THE FABRIC OF OUR LIVES IS FOR SALE

The early 70’s found me with a new showroom opening the door to high-end interior design in Argentina.

We were always looking for unique pieces either vintage or antique to utilize in the very exquisite rooms we were decorating for clients.

Argentina is well known for the quality of the antiques that once adorned the great French style palaces of the gilded era thus it is not difficult to find smashing pieces of furniture or accessories.Please follow this link for an outstanding book on the subject.
GRANDES RESIDENCIAS DE BUENOS AIRES

Unfortunately once you start buying you “become” a collector and don’t want to part with some things.
At that time I was fortunate enough to meet a young “antique peddler” whose mission in life was to find objects of desire and bring them to me for a hefty price.

Among the myriad of things I bought from him was a piece of ecclesiastic fabric that came from the Lucchesse area in Italy and was conservatively dated to the late XVIII century and I had no choice but to keep it for myself.

Created and hand woven for ecclesiastic robes this glorious fabric depicts all the exquisite detail and the metallic weave that made panels from that era worthy of being in museums.
The fabric, dyed with natural tints, has faded through the decades and acquired an insuperable hint of irregular salmon/coral shades reminiscent of a sunset sky in a Turner watercolor.
The metallic thread has tarnished from the original shiny gold to a tranquil bronze color which still retains its metallic quality. The overall look is that of Mariano Fortuny's fabrics in production to these days in Venice. The picture included is a detail of a Fortuny wall hanging from 1921.

After contemplating my piece of fabric for over 40 years I had the audacity to have it cut in pieces and make fantastic pillows.

By a stroke of luck we could recover some of the original color in small pieces of fabric that had never seen the light. With those we made the welt which strikingly outlines the pillows.
Surprisingly the fabric has retained its integrity and it is strong enough to lean on it
One pair of pillows caught the attention of an exquisite British interior designer who ordered them to be set on the sofa at his cottage in Dorset. They look very much at home, stunning, timeless, unpretentious and chic. I am sure they will be there for another 30 or 40 years.

We made a second pair of pillows, same fabric but with a fantastic French moiré in a similar faded coral for the back.

Stop drawling! Those ARE available. "It is only money, daaaklink!..." (as Zsa-Zsa Gabor used to preach)                                                              

Want to see more? Pillows Collection

                                                                                       

LIFE IS SHORT, PICK A NICE DRESS

Even though I have several "adopted" mothers, I only had one birth mother. Life would have been much more complicated if I had more than one.

Today would have been my mother's 93rd birthday and she is much remembered with peach rococo roses and candles beside her portrait.

Some forty years ago we went together to buy her an evening dress for a reception that she was going to attend with me. She looked fantastic in a Pierre Cardin long black number totally buttoned down with Swarovsky crystal clusters from the beginning of the cleavage to above the knees where it opened even though the buttons aligned until reaching the hem. 

The surprise were the silk stockings in a faint smoke aqua that echoed the color of a couple of silk organza peonies perched on her left shoulder. Way to go, Pierre!!!

We both felt on top of the world. She looked stunning and I was happy for her.

If we only knew that we were picking the dress that many years later she will choose to wear for her funeral we would probably have paid more attention to it.

When she knew it was her time to go and I was thousands of miles away she requested to be dressed again in that fabulous dress.

She knew that she was going to be always remembered on her birthday and she wanted, as usual, to be properly dressed.

MINI ME

…it was a dark, stormy and cold night in Miami…and Manuel’s car died of pulmonary congestion…50 miles away from home.

It was towed back by a good Samaritan and the next day he had to rent a car while deciding which one he should buy among the millions of options…God bless the USA.

We opted to return business to a client who spent an obscene amount of money in our home couture workroom.

An insurmountable detail almost held us back: he sells Rolls Royce, Bentley, Bugatti, BMW and Cadillac.
Fortunately his company also sells Mini Coopers...and off we went.

Not that Minis are cheap cars. They are little luxurious treasures totally design-oriented to a “granola and chancleta” crowd of professionals mostly in the design field who can appreciate them.

A couple hours later Manuel left the opulent showroom on board of a brand new Mini Cooper in a metallic silver color that compliments our English cottage house painted red with a color we imported from Helsingor in Denmark.

Needless to say he is elated with the car. He drives 100 miles a day back and forth to his office and he already saves $ 100 a month in gas which helps towards the monthly payments. His "pet name" is Minimusi.

