the design codes themselves, which are often complex and full of contradictions.”

Herein lies the enigmatic appeal. At once offbeat and classic, the house signatures – bookish archetypes, jarring colour combinations, functional black nylon – are seemingly disparate, yet so very Prada. The recently revived Re-Nylon Re-Edition 2000 handbag was popularised by Dua Lipa and Kaia Gerber, and #pradanylonbag now has more than 4.2 million views on TikTok. Yet the brand is equally revered for its polarising 1970s aesthetic and conceptual art references.

“Prada is timeless yet zeitgeisty – a balance not many brands strike,” says Louisa Goltz, a Berlin-based brandmarketing consultant and self-confessed Prada-head.

“It understands how to update heritage with iconic pieces that were once disruptive, such as the Nylon collection, which feels intellectual, timeless and cool. Even the placement of the triangle logo has evolved since Raf Simons joined as co-creative director. It’s modern and elegant, but in a way that’s effortless.”

Founded in 1913 as a bag and luggage company by Miuccia Prada’s grandfather, Mario Prada, the business is still privately owned. In the 1990s, it embarked on an ongoing collaboration journey, enlisting a coterie of architects, artists and image-makers to articulate the language and universe of Prada. Simons came on board as co-creative director in 2020, a further meeting of minds mutually driven by curiosity and culture.

“The pioneering aspect of Prada is the fundamental ingredient of their innovation,” says Zancanaro, who documents his scholarly appreciation on his fan Instagram account, @privateplaygroundof. “Mrs Prada is a very curious person who looks at all aspects of life. That inevitably pours

Left: Miuccia Prada, the brand’s co-creative director, who transformed her family’s leather-goods house into a fashion empire; below: Bar Luce, the Wes Anderson-designed café in the Fondazione Prada in Milan, featuring formica furniture and a pastel palette drawing from mid-century Italian aesthetics

into the brand, which is always one step ahead of the others.”

Nothing demonstrates this pioneering spirit more than the Fondazione Prada in Milan. A contemporary arts institution co-chaired by the brand’s driving force and her husband (and Prada co-executive director) Patrizio Bertelli, it spans a gallery, library, theatre, restaurant and the Wes Anderson-designed café, Bar Luce. “Prada positions itself as ‘the thinking woman’s brand’; clothes for people who don’t just want to look pretty but who also see fashion as more of an art form – and want to project that message to the rest of the world,” says Paton. And where better to do that than the OMA-designed ‘Torre’ space, complete with its top-floor restaurant and rooftop bar?

If, however, you can’t get to the Fondazione Prada, let the arts-and-culture party come to you. Prada Mode is a programme of pop-up events in global art hotspots such as Frieze and Art Basel that puts the brand’s own silverlogoed stamp on the new-experience economy. Guests are invited to Prada-curated performances, screenings and salon talks. “Today’s brand building is rooted in culture and community,” says Goltz. “Prada is doing exactly that with its exclusive travelling social club. Everyone wants to belong to a community, and this offers a prestigious ‘belonging’ to its luxury world. Who would say no?”

Should you become a little too enamoured of (maybe even hooked on) your Prada-green velvet surroundings and geometric-print coffee cups, you can now immerse yourself in the Pradaverse from the comfort of your own home. Prada’s offer extends to handcrafted homewares, including Japanese porcelain and Martino Gamper’s wooden vases –exclusively available at Harrods.

“Prada’s designs offer a contemporary take on homewares, often using geometrical patterns with a bold use of colour and prints from its ready-to-wear collections,” says Harrods homewares buying manager Darren Walker. “The motifs and brand codes are instantly recognisable and Instagrammable –whether it be on a cushion, a teapot or a beach paddle and ball set.” A logo-tastic sheepskin pillow alongside a hammeredsilver cutlery set? Only at Prada.

DREAM TEAM

1. Lee Broom Fulcrum chandelier £2,120; 2. Reflections Copenhagen Cherry Bonbonniere storage jar £521; 3. Colunex Grace headboard from £2,062 and bed base from £3,044; 4. Flexform Guscio sofa from £5,694; 5. Cattelan Italia Amerigo coffee tables from top £897, £1,372 and £1,647; 6. The Rug Company Mary Katrantzou Sunray Gold rug from £4,912; 7. Our Place Perfect Pot £140; 8. B&B Italia Camaleonda sofa £21,345; 9. Giorgio Collection Infinity mirror £4,160, console £13,060 and lamp £2,640; 10. House of Hackney Amaranthine cushion £175

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Bringing it home

What makes a space feel distinctly British?

Or Portuguese or Australian? Three designers tell EMILIE DOCK where they find their inspiration

LAETITIA ROUGET

Laetitia Rouget

My home feels Portuguese – a moradia with tiles on the walls inspired by the iconic pavement designs you see everywhere on the streets of Lisbon. I think it’s important to adapt your home to fit within the city you live in.

Weather and environment are always a huge source of inspiration for an artist. In my case, the surrounding nature and sea here are incredibly calming. The simplicity of life in this country brings me so much happiness, and this translates into my work – and my home.

Look around and you’ll see pieces I’ve collected over the past 10 years alongside new, local discoveries. Tiling is huge in my home; I’m currently designing my own tiles for my bathroom inspired by the colours and artisans here in Portugal, tweaked to fit my personal style.

I fell in love with this area the first time I visited it. I live next to a sand dune full of pine trees where you see the most amazing sunsets. It had the perfect space to build a studio and a lovely outdoor space. The house is also No. 3, which is my lucky number. I saw it as a sign.

I’m renovating the house myself; I want it to feel homemade and personal. I’m planning to design a coffee table, as well as my own rug and painting.

I see a house as a reflection of your story; it’s never fully finished. It shows the person that you are at that time and it continuously evolves.

LOUISE OLSEN Dinosaur Designs

When it comes to interior styling, I’ve always thought that it’s important to work with the DNA of a place. It’s always odd to me when people try to emulate other locations instead of drawing upon their own surroundings. I personally love to be inspired by a sense of place and the natural environment.

Australian interiors are very much about being open to nature. We love wide-open spaces and the idea of bringing the outside in. We are lucky enough to live on a hill with views over to the ocean. One of the first things we do every morning is sit and look at the water. It’s constantly changing and acts as an endless source of inspiration. Living by the sea, the elements can cause a lot of wear and tear on a house, especially as we have no air-con and instead open the doors to let in the sea breeze – and the light. It takes a little more effort to maintain, but it’s so worthwhile and is so much fresher.

We designed our home to feel like a retreat from our busy lives; it’s a place where we can rest in nature with our books, our art and music. Both my parents were artists, as am I, my husband and our daughter, Camille. As such, we have developed an art collection over many years; it is made up of works by artists and friends that we love. We also have a few pieces from British artists, including William Scott and Alan Davie.

I also really love the mixture of wooden floorboards, stone, concrete and natural white walls. There is a certain warmth and character that natural materials always bring to a home and, altogether, it acts as a great palette on which we can add splashes of colour.

Clockwise from left: Laetitia Rouget’s interiors are playful, relaxed and colourful; her studio features pieces from Paris, where she grew up, London, where she previously lived, and her current – home – country; Portugal’s sunny climate and nature provide endless inspiration; the ceramicist in her ‘lucky number’ home where homemade touches reflect personal style

Clockwise from left: Myriad art and design books populate the sitting-room shelves; Louise Olsen with husband and fellow artist Stephen Ormandy; the ocean view from their hilltop perch; vibrant colours make a splash against the natural white walls

“AUSTRALIAN INTERIORS ARE ABOUT BEING OPEN TO NATURE”

FRIEDA GORMLEY House of Hackney

Cornwall has always been a special place for my husband [House of Hackney co-founder Javvy M Royle, above] and me. We’d often holiday there as a family – so when the opportunity arose to become the guardians of the Castle of Trematon, we couldn’t refuse. There’s so much history in the buildings and grounds. We spent the first three years focused on maintaining the main house and nurturing the gardens, then turned our attention to the Quercus Lodge.

We really wanted to pay homage to the 19th-century lodge while channelling 21st-century colour and design –for instance, using William Morris’ Gothic Blackthorn print with its hidden skull from our collection felt very natural.

We wanted the lodge to be rustic and simple, but as otherworldly as its fairy-tale setting. It’s surrounded by ancient oak trees, so it felt right to bring the outside in with our Quercus oak-leaf print.

