It was not that easy to find who was the designer behind the interior design of Prescription, Merce and the Muse or more recently the Experimental Cocktail Club in London (ECC Chinatown). Dorothée was so helpful with this interview, I don't understand we can't find more about her online. I'm sure reading this will give you the will the take a Eurostar, discover her last project and follow her tips!
La Prescription, Paris 6e
Can you tell us more about your background and how did this all happen?
I am what is called “Industrial designer “, I don’t use much the industrial part of it, but the design yes I do ! I have studied both in France and in the US, and I should say that I have always had a crush for the Anglo Saxon : so naturally wallpapers, roughs walls, subdued atmosphere are my best friends. I have been lucky, my mother has been a great influence : at the age of 8, I was following her oversea to bring back some Sanderson fabrics… and I still do ! Today I’m also influenced by pairs such as Eames, David Collins, Jaime Hayon, India Mahdavi.
What I like in your interior design is that it is a work in progress. It seems like you could come back again and again, adding something, removing something else… Is it your own free will?
Do you mean I am Maniac? Yes I am. The space evolves, me too, but I feel like it is my mission to repair the wrinkles, maintain the experience to be as good as possible. When you are a designer you feel like objects and spaces have a soul, so I need to be good for the soul!
Are you perfectionist?
You can’t be creative without being perfectionist. The result is never as good as my expectations,
but I am working on it. So yes I spend long nights knitting and unraveling my projects… again and again… And I am on site all day long behind the back of the workers because I want to check how they nail my Tin Ceiling! But the real nightmare for a perfectionist is that in a Bar stuff are going to be damaged, destroyed, antiques won’t survive…The wrinkles form very quickly…
Merce and the Muse, Paris 3e
You’re also designing the famous carafe Pastis Berger. Bars, Restaurant, Pastis carafe, you’re obviously of good fellowship! Where would you bring your friends in Paris?