s beenmanyyearssincemyfirstvisittoPortugal.
t thetimeI wasjust16,maybe17.I wasinSpain
n vacationwithsomefriendsandwespontaneously
ecidedto takea tripto Porto.JustacrosstheSpanish
order,I discovereda beautiful,melancholiccountry.
havesincevisitedPortugalas oftenas I can.
Myhouseis inMelidesontheAlentejocoast.I
iscovered the property by chance: a few years
orkingnearComportaandI suffereda cutthat
mestitches.Onthewayhomefromthehospital,
I cameacrossa pathwindingthroughricefieldstoa fisher-
man’shutthatlookedallbutabandoned.Assoonasit came
upforsale,I boughtit andbuilta studiothere.
I havesincebuiltthreemorestructuresofthesamesize,all
veryplainbutina brightwhite.Thepropertyis situatedina
naturereservewithstringent environmentalregulations, so
mylittle paradise is ableto remainuntouched. It’s onthe
coast,soI wantedtofurnishthestructuresina morecasual
waybymixingsomeBrazilianfurniturefromthe’50swith
Portuguesechandeliers, Caldertapestries andsome vintage
chairsfromtheareafora relaxed,retrolook.
Thedesignreflectsmylifeandworkingstyle,anda mixof
different cultures. I follow this philosophy for all my spaces
Oppositepage:ChristianLouboutin’scottage,
dubbedL’Atelier,inMelides,wherehedesignshis
autumn/wintercollections.Thispage,clockwise
fromleft:theshoeguruinfrontof his’70s
CitroënMéhari;a chairbyMarcoSousaSantos
inthelivingarea;a wickermonkeytablefrom
the MuseodeArtePopularinMexicoCitywith
an antique carved chair from Austria.183 HARPERSBAZAAR.COM.AU December 2019
A FashionableLIFE