The kitchen is a good example of the fusion between British and Cornish inspirations: the units are by Huckleberry and the tiles are from House of Hackney’s collaboration with Craven Dunnill Jackfield. However, under the sink we created a curtain with our Nanjizal print, named after a secret Cornish beach cove and inspired by a fossil we found within the castle grounds.

Localisation is at the very heart of House of Hackney as a brand, and it’s always been important for us when creating a home. We sourced furniture from local antiques dealers and commissioned all the upholstery nearby. Local artists adorn the walls – we’re very lucky to have art by Peter Ward and David Perry, and bespoke pieces by Alvaro Picardo.

We went on a family holiday to Oaxaca, Mexico, and were so inspired by the use of pigment and rich colours throughout the interiors that we saw there. We saw the Quercus Lodge as an opportunity to channel this inspiration and to play with our paint and tile collections.

The bedroom of the lodge is our favourite, with all its pairings: the use of the dark floral Woodstock mixed with Quercus swathing the four-poster Queen Anne bed; and thecombinationof theGothicwindowseatwithBlackthorn curtains. The walls are painted in our Lazulite paint – the calming hue of the crystal it’s named after is said to balance the mind and provide focus, creating a bridge between the spiritual and physical world – perfect for a bedroom.

Clockwise from top left: Frieda Gormley and Javvy M Royle; the kitchen in Quercus Lodge with the Gothic Blackthorn print; the exterior of the lodge; the bedroom’s four-poster Queen Anne bed, given the full House of Hackney treatment

“WE REALLYWANTED TO PAY HOMAGE TO THE 19TH-CENTURY LODGE”

TRUE BRILLIANCE

This

A Baccarat craftsman carefully detaches a hurricane from the tip of his cane; a mould is heated before being filled with molten crystal; each hurricane is created in two parts

IT WAS DECEMBER 2019andVirgilAbloh was having a moment. The late designer, of Off-White and Louis Vuitton fame, a once-ina-generation creative genius, was the talk of Art Basel Miami Beach. He had just presented a dramatic public outdoor sculpture at Paseo Ponti, but was about to reveal another string to his bow: the highly anticipated results of a partnership with French luxury crystal house Baccarat.

At a star-studded party at the Baccarat Boutique Bbar and Lounge in Miami’s Design District, guests mingled while sipping Champagne and cocktails (served, of course, in Baccarat glasses). Above them hung Abloh’s key piece from the collaboration: a dazzling sculptural chandelier with a refined silhouette, linked by bold, looping crystal chains – a vision of heritage fused with modernity, elegance fused with industrial codes.

Part of the Crystal Clear collection, which also included matching ridged vases and tumblers, the chandelier was one of a limited run of just 10. Visually magnificent, it was inspired by Abloh’s Figures of Speech exhibition, which was touring the US that same year.

“In any creative endeavours, I am interested in collaborating with the best in class,” Abloh said at the time. “For me, Baccarat represents the expression of the dynamism of crystal through history and today. The Crystal Clear line of objects is an extension of my art practice, expertly realised by the artisans of Baccarat.”

The chandelier features 13 crystal

hurricanes, with the chains comprising 300 perfect links. As a nod to the heritage of the 259-year-old manufacturer and its signature colour, one of the hurricanes is adorned with a bright-red clasping element, the result of an innovative fusion of clear crystal and 24-karat gold. Baccarat and Abloh’s signatures, as well as the edition number of the chandelier, are engraved on the clasp. The piece also has a technologically advanced lighting system: it can be controlled with a remote control or phone app, changing the intensity and colour of the light, from cold to warm white. The chandelier was entirely handmade at the Baccarat workshop in Meurthe-et-Moselle by the brand’s master artisans, including several winners of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (one of the nation’s highest accolades in craftsmanship) and one named a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (one of just 200 people a year to receive the prestigious honour). The 13 crystal hurricanes took an enormous amount of skill to create due to their height and thickness. After receiving the sketches from Abloh, the craftsmen set to work, employing the lost-wax technique – a method first used by Egyptians more than 4,000 years ago and revived in France in the 19th century. This painstaking process involves creating a wax mould, covering it with fire-resistant plaster and then heating the mould until the wax liquefies and can be drained off through a small hole in the bottom. Once empty, the mould is filled with molten crystal and, when

cool, the plaster is broken to reveal the masterpiece inside. Each hurricane had to be made in two parts, and each plaster mould could only be used once.

After the crystal was removed from the moulds, the delicate polishing and cutting could begin. In total, it took 26 moulds and more than 200 hours of work to create the hurricanes for just one Crystal Clear chandelier.

After its unveiling during Miami Art Basel, the chandelier was flown to Paris to be shown during Fashion Week in February 2020, where it was celebrated with a party attended by Abloh at Maison Baccarat. Finally, it was exhibited in Dubai during Expo 2020, and now it will be presented in the UK for the first time – at Harrods, the world’s leading luxury department store.

Abloh was a true Renaissance man, inspiring the worlds of fashion, music, art and design. When he died in 2021, at just 41 years old, he left an indelible mark; thanks to his timeless creations, his light will shine on.

Dazzling collaborations are nothing new for Baccarat, and the Crystal Clear chandelier, envisioned by the late Virgil Abloh – designer, artist, DJ – is a luminescent case in point

page, from left: Baccarat’s Crystal Clear chandelier, designed by Virgil Abloh, featuring 13 crystal hurricanes; Abloh, a man renowned for his boundary-pushing vision. Opposite page, from top:

REPRESENTS THE EXPRESSION OF THE DYNAMISM OF CRYSTAL THROUGHOUT HISTORY”

Virgil Abloh Marc Patrick/BFA.com

Scents of PLACE

Four perfumers open up to EMILIE DOCK about their most evocative olfactory memories, and share the global inspirations behind personal picks from their own oeuvres, from southern India to the Atacama Desert…

The most vivid scent memory I’ve created of a place is 09:15 En tête-à-tête (One on one), after visiting Marrakech. Well, I didn’t create it per se; I got inspired and amazed and surprised by the aromatic explosion that the city offers. The mint, the cardamom, the sandalwood, the cedar – a real Moroccan garden. I shared that olfactory memory with the perfumer Vincent Ricord, and he recreated exactly how it felt to be there.

To me, adventure smells like 06:20 Où tu sais (You know where). It’s early in the morning, the sun is barely up, and the smell is like linden flowers, acacia wood and freshly cut hay. The day is filled with the promise of marvellous adventures!

The most exotic aroma is 21:30 Sous les draps (Between the sheets). It’s my favourite. And it’s like the One Thousand and One Nights fairy tale. The cumin in it, the rose, the patchouli… it reminds me of an Indian spice market, full of wonder. The smell that reminds me of home is 23:15 À l’abri des regards (Away from prying eyes). Combined with birchwood, its lavender notes feel very French to me. It’s with me every day – but never at the office, only at home.

The most vivid scent memory I have of a place is, strangely enough, from when I participated in a tea tasting at La Maison des Trois Thés in Paris with Yu Hui Tseng, one of the world’s most renowned tea masters and most talented palates. The aromas I discovered there fill my mind to this day.

To me, adventure smells like Maduraï, a scented candle inspired by the sacred city of Maduraï on the banks of the River Vaigai insouthernIndia.

Theseaside smells like Reggio, an invitation to stop off along the Calabrian coast and contemplate the Mediterranean Sea on one side andtheseasof citrustreesontheother.

The scent that motivates me is Mortel eau de parfum. Returning to work after a holiday can be tough; with this scent, the notes of black pepper and frankincense spike my senses… it wears like a bold outfit.

PRUVOST Creative director at Trudon

AMÉLIE HUYNH CEO of D’Orsay

PAOLO VRANJES

To me, the city smells like dynamism, creativity and vitality – like the fragrance I created for Milano. Notes of orange blossom, cypress, sandalwood and patchouli perfectly capture the energetic, always-on, sophisticated vibe for which the city is famous – if you’ve never visited the Italian fashion and design capital, this fragrance can take you there.

Springtime makes me think of timeless and elegant flowers such as jasmine, rose, magnolia, iris, and lily – or giglio in Italian – which grows on the Florentine hills for a few weeks of the year.

To the beauty of spring, I have dedicated various fragrances, including Peonia Black Jasmine. The most exotic aroma is oud. I’ve been using this resin since the startof my career– and this year, we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of one of my most loved, Oud Nobile. I love the preciousness and sophistication of this ingredient and its ability to enchant you with its elegance and warmth.

The smell that reminds me of home is Rosso Nobile, a unique fragrance and the quintessence of Tuscany. The scent of a fine Tuscan red wine, it’s made with sublime accords of orange blossom, berries, oak wood and birch. I created it after a bet with a close friend of mine who is a wine producer. He claimed it was impossible to create a fragrance that could reproduce the countless nuances of a good Tuscan red wine. He changed his mind when I sent him Rosso Nobile.

The most vivid scent memory I have of a place is from cycling through rose gardens alongside walls of jasmine early in the morning in Morocco. It was after lockdown, my senses were heightened, and to be in and around nature with its incredible aromas was just so powerful and inspiring. To me, adventure smells like a clean highaltitude scent. On a hiking holiday with my family in Chile, I was so moved by the incredible contemplative ambience, barren beauty and endless neon sky of the Atacama Desert that I wanted to bottle that feeling. Our free-spirited Arizona Bloom eau de parfum gives me a sense of nomadic freedom every time I wear it. When going on holiday, I always pack Vanilla Bloom plastic-free scented reeds. Lightweight and portable, they’re great to throw into a bag and they scent my suitcase. When I get to my destination, I simply pop them into any vessel to fill the room with their joyous aroma. The smell that reminds me of home is freshly cut flowers. They always put a smile on my face – they are the universal language of beauty. I planted a rose garden about six years ago, and I love to scent-scape nature in my home. The smokiness from our Fireplace candle merges beautifully with the exquisite scent that comes from a bunch of just-picked roses.

Scan to discover a world of luxury home fragrances

Dr. Vranjes Firenze; Floral Street; Getty Images; Daniel Lynch; Trudon

From top Dr. Vranjes Firenze Oud Nobile diffuser 2.5L, £404; Floral Street Wonderland Bloom diffuser 100ml, £42 Home Fragrance, Third Floor; and harrods.com

Founder of Dr. Vranjes Firenze

MICHELLE FEENEY Founder of Floral Street

GOOD AS BOLD

Go big and go home with look-at-me colours, tropical-fruit accents and vociferous prints

1. Jonathan Adler Checkerboard lacquer boxes from top £125, £175 and £150; 2. Laetitia Rouget Love Box storage jar £190;

3. Flos Smithfield S LED pendant light from £765; 4. Colunex Plateau XL headboard from £2,656 and Peak bed base from £3,545;

5. The Rug Company Diane von Furstenberg Kaleidoscope Leopard rug from £3,014; 6. Bordallo Pinheiro Pitaya storage jar £300; 7. Fieldbar Drinks Box cooler £180; 8. House of Hackney Ananas lamp stand £545 and Amaranthine lampshade £415; 9. Eichholtz Doris cushion from £125; 10. B&B Italia Serie Up 2000 armchair £5,113; 11. Poltrona Frau Leather Pot vases from £120

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Italia; Bordallo Pinheiro; Colunex; Eichholtz; Fieldbar; Flos; House of Hackney; Jonathan Adler; Laetitia Rouget; Poltrona Frau; The Rug Company

Dinner dates

Get set to tuck into a (visual) feast as an eclectic new design ethos takes hold with influences as diverse as the natural world and graphic art. From Champagne coupes to soup plates, the feel is bold, bright and begging to be part of your next tablescape

Clockwise from top left Laetitia Rouget Tulip vase 28cm, £260 and To the Moon and Back plates 26cm, £400 for set of four; Charingworth spoon from Fiddle Vintage 42-piece cutlery set £370; Laetitia Rouget Tulip fruit platter 36cm, £160 and candleholder £165; Vista Alegre Bicos Azul salad bowl £110; Emilia Wickstead linen napkins £185 for set of four; Aquazzura Jaipur soup plate £150 for set of two; Vista Alegre Buriti tumbler £70.95; Bordallo Pinheiro Tomato bread and butter plate 15cm, £22.95

From left Laetitia Rouget To the Moon and Back plate 26cm, £400 for set of four; Soho Home Freya linen napkins £65 for set of four and Delano Jug £95; Brunello Cucinelli Tradition ceramic plate 32cm, £240; Ginori 1735 Il Viaggio di Nettuno candleholder £205; Brunello Cucinelli three-piece appetiser set £1,370; Villeroy & Boch Manufacture Rock bowl £22.90

Clockwise from top left Vista Alegre Bicos Verde pitcher £320; Prada wine glass £180 for set of two; Les-Ottomans hand-painted shell plates 37cm, £49.95 each; Sarah-Linda Indulge No.6 dinner plate 30cm x 29cm, £132; Vista Alegre Bicos Verde water goblet £99.95 for set of four

Photographer’s Assistants Leonie McQuillan and Georgia Quinn

Clockwise from top left L’Objet Damier small vase £405; Fendi O’Lock plate 22cm, £190; La DoubleJ Champagne coupes £355 for set of two; Fendi O’Lock water glass £240 and Champagne glass £280; Suntory Roku Gin 70cl, £40; Prada Checkerboard dessert plate 22cm, £160 for set of two, dinner plates (also shown far left 25cm, £220 for set of two, and platter 28cm, £220; Studio William Tilia Mirror PVD-finish knife and fork from 24-piece cutlery set £476; MacKenzie-Childs Courtly Check jigger from Bar Tool Set £128; Fendi O’Lock crescent plate 9cm x 18cm, £240 and bread plate 16cm, £150; Villeroy & Boch Manufacture Rock bowl 14cm, £22.90

Furniture and Home, Third Floor; and harrods.com

THE ART OF THE CRAFT

WHEN IT COMES TO WHIMSICAL and irreverent design, few houses do it with quite such élan as Fornasetti. From the now iconic image of the 19th-century soprano Lina Cavalieri –reimagined wearing everything from scuba diving equipment to a balaclava – to depictions of classical architecture, the sun, musical instruments or even playing cards, Fornasetti’s imagery has always been a glorious miscellany.

The brand was founded in the 1940s in Milan by Piero Fornasetti, with its current artistic director, Barnaba Fornasetti, taking control of the company following his father’s death in 1988. And the atelier’s latest three collections (unveiled at Milan Design Week this April) share the established winning blend of familiar unfamiliarity, while also accentuating the company’s exceptional craftsmanship. Each collection is clearly distinct yet engaged in a dialogue with the others, with all designed for modern living. In addition, there is a combination of lightweight and versatile furniture with decorative accessories and lighting, so that even the smallest spaces can be elevated with a small slice of Fornasetti subversion.

The Giro di Conchiglie collection is inspired by one of the rooms in the villa in Varenna on Lake Como that was once the Fornasetti family home (the room in question was decorated in a marine theme with a plethora of real shells). In the new line, everything from lamps and console tables to mirrors and trays are hand-painted by artisans in Milan in deep shades of aquatic blue to create a water-streaked effect. And leaves of silver foil are meticulously applied to create an intriguing trompe l’oeil, creating a three-dimensional effect on every piece.

In the Giardino Settecentesco collection, the designs transport the viewer to a verdant and intriguing world through their playful reflections and shifts in perspective. Featuring fantastical landscapes juxtaposed with neoclassical buildings, these pieces are available in three different colourways: blue, green and yellow.

The Musciarabia con Rose collection, meanwhile, celebrates Fornasetti’s passion for geometry – a small polyhedric cabinet is part of the line-up – with meticulous and uncompromising black lines intersecting with the soft, natural contours of pastel pink roses, each painted by hand in the company’s Milan atelier. Manifesting Fornasetti’s signature style, each piece works in slightly discordant harmony alongside the others, or makes a striking statement in its own right. The multifaceted design of the wooden cabinets and night stands acts like a prism, reflecting the light to highlight the decoration to gorgeous effect, while the console designs include a handy drawer which adds usefulness to their beauty. And every piece of storage furniture is designed to be lightweight and versatile enough to use in almost any space in the home.

The lamp designs encompass several different shapes and sizes; mirrors – a beloved element of the Fornasetti world – come in both classic styles and as hypnotic magic mirrors, offering a playful and slightly unsettling vision of the world; and trays – in metal, wood and porcelain – are decorated using the centuries-old silkscreen technique and lacquered to give a lustrous finish.

