DESIGN REPORTInspiration for a
whole collection can
star t with anything,
even the front grille
of a Bentley (below).
The lattice pattern
is used here in
different colors
on tablewareFrom small beginnings
grand ideas can grow
nyonewhohaseverbeenfacedwithalarge-scale
design project knows exactly how daunting it
canseemtoturnablankcanvasintothebigger
picture. It’s a reason so many of us turn to the
experts, to help develop a vision – or perhaps to come up with
one in the first place.
It helps, says interior designer Stéphanie Coutas, to start
small; one simple idea can be explored and expanded and soon
translated into an entire design scheme. “I’ll often turn to
a material I love,” she says. “I’ll show it to the client and if they
love it too it’s a great starting point from which to develop
further ideas. For one client, I found a beautiful Indian silk
sari and we started working around this, looking at similar
distinctive colors and patterns and expanding from there.”
She is often on the lookout for interesting fabrics and
textiles to help inform her designs. “I’ve discovered a beautiful
white textile by Sabina Fay Braxton that’s woven with salt
crystals, making it appear matt and shiny at the same time.
A
All you need is a little acorn, a germ of an idea, and your dream
interior is on its way to becoming reality, says Tor y KingdonGLANCY FAWCETT
“The client’s one true love was Bentley cars: the furniture in his
house was by Bentley and his helicopter’s seats were embroidered
with the Bentley logo, so we made this our starting point.
“We took the iconic front grille of the Bentley car and adapted
that lattice design for the tableware, using gold against white,
and altering the design slightly to fit each piece.”It has a very natural but glamorous feel to it, and this is
particularly inspiring to me.”
It was a fabric swatch, the Doria print from the Antico
Setificio Fiorentino fabric house, that became the starting
point for the interior of the superyacht Nameless.
The fabric house, which was founded in Florence in the
18th century and later acquired by Stefano Ricci, hand weaves
its made-to-measure textiles on antique looms. When it came
to using this as inspiration for the boat scheme, it wasn’t just
the color, pattern and texture of the fabric that informed the
finished design but also this attention to craftsmanship. Often
an initial idea can act as a metaphor for moving forward, not
simply a literal starting point. When it is more literal, it can
be anything from the client’s family coat of arms to an animal
drawing that inspires an entire scheme, says Stefano Ricci’s
creative director Filippo Ricci. For example, an African motif
from its leather goods collection became the inspiration
for a recently designed penthouse in Monte Carlo.