Mini is now made by BMW in Germany, the transmission is made in France ( secretly by famous couturiers) and it is assembled in England by the Duke of Edinburgh’s gang. All three countries obsessed with good design is the reason why you get a chic little car with all the worldly comforts.

We received in the mail a luxurious box of presents and suggestions with the hidden intention of making us spend money in accessories. We are too smart  for that.

But when we thought that was all they had “quelle surprise!”

The guys at Mini edit a magazine: The Mini International which they claim is a Mini Summary of Urban Life, Culture and Design.
Ultra chic, intelligently put together and printed on the best quality paper.

I used to say that in my lifelong design career I have seen it all. But not. There are still some concepts that leave me in awe.

And that little detail is the reason for me to write this post.

What amazed me the most and became the reason for me to share this with you all the “granola and chancleta” crowd of designers of the world was a mere wire paper clip.

An introductory card for the magazine came addressed to Manuel and attached to the front cover with this jewel of a wire paper clip.

If anybody in a car company pays that much attention to detail it gives me shivers.

Taking time to think about an otherwise insignificant piece of wire which only function is to put together two pieces of paper, rest assured they won’t be recalling cars because of deadly careless mistakes anytime soon.

OF BIRTHDAYS, CAMELLIAS AND HATCHETS

A few days ago, March 3rd, was my birthday and I officially became a Senior Citizen! I am soooo happy!
From now on I will be able to enjoy discounts when I order Iranian Caviar over the Internet or when I shop at Tiffany's. Also my bills for Dom Perignon will be way down. Finally able to enjoy the wonders of being an old fart!
Traditionally I don't work or have my employees work on my birthday. Besides I try not to get engaged in any negative thoughts or actions and at the exact time I showed my little head to the world 65 years ago, I meditate on what I want to accomplish the following year.
Status quo is fine with me...I am happy (Felix means happy in Latin) with what I have.
I am healthy, not near wealthy but can pay my bills and travel, and I am surrounded by love. What else can I wish for? Only that everything may continue to be the same the following twelve months.
Sometimes I reminisce on what I had the opportunity to do regarding my design profession and can see that I left my footprint from Buenos Aires to New York. A book could be written about my experiences with clients but I rather won't.
With over 40 years in the design business I think I know it all, but nooooo! ...They always surprise me with ever more creative ways for not paying some of my invoices. No matter how you draw a contract and you think it is ironclad the client will always slip through a minuscule crack and evade or relentlessly put the brakes on a final payment.
When I was young, inexperienced and beautiful and I was in design school we had a lady professor who taught us the business part of interior design.
The first day of class she showed up in a smart burnt red "tailleur". Patent leather pumps and belt and a lovely camellia made of black silk with white polka dots that had landed on her lapel completed the “ensamble”.
She opened her briefcase and produced a shinny hatchet that she carefully placed on the desk catching our undivided attention. Then she introduced herself telling us what her classes were going to be about: how to avoid being ripped off by our clients.
She started saying that anyone who hired a designer to tell him or her how to live their lives or where to store the underwear must be crazy. With that premise injected in our brains she started to tell us some of the millions ways a client uses to avoid fulfilling their part of the contract while blaming it on us.
My eyes wondered from the camellia to the belt, to her lips painted the right shade of red to the hatchet and at the same time paid very close attention to what she had to say.
Lesson 1: Ordering
After you and your client have agreed upon the elements to be ordered in the form or furniture, lighting, wallpaper, fabric, etc., you MUST receive payment for 100% of the order plus a design fee if any.
You will NEVER order anything using your own company money. If for some reason the client calls you up one early morning saying that the check for the fabric is in the mail and to “please, please, please daaaarling… order the fabrics while the check is on its way because the rehearsal dinner for their daughter is going to be at their house and they must have the curtains in time for the party”.
At this moment you are probably commiserating about her and say to yourself  “what the heck, let’s order it, it is going to be only a couple days until the check arrives at our office and with those couple days the workroom will be able to finish the work on time”.
That was the time when the professor placed her right arm on the desk, pick up the hatchet with her left hand, lifted it up in the air and said: “you might as well sever your right arm than write a check on behalf of a client’s order…Do you understand me?
“You are lucky if you receive the check two or three months later after the party is already history and after they had paid the caterers, the florist, the engraved invitations and the luxurious cruise they have given the kids as a wedding present".
That hatchet never left the desk while we were in class with her and she used the bloody image over and over again with different examples until it was embedded in our minds forever.
I will never forget the camellia either.