Whether a porcelain objet d’art or a pragmatic piece of furniture, every object offers a dose of escapism. Each is the product of Fornasetti’s high craftsmanship and meticulous production process – with, of course, that inimitable mix of fantasy, humour and irony.

Laura Fantacuzzi and Maxime Galati-Fourcade/Cortili Photo; Fornasetti

Fornasetti’s artisanal savoir-faire comes to the fore in the fabled Italian atelier’s latest collections, writes JESSICA JONZEN

Clockwise from top right: Artistic director Barnaba Fornasetti; a small polyhedric cabinet from the Musciarabia con Rose collection; shells shine bright on a Giro di Conchiglie mirror

Scan to shop Fornasetti homewares on harrods.com

FORCE OF NATURE

Lalique continues a centuries-long appreciation of the animal kingdom with its Empreinte Animale collection – and its savannah-striped star, the Zebre vase

RENÉ LALIQUE’S AFFINITY with the natural world started early.

Born amid the rolling vine-covered hills of Aÿ-en-Champagne in 1860, the legendary jeweller and glassmaker never forgot the influence of his rural upbringing, conjuring up intricate works of art characterised by theirorganiccurvesandanimalistictextures.Hisinspiration?Thethree Fs – female figures, flora and fauna.

Generations later, the furnace is still burning at the glassworks that Lalique founded in Wingen-sur-Moder, Alsace, in 1922 – and the maison is ever-committed to upholding the legacy of its namesake. The verrerie is home to seven artisans awarded the sought-after title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France, or best craftsperson in France, and continues to produce some of the world’s finest crystal and glass collectables. Each glassmaker is a sculptor of light, trained in bringing eventhemostfantasticalof ideastolife–whethertheinspirationcomes from the mythical or the natural world.

With the Spring/Summer 2023 collection, Lalique continues to pay homage to the wildlife that its founder held so dear. Empreinte Animale encompasses a selection of exquisitely crafted vases, bowls, sculptures and jewellery that borrow their form from the jungle’s fauna. In the expert hands of Lalique’s glassmakers, feathers, fur and scales are all reinterpreted in haute-couture crystal that celebrates the animal kingdom with a new sense of splendour. You need only run your hand along the intricately crafted surfaces of each piece to understand the name of the collection – French for ‘animal footprints’.

Among the most captivating of these objets d’art is the Zebre vase. Available in both a clear satin finish and a polished black enamel, it reinterprets the natural geometry of the zebra in stripesthatundulateacrossthevase’sanatomy–itself inspired by the animal’s sinuous curves. Like every one of Lalique’s creations, it’s a showcase of the exceptional technical craftsmanship that the maison has nurtured over the years. Fill it with a bunch of blooms in red, yellow and orange to bring the magic of the savannah sunset to your home – even if that home happens to be in south London rather than South Africa.

Impeccable taste

“WE REALLY BELIEVE that if you eat, you’re a cook,” Shiza Shahid insists. From behind my computer screen, through which she speaks from a sunny Los Angeles, my overworked microwave stares at me in abject disapproval. “Even if you’re frying an egg or reheating some pizza, that’s still cooking,” Shahid continues. Take that, microwave. “Cooking doesn’t have to be complex. It’s just about making something with your hands and sharing it with someone you love.”

This wholesome philosophy is the pillar on which Shahid has built Our Place, the cookware brand behind the Insta-famous multifunctional Always Pan. The same attitude is also the foundation of the home she shares with her husband (and Our Place co-founder), Amir Tehrani, in the leafy LA suburb of Brentwood. “Surprise, surprise… my favourite room is the kitchen,” she says wryly. “It’s where we cook, it’s where we eat, it’s where we hang out and have conversations. It connects directly to the dining and living areas to make one big space, so it’s truly the heart of the home.” I venture that it sounds perfect for parties. “Exactly!” she nods. “We love to hand guests an apron and get them cooking with us. I grew up in a house where the kitchen was kept far away, behind a closed door to contain the chaos of the pots and pans and heat and smoke. In our house, it’s the opposite.”

This page, from top: Inside the house, Shiza Shahid layers different textures and hints of colour over a neutral palette; the hacienda in leafy Brentwood, with its “really great energy”. Opposite page: Shahid, who co-founded cookware brand Our Place with her husband, Amir Tehrani, at the home the couple share in Los Angeles

In her California home, cookware brand co-founder Shiza Shahid blends Spanish charm with Pakistani and Persian influences – and, of course, throws some good dinner parties, writes GRACE CAIN

That mysterious kitchen is now very far away – more than 7,000 miles, in fact – in Pakistan, the country where Shahid was born and raised. And her belief that everyone is (or can be) a cook is essentially rooted in the fact that she was never meant to be one. “My mother was born into a time and circumstance where women didn’t get the opportunity to pursue their dreams very often,” she explains. “She wanted us to have an education and to lead big lives, and she felt that being in the kitchen might prevent that. Her way of loving us was not teaching us to cook.”

To be fair, the strategy kind of worked. Shahid did get an education –at Stanford University, no less. And she has led a big life, co-founding the Malala Fund after her friend Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban in 2012. But she also missed her home and heritage, a feeling that was underscored by her lack of culinary abilities.

“I don’t think my mum anticipated that I would move halfway across the world – and then not be able to feed myself,” Shahid says. Her resulting sense of disempowerment inspired two things: first, a utensil that could replace eight pieces of cookware (hello, Always Pan); and second, an appetite for dinner parties. “My husband and I literally found our place in America by inviting people to sit around our dinner table and eat home-cooked food together,” she remembers. “That ritual of gathering is incredibly important to our lives. It’s how new friends become chosen family.”

Today, Shahid refers to her long dining table as “the most impractical thing that I insisted on owning” – but then what’s a little impracticality in the face of a passion? And Shahid and Tehrani still host regular gatherings – her signature dish is chicken karahi, in case you were

Clockwise from left: The kitchen is “the heart of the home” – and Shahid’s favourite room; the house needed some work when Shahid and Tehrani moved in, but they preserved certain features, like Spanish tiles and old wood doors; cooking is about “making something with your hands and sharing it with someone you love”; The Our Place cult favourite Always Pan is designed to replace eight pieces of cookware

wondering. “We have eight chairs and eight folding chairs, so we can fit 16 guests, although it does get tight,” she says. “For me, the best thing about any dinner party is the conversation. The food is really just there to facilitate that.”

The couple have lived in their current place since 2020 – they moved just before the pandemic hit. “We were so fortunate to be able to go through that period in the home we had built together,” she says. “It helped us feel settled in a crazy and difficult time.”

Shahid reveals that it was the house’s “really great energy” that initially piqued their interest and drew them in – but, from the off, they were well aware that it needed a little sprucing up. “It hadn’t been loved for a while, but it had beautiful bones,” she says. “We felt it was important to preserve the Spanish tiles and the amazing old wood doors, which really defined the building’s structure.”

The Spanish-style foundation also provided a base onto which the pair could add parts of their respective personalities and cultures (Tehrani is Iranian by birth). “Then, of course, we live in LA, so there’s a certain Californian energy,” says Shahid. “I think we’ve successfully created spaces that are multilayered in the way that

“ THIS HOME HELPED US FEEL SETTLED AT A DIFFICULT TIME ”

we are multilayered – spaces that celebrate the intersectionality and breadth of who we are as individuals.”

How does she incorporate her own heritage? “The floor is laid with some beautiful Pakistani rugs that I’ve had for a long time,” she says. “Pakistan is a very vibrant place, so for me it was super important to bring in lots of colour.” This is partly why those jewel-toned Spanish tiles appealed in such a profound way.

“We really wanted to protect that vivid palette, but it was also important to create a sense of calm, because we’re always super busy,” she says. “We brought in a lot more white and neutral tones, and then added different textures to maintain the sense of warmth you often find in homes of this style.”

Shahid also has a tendency to bring back “a little thing here and there” from her travels across the globe. “You know, when you’re walking around a market somewhere, and you see something unexpected that holds a memory?” she says. “Just little things like that.” And she also puts a great deal of importance on the way certain objects are made, reasoning, “Everything that exists in the world has

From left: The master bedroom features vaulted ceilings, whitewashed walls and glossy hardwood floors; Shahid wants her home to be “a mix between the modern and the traditional”

an impact on the world.” The same idea has seeped deep into the design process at Our Place, where the relics of collections past still grace Shahid’s home. “Years ago, we visited Oaxaca [in southwest Mexico] and worked in collaboration with local artisans to create a capsule range celebrating Nochebuena [Christmas Eve],” she tells me. “We sourced some incredible items – molcajete [the traditional Mexican mortar and pestle] made from volcanic rock, hand-blown mezcal glasses, gorgeous hand-loomed table runners. I still very much cherish these pieces. Every time I look at them, I think about all the stories of the people who made them.”

While there are certain pieces that Shahid will always treasure as part of her home, she is – as you would assume of someone who has moved across the world and shifted their entire career path – receptive to change. “I think you have to constantly work on building your home – the relationships and the community that surround you, but also the environment that you inhabit,” she says. “This is particularly true when you’re an immigrant, but it can also apply if you haven’t left your community and the place that you were born. In the three years since we decorated, I have changed as a person. And now, I also want to change parts of the home.”

So, what’s the plan? “When we first moved here, everything was very manicured,” she says. “Now, I find myself bringing in deliberately dissonant objects and allowing for a little bit of chaos – more colour, more texture, more of a mix between the modern and the traditional. I’m at a stage in my life where I’m embracing the different parts of my own identity, and my home has become a way to express that.”

“I THINK YOU CONSTANTLY HAVE TO WORK ON BUILDING YOUR HOME… PARTICULARLYWHEN YOU’RE AN IMMIGRANT”

Andrea Czarnota

SPOILT FOR CHOICE

Overwhelmed by fabric swatches? In a spin about sofa placement? Step away from those floor tiles and paint samples… in a world of endless interior-design options, GRACE CAIN finds the solutions

ONE DAY, YOU’RE YOUNG, in love and playfully bantering over who picks the restaurant; the next, you’re scrolling endlessly through Netflix from the floor of your new apartment because neither of you can decide which sofa to buy. This is the reality that my boyfriend and I currently inhabit – but at least it’s better than the two days we stopped speaking because shopping for a fridge proved to be a surprisingly explosive issue.

I think we may be suffering from what psychologist Barry Schwartz termed ‘the paradox of choice’. In his book of the same name, Schwartz theorises that the interminable number of options we now face either induce paralysis (as in, you end up with no sofa); or regret (as you wonder if, somewhere, there is a better sofa than the one you chose). We decide to narrow our search by at least settling on a colour, and opt for teal to match the tiles in the fireplace. Imagine my relief when Harrods’ head of interior design, Letitia Fitzgibbon, vindicates our approach.

“It’s always a good idea to start with any characteristics or features of your home that will remain – such as a fireplace or the floor – because these finishes can then form the base for every subsequent design choice,” she explains. “Then consider your layout: does it meet all your requirements or could it be more efficient?” This is where you may want to call in reinforcements. Depending on your lifestyle, the in-house experts at Harrods Interior Design can tweak or entirely refurbish your floor plan to create spaces that are harmonious and multifunctional.

If you’re happy with your existing space and more concerned about the details (such as sofas), Fitzgibbon says that it can be helpful to start with the overall ‘story’ you would like to convey. “Think about your inspiration – is there a design period you particularly like? Are you hoping to stay loyal to the history of the building? Do you want to build your room around a favourite artwork? Defining your design direction in this way will inform the choices you make around shapes, colour palettes and details. Just remember to ensure that any materials and finishes work alongside the base I mentioned earlier.”

Zeroing in on your story is the simplest way to instantly eliminate a substantial portion of possibilities. Committing to the aesthetic of your Victorian townhouse, for example, makes it easier to discount mid-century modern furniture and conceptual sculpture. But it’s still a decision-making minefield, which is why Harrods Interior Design also offers an in-store furniture planning option to help you find the pieces that work together aesthetically and suit your lifestyle. There’s also another option (I know, I know, but hear me out): stop scrolling through the infinite range of existing items and go bespoke instead. Furniture brands such as Frato, Maxalto and Savoir can all create customised pieces to suit your style and needs, with experts to assist with all

the decisions that come with such a project. And the same goes for the smaller (but no less important) details. Take Pratesi, for example; the maker of heritage Italian linens aims to simplify the process when it comes to making yourbed,helpingyoutomatchexistingdetails in your homes with custom embroideries and monograms. Michelle Klein, Pratesi’s CEO, advises anyone shopping for bed linen to keep three things in mind: feel, fibre and weight. “You might also prefer to switch out your sheets from season to season,” she adds. “An airier and cooler material, like percale, may be better for spring and summer. But for fall and winter, you could look for something a bit softer and more substantial, like sateen.”

Meanwhile, if you’ve ever harboured dreams of having your own home cinema or aesthetically stunning sound system, the expert consultants at Bang & Olufsen can help take away any decision-induced stress with tailored tech solutions to suit your needs. The brand’s bespoke service is also ideal if (as per Fitzgibbon’s earlier advice) you can’t find a speaker in quite the right hue to match your base – and if you live in London, they’ll even visit to help you finalise your choices.

BESPOKE SERVICES

The interior

Fromtablescapingandfurnitureplanning to more dramatic alterations to the overall space, Harrods Interior Design has the know-how to bring your vision to life.

The furniture

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Dream up your own design. Many brands can create bespoke pieces – and Frato and Maxalto’s custom-made creations have all the qualities of future heirlooms.

The linens

You know you’ve made it in life when your towels are monogrammed. But why stop there? Brands such as Pratesi also offer initialled bedding, table linens and decorative pillows.

The tableware

To bring something extra special to the table, consider hand-painted tableware. And some of the finest porcelain makers (Ginori 1735, Bernardaud) can be commissioned to create unique pieces.

The tech

Once you’ve made all the decisions necessary to make your home ‘work’, it’s time for the finishingtouches.Homeiswheretheartis,and even in a world full of alternatives, you’ll never regret a one-of-a-kind piece commissioned just for you. The Harrods Interior Design team has a roster of artists and artisans who can create works to suit your home and style. This includes London-based artist Jan Erika, who can create dynamic abstract works on anything from tables and tableware to immense household walls; and Cuppebord, whose ‘surface designers’ layer metal leaf with paints and pigments (all mixed by hand) onto glass and mirrors to mesmerising effect.

From multiroom sound systems to the best home-theatre set-up for your space, Bang & Olufsen’s experts are on hand to discussyourentertainmentrequirements.

Whether you’re refurbishing, renovating or starting completely from scratch, Fitzgibbon has one final piece of advice. “As you build up your home, remember to take time to evaluate each decision,” she says. “You want to be certain that it delivers on the story you have designed for each space.” So I guess I’d better start thinking about the story I want my future sofa to convey… right after I decide what I’m going to watch on Netflix.

Clockwise, from top House of Hackney medium velvet amatoria-fringed cushion 45cm x 45cm, £175; Bang & Olufsen BeoSound2 smart speaker with Google Assistant £2,649; Bernardaud Aux Oiseaux teapot £581 and teacup and saucer £199; Bang & Olufsen Beoplay A9 speaker in Gold Tone £3,199; Ginori 1735 Rain Rock Creek candle 700g, £350

Furniture, Home and Interior Design Studio, Third Floor; Technology, Fifth Floor; and harrods.com

Bang & Olufsen; Bernardaud; Getty Images; Ginori 1735; House of Hackney

FABRIC DIRECTORY

Swatch this space

ANIMAL

First popularised in the 1930s, animal printhaslongbeenamainstayoffashion and home design. Among the most versatile is leopard, loved by so many stylists that there are books dedicated to its history. Get your fix with Panthere byPierreFrey(below).

HARLEQUIN

Conjuring up the magic and mystery of vintage circuses, harlequin is vibrant, quirky and playful. Try Romo’s Arzu Sorbet velvet below), which blends the nostalgic diamond pattern in a variety of fresh, fun colourways for acontemporarytake.

EMBROIDERY

One for Arts & Crafts lovers, Morris & Co’s intricate Daisy fabric above features hand-knotted details that add definition to its floral motifs, resulting in aprettypatternthatisirresistiblytactile.

BIRDS

Add a sense of movement to your home with a contemporary bird design such asZimmer+Rohde’sJapanese-inspired Lakeview (below), featuring a crane –an Eastern symbol of happiness and longevity–inflight.

IKAT

One of the oldest forms of textile decoration,ikatderivesfromatraditional Indonesian dyeing technique. Known for loud hues and irregular patterns, it calls to mind ideas of exotic travel. And Pierre Frey’s dreamy Manisa print below) is amaximalist’sdream.

FOLK

A micro-trend for 2023, folk style evokes a sense of adventure with its rustic textures and whimsical flair. Pierre Frey’s charmingVictorHugo–Imprimé above), inspired by a 17th-century pattern on a document owned by its namesake writer,capturesthemoodperfectly.

CORDUROY

(Re)popularised at Fashion Week last autumn, corduroy is loved for its warmth and texture – as well as its nostalgic familiarity. Lelièvre’s Riga (see in-store is ideal for reviving a vintage armchair.

KALEIDOSCOPE

Here’s a great way to psychoanalyse guests: use Timorous Beasties’ striking Rorschach-style Kaleido Splatt Railroad design above) to get everybody talking.

Notice a pattern? Hard not to when there are this many to choose from. From the rainbow-toned and Rorschach-esque to monochrome and leopard print, Harrods’ Fabric Library has it all

DAMASK

Dating back to the 11th century, damask brings a sense of historical grandeur to softfurnishings.Ornate,intricateweaves like GP&J Baker’s Acanthus above) will nevergooutofstyle.

GEOMETRIC

With clean lines and repeat patterns, geometrics add texture and depth that can accentuate elements of the home. And with such a broad range to choose from, including Dedar’s Geometric Pic Nic (below) and styles by Missoni and Cole & Son see in-store), you’re guaranteedtofindonetoyourtaste.

LANDSCAPE

Give a whole new meaning to armchair travel by reupholstering your favourite seat in Altitude Crépuscule by Lelièvre (above), a dreamy tapestry that draws its inspiration from archetypal Scandinavianlandscapescenes.

MONOCHROME

Prada, Chanel, Fendi… the biggest fashion powerhouses can’t all be wrong when it comes to the impact of this classic combo. Inspired by the works of Italian architect Piero Portaluppi, this eponymous fabric by Zimmer + Rohde (below) features complex weaves for an updateonatimelesscolourway.

JEWEL TONES

With ruby reds, elegant teals and vibrant pinks all inspired by gemstones, jewel tones were not in short supply at the interior-design trade fair Maison&Objet earlier this year, bidding farewell to minimalist crisp whites. Choose one colour to create a bold, dramatic effect or try an eye-catching blend with Pailin byMissoni(above).

Clockwise from left (all prices per sq m) Pierre Frey Fontaine et animaux barbouillage £230 and Fever £298; Zoffany Kanoko £95; Pierre Frey Lauren 1, £187

NATURAL

Danish company Kvadrat is known for eco-friendly production methods that bring you the finest fabrics with a conscience. Valley by Sahco in shade 0009 (below) combines the texture of natural fibres with a neutral colour –ideal for adding layers to a space while balancingoutlouderhues.

TROPICAL

The French Post-Impressionist artist Henri Rousseau once said that being among exotic plants made him feel like he was in a dream – which is what inspired many of his tropical artworks. CreateyourownparadiseusingMalabar by Osborne & Little below), with its intricateembroideredtreesandpalms.

QUENTIN BLAKE

XYLOGRAPHIC

OCEAN

Ifyoucan’tescapetothecoast,Lelièvre’s Lagon Azur below brings you a vivid underwater scene printed on thick cotton canvas, perfect for making curtainsorawallhanging.

The artist behind the playful drawings that famously illustrated the Roald Dahl books, Quentin Blake captures the very essence of childhood. Quentin’s Menagerie(above)–partoftheZagazoo collection, created specially for Osborne & Little and named after one of Blake’s own picture books – is a fun choice for a child’s bedroom, and it’s made from hard-wearingwashablecotton,too.

PEOPLE

Striking and original, Pierre Frey’s Beau monde (below) was taken from a piece of work by textile designer Noëmie Vallerand, who created the distinctive characters – each embroidered life-size at 1.7m tall – using a special technique of collageandpainting.

ROSES

Elegant, painterly and romantic, the roses in Camilla by Manuel Canovas for ColefaxandFowler(above)areperfectly reminiscentofaspringgarden.

UPHOLSTERY

The ultimate way to dramatically overhaul your living space without the effort of an entire refit, upholstering can breathe new life into classic or vintage furniture designs. Visit The Fabric Library at Harrods’ Interior Design Studio for afulllistofthebrandsavailable.

VELVET

Heavy,richandsoft,velvethasthepower to dramatically transform a room. For an updated twist, experiment with a printed version, like the vivid Pinyin Tree print by TimorousBeasties(below).

SILK

Once limited to the rich, silk is now widely adored for its lustre, lightness and strength.Whendrapedonabedormade into curtains, the ultra-soft wrinkle-free fabric is the epitome of luxury. And it’s naturally made, too. Try the printed Silk Bird series by Brunschwig & Fils (above), availableinanumberofcolourways.

Although largely eliminated by machine printing, woodblock printing is still a valued technique for the skill and time it takes. Pierre Frey’s Le grand corail above) uses 105 different blocks for one patternmadeupof16colours.

WEAVE

Made from 100 per cent merino wool, Fox Linton’s Fairford weave (below), with its small-scale chevron pattern, is warm and wonderfully tactile, with super-fine fibresthatmakeitextremelysoft.

YELLOW

A reinterpretation of sheepskin and fur, Kvadrat’s Argo 2 by Raf Simons (above) perfectly taps into the 1970s trend that’s makingitswaybackthroughtheinteriors worldthisyear.

ZEBRA

Escape to a land conjured up by graphic artistEmmaJShipley’sultra-imaginative Lost World Linen, with elements inspired byJulesVernenovels,the1925silentfilm

The Lost World andShipley’sowntravels aroundAfrica.

Fabric from £56 per square metre

The Fabric Library, Third Floor

MIND YOUR

YOU COULD BE FORGIVEN for thinking you must watch what you say around Martha Freud. While the witty slogans that decorate her ceramic creations are a perfect response to the frustrations, demands and truths of modern life, they’re inspired by a permanent collection of overheard, borrowed and resonant phrases that the artist has captured and attached to the wall of her home studio.

Home for Freud is a Grade II-listed Victorian ‘doer-upper’ on a square in east London’s Haggerston in Hackney, which she shares with her partner and two young children. “We did a little bit of work when we moved in,” she says. “But that was seven years ago. We will get round to the house, but for now it’s a bit like camping in the bones of a beautiful building.”

Much has changed for Freud since her introduction to pottery at the age of 21. “I was doing adult education courses – welding and all sorts – but, when I did one in ceramics, I just caught the bug,” she reveals. “So I did a 10-week course and bought a kiln on eBay.” Since that time, elements of Freud’s work have endured: the use of porcelain, light and the accumulation of words. “I have a wall at home that’s covered in cut-up index cards,” she explains. “It’s a collection of things I’ve heard, conversations I’ve had, lyrics, things I’ve heard on TV. Sometimes I’m searching for a way to say something but don’t know how to say it, then suddenly I’ll hear it and go: ‘Yes, that’s it!’ Sometimes, something I read or hear will register with me, so I’ll just write it down and put it up on the wall until I’ve figured out where or how I’m going to use it.

“Take the expression, ‘Dust yourself off, you ain’t done yet’. That stayed on my wall for two years until I found myself working in bisque porcelain, which is kind of halfbaked and dusty. I didn’t even realise when I wrote those words down that they were the exact ones I’d need two years later.” And Freud reveals that the wall serves also as a foil for her forgetfulness: “If I write something on my phone’s Notes app, I’ll forget to look at it, but if I write it on my wall and walk past it every day, then it seeps in.”

Her enduring fascination with wordplay is no surprise, given that her mother, grandfather and

WORDS MARC ABBOTT

The assortment of phrases pinned to the wall of Martha Freud’s home studio serves not only as an artist’s aide-memoire, but also as fuel for the wordplay that adorns her playful line of ceramics

LANGUAGE

aunt were all journalists. “I’m surrounded by clever writers who are very good with words. So, compared to them, I’ve always felt a little shy,” she admits. “Although I’ve always been interested in words, I do it in a slightly more bite-sized way. My grandfather used to set the cryptic crossword for the Financial Times, and my grandmother has done crosswords every day of my life, so I’m used to seeing them breaking down words, rearranging them, looking for different contexts. And I think, subconsciously [Freud is also the great-great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud], part of that deconstruction of language has seeped into my work.”

The drip-feed of her inspiration takes many forms, the beauty of which is that anyone can find themselves having influenced a slogan that’s imprinted on a candleholder or a piece of Freud’s tableware. “My partner and I have started writing down snapshots of conversations we hear on the street,” she says. “They are so brilliant. I like the tease of a little nugget of a conversation because there’s so much that’s left to your imagination.

“And I have friends who’ve seen my work, then realised it features a comment they’ve made. I think they all know that anything they say to me may be used in my work! Which isn’t to say I notice people being careful about what they say around me; it’s all so anonymous once it’s on a piece of ceramic.”

Surprisingly, this rule applies equally to Taylor Swift. “The words ‘going down in flames’ – written on one of the pieces from my scentedcandle collection – came from one of her songs I heard in a café. That went straight onto my wall. I like working with lyrics because the association with the song changes – one person’s love song can be another person’s heartbreak song. I even used Leonard Cohen’s ‘Anthem’. There’s a whole body of work I do in wafer-thin porcelain tiles. They’re so thin and they crack all the time; that was when I started working with a quote from that song on my wall: ‘There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.’ I was fighting these cracks so hard, but there was this moment when I thought: What if I embrace them?”

Arguably, that’s a battle we’ve all faced in recent years. Although her conglomeration of index cards predates the pandemic, Freud admits that this most gruelling time in our collective history provoked an outburst of – and conduit for – her frustrations. “I think I first wrote on a plate about 12 years ago, then during lockdown I got a wave of momentum for applying graffiti to domestic objects. It was this

“MY GRANDFATHER USED TO SET THE CRYPTIC CROSSWORD FOR THE FINANCIALTIMES”

Clockwise from top: Martha Freud in her Hackney home studio; her ceramics draw on quotes and sayings that she overhears in the street, from friends or even in songs; Freud emblazons her pottery with wordplay that resonates and makes her smile

enforced, frustrated domesticity we were all going through. I would use swear words on the pieces occasionally, which really connected with people, so I don’t think I was the only person to feel frustrated at that time!”

Cast your eye across her studio wall, and intriguing soundbites leap out: ‘Hot mess’ (“I wrote this on a candle pot, as it connected with me on several levels”); ‘Non-judgement day is coming’ (“Love, acceptance, and a welcome break from the inner critic”); ‘Sorry I acted crazy – it will happen again’ (“Imperfect, and accountable – my personal goal”); ‘Buckle up buttercup’ (“I find this motivational, there is something about the slightly patronising term that makes me want to rise to any challenge”);

‘I’m done being a people pleaser – if everyone’s OK with that’ (“Let’s just say that I like working with words that really resonate with me…”).

That these phrases – revealing the depths of the artist who collected and transcribed them – are now engraved in pottery suggests that both her method and her finished objects are not just metaphorically but physically suffused with Freudian slip.

“LOCKDOWN GAVE ME A WAVE OF MOMENTUM FOR APPLYING GRAFFITI TO DOMESTIC OBJECTS”

Clockwise from above: The ceramicist’s studio with her wall of quotes, which feature heavily on her pottery; a thank-you note from Charlie Mackesy, the illustrator and author, whom Freud is friends with (she has another studio in Suffolk close to where he lives); a selection of Freud’s wafer-thin porcelain tiles, drawing inspiration from a Leonard Cohen song

No space is complete without a collection of gorgeous books for inspiration. Harrods’ head of interior design LETITIA FITZGIBBON shares her favourites

TOME, SWEET TOME

ANNIE LEIBOVITZ PORTRAITS 2005–2016

By Annie Leibovitz

A photographer like no other, Annie Leibovitz is known for her engaging and honest portraits of some of the world’s most famous people. This book is a collection of 150 favourites, from LeBron James to Queen Elizabeth II – and, even better, a limited number of signed copies are available at The Harrods Bookshop. £79.95

CABANA ANTHOLOGY

By Martina Mondadori Sartogo

Since its launch in 2014, Cabana magazine has garnered a cult following in the interiors world for its collectable covers, created in collaboration with the likes of Gucci, Dedar, Fendi and Etro. This anthology is a delicious scrapbook of architecture, fashion and design – the ultimate talking piece for when friends come over. £75

ENTERTAINING BEAUTIFULLY

By Aerin Lauder

Ever since we were allowed to open our homes again, there’s been a desire to make entertaining extra memorable – and the bespoke tablescaping service at Harrods Interior Design has been busier than ever. Aerin Lauder’s creations, like whimsical flower arrangements and candlelight dinners, offer wonderful inspiration. £45

GREAT ESCAPES LATIN AMERICA: THE HOTEL BOOK

By Angelika Taschen

Packed with vibrant imagery exploring everything from beachfront bungalows in Costa Rica to a luxury resort in rugged Patagonia, this joyful book will get you excited to plan your next adventure – and add a beautiful splash of colour to your coffee-table collection. £40

THE EVOLUTION OF HOME

By Emma Sims-Hilditch

with Giles Kime

As the ways we use our spaces are everchanging, this is a great staple to help you make the most of every room in your home. And once you know what you want, at Harrods Interiors Design we have all the tools to help you intelligently create those spaces to suit your lifestyle. £40

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ROOMS IN THE WORLD

By Marie Kalt

Curated by the global editors of Architectural Digest (one of my favourite magazines) and with a foreword by Anna Wintour, this book takes you on a journey through the world’s most inspiring and innovative interiors – from a New York City townhouse to a Moroccan palace, and a Russian country house to an 18th-century Italian villa – all designed by leading lights in the industry. £50

The Harrods Bookshop, Lower Ground Floor

FRONT-ROW SUITES

The catwalk isn’t the only place fashion’s biggest hitters are making

VERMELHO, MELIDES

Designed by Christian Louboutin

Understated isn’t an adjective you’d usually associate with Christian Louboutin. But the exterior of the designer’s first hotel, a 13-room retreat in the tranquil Portuguese coastal village of Melides, is – relatively – restrained. “Vermelho had to be sober and elegant to perfectly integrate into its surroundings,” he says. Luckily for fans of Louboutin’s extravagant, maximalist aesthetic – which spans everything from platforms to perfume – the outside serves as a foil to the rest of the hotel. “Step through the entrance door and you enter into a world of precious craft details and bespoke artworks,” reveals the designer, whose sense of eclecticism, eye for detail and love of craft have rendered all the rooms both exquisitely beautiful and singular: each features antiques and ornate collectables sourced from his extensive travels, as well as bespoke commissions by local artisans, and no two are remotely the same. And there’s a similar mix of local tradition and international flair at the village’s Xtian restaurant – helmed by Portuguese chef David Abreu, who cut his teeth at hotels in Macao, Lisbon and Berkshire – with a menu described by Louboutin as “Portuguese cuisine with a twist”.

TRAVEL

DIOR SUITE, ST REGIS, NEW YORK CITY

Designed by Dior

Ever since it first opened in 2011, the Dior Suite – which offers spectacular views over Central Park – has been in high demand among the fashion crowd and beyond. Expect all the Parisian opulence and glamour for which Dior is known in the form of an ornate marble fireplace, carved crown mouldings and plush Louis XVI-style velvet furniture, all in a chic colour palette of grey, cream, pink and blue. Oh, and 24-hour butler service to top it all off.

LE BELLECHASSE SAINT GERMAIN, PARIS

Designed by Christian Lacroix

Few designers can rival the exuberant eclecticism of Christian Lacroix. As such, should you find yourself lucky enough to stay at this boutique hotel on the Left Bank, you’ll be in and among a riot of colour, texture and pattern, with inspirations ranging from the nearby Musée d’Orsay to cult TV show The Avengers. And each of the 33 rooms is unique, so you may find yourself sharing with a wall-size sun, a giant playing card or a ceiling full of butterflies.

ROUND HILL HOTEL AND VILLAS, MONTEGO BAY

Designed by Ralph Lauren Crisp blue and white furnishings, mahogany four-poster beds and a pervading sense of prep and positivity – Ralph Lauren’s beloved old-money aesthetic is well suited to Jamaica’s sapphire seas and alabaster sands. And with its vast spa, five tennis courts and peaceful oceanfront balconies, it’s no wonder Round Hill has been a favourite destination of VIPs for more than 70 years. (Fun fact: John F Kennedy practised his inauguration speech next to the pool by Villa 25.)

ROYAL SUITE BY GUCCI, SAVOY, LONDON

Designed by Gucci

Guccio Gucci would surely be delighted, not to mention amused, to know that The Savoy’s Royal Suite has been taken over by the house that bears his name – he was once a luggage porter at the storied London hotel. Boasting a dedicated butler and sweeping views of the city’s most iconic landmarks (even from the bathroom), the sprawling suitehasbeenfullyGuccified:expectrichvelvetandJacquardupholstery, a jewelled colour palette and an unabashed flair for maximalism.

their mark. Hotel life also comes with serious designer kudos

Marie Taillefer

WORDS GRACE CAIN & LINDSAY MACPHERSON

A bedroom in Christian Louboutin’s Vermelho hotel in Portugal, featuring a fresco by Greek artist Konstantin Kakanias

This page, from top Harrods of London Tranquil Orchard king-size duvet cover set £579 and Oxford pillowcases £189 for set of two, Lemon Geometric cushion £49 and bedspread £399, and Olive Green throw £299. Opposite page, top, from top Harrods of London Pink Stripe cushion £90, English Rose Oxford pillowcases £129 for set of two, Fuchsia Frill Oxford pillowcases £229 for set of two and English Rose king-size duvet cover, part of two-pillowcase set £399; bottom, from top Harrods of London Garden Maze Oxford pillowcases £629 for set of two and king-size flat sheet £549 Bed & Bath, Third Floor; and harrods.com

Your WILDEST dreams

ECHOING NATURE’S MOST captivating patterns, the new Harrods of London bedding designs provide a garden-inspired habitat for the most satisfying of snoozes. And with cotton throws, cushions and bedspreads in lemon yellows and bright fuchsia pinks, the collection is guaranteed to make you wild about sleep.

Bed or flower bed? With the English Rose bedding set, you get to decide. The 300-thread-count Egyptian cotton, satin finish is decorated with a romantic floral print, the abundant blooms reaching across the duvet and matching pillowcases all the way to the edge of the Oxford borders – a maximalist’s dream. A vintage colour palette, layering pale pinks and intense reds atop a wash of sepia, adds depth to the design. Complete the look with the vivid Pink Stripe cushions, made from organic cotton and finished with dainty frills.

The floral Tranquil Orchard, meanwhile, is rendered in green hues to induce a sense of calm. On the 400-thread-count set is an eye-catching pattern inspired by traditional floral Jacquard, framed by a white Oxford border that lends the design a touch of hotel-style elegance.

It’s all about bewitching blooms and gorgeous greenery in Harrods of London’s enchanting new bedding collection

For those who prefer something more understated, Garden Maze showcases a synergy between pattern and design, with embroidered motifs forming an ornamental border along the 600-thread-count Egyptian cotton set. But if you’re more of a frill seeker, look to the Fuchsia Frill collection; its 400-thread-count Egyptian cotton percale is embroidered with a diamond-motif border and finished with pleated ruffles that will give your bed a luxurious boost. For more ways to bring the outside in, the 400-thread-count Lattice Embroidery will introduce some texture to your bedroom. It recreates the look of garden tiles and fences by intersecting a background of delicate lattice with rows of tile motif –all achieved using cameo-green embroidery. And with our Olive Green cotton throw arranged on the bed, you’ll be sleeping among nature’s most soothing shades.

POWER UP

Wolf Regent watch cabinet £12,395 Withings ScanWatch £279 Devialet Dione Opéra de Paris soundbar £2,400

Marshall Middleton Bluetooth speaker £269 Leica M6 camera body £4,500 with Summilux-M 35f/1.4 ASPH lens £4,950

handheld massage gun £549

£1,249

Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre 77in, £14,750

Cadogan Square Knightsbridge SW1

This spectacular duplex apartment – with magnificent reception rooms and five bedroom suites – is arranged over the raised ground and lower-ground floors of an imposing period building on this famous Knightsbridge square. The property was recently rebuilt to the highest specifications, with exquisite stonework, parquet timber flooring, exotic rare marble and bespoke stained-glass windows. Just a short stroll from Harrods, Cadogan Square – one of London’s premier addresses – is perfectly located for excellent schools, as well as the restaurants, hotels and world-class designer shopping on Sloane Street and King’s Road.

Hyde Park Gardens Hyde Park W2

This recently refurbished four-bedroom lateral apartment spans two stucco-fronted buildings on a 19th-century terrace in a gated residential enclave just north of Hyde Park with resident-only communal gardens and parking. There is a spacious reception room, a large kitchen/breakfast room, four generous double bedrooms and three bathrooms (two ensuite), with panoramic views of Hyde Park from the reception room and principal bedroom. The apartment has air conditioning, hardwood floors throughout and a video entry system, and is within walking distance of London’s West End as well as Paddington and Notting Hill Gate stations.

Trevor Square Knightsbridge SW7

This contemporary three-bedroom duplex penthouse apartment – totally refurbished and incorporating the latest technology – is on the sixth and seventh floors of one of Knightsbridge’s most exclusive developments, 17–22 Trevor Square, which was redeveloped from the original 19thcentury Harrods Depository building in 2004. There are three bedroom suites, a kitchen/breakfast room, and a living/entertaining space that opens onto two roof terraces (totalling more than 1,300sq ft) with views over Knightsbridge and Chelsea. There is also a 24-hour concierge, two secure parking spaces and a comprehensive security system.

Cheval Place Knightsbridge SW7

This is a new, beautifully appointed upper-duplex apartment discreetly located in the heart of Knightsbridge. The property, which has direct lift access, includes two bedroom suites with en-suite bathrooms and a large open-plan kitchen/reception leading to terrace areas with stunning views of central London. Refurbished to the highest standards, this chic, modern apartment boasts an upper floor that is bathed in natural light thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows that lead out to the terraces. The apartment is located close to Harrods and is also within easy walking distance of Hyde Park.

PRICE

£4,500 per week/£19,500 per calendar month plus property fees*; deposit: £27,000 *harrodsestates.com/property-fees

Kensington Court Kensington W8

This beautifully presented lateral apartment is located on the second floor of a period mansion building (with lift) just moments from Hyde Park in a quiet village-style environment. The property – tastefully furnished and decorated in a contemporary style – enjoys generous ceiling heights, plenty of natural light and superb storage. There is a spacious entrance hall, and wooden flooring throughout the semi-open-plan kitchen and reception room. A degree of flexibility is offered by the third bedroom, which is currently being used as a home office/guest bedroom.

PRICE

£2,500 per week/£10,833 per calendar month plus property fees*; deposit: £15,000 *harrodsestates.com/property-fees

Brick Street Mayfair W1

Thisisalightandairythree-bedroomproperty,locatedontheseventhfloor of a secure building in Mayfair. The lateral accommodation comprises a vast living room with dining area, separate kitchen, three double bedrooms (all en-suite) and a guest WC. There is air cooling in the living room and master bedroom, and wooden flooring throughout. The building – which has a 24-hour porter and lifts – is a stone’s throw from everything that Piccadilly and Shepherd Market have to offer.

Thames City

Nine Elms SW8

This five-bedroom sub penthouse is on the 45th floor of Building No 8, with a valeted parking facility, at Thames City, a development by acclaimed architects SOM, design experts HBA and landscaping specialists Gillespies. The apartment has 360-degree views across London to the City, and includes air cooling, underfloor heating and 2.8m-high ceilings. Amenities include one of the largest private residents’ pool and gym facilities in central London, a residents’ cinema, sky lounge, kids’ club, library and fine-dining room. There is a 24-hour concierge, access to landscaped gardens and a linear park, and all apartments are sold with a 10-year Premier Guarantee warranty.

TEA FOR TU?

No tea, no shade, but if I were to offer you a hot beverage right now, I’m sure that fashion augur Miuccia Prada wouldn’t follow milk and sugar to the front of your mind. But sì, the rumours are true: her Italian empire is expanding teapot-first into your home, bringing with it a nice cup of Milanese flair. By now you’ve surely spotted it towering over the competition: a high-fashion tea set that refuses to stand in the shadows.

PHOTOGRAPHY MARK ANTHONY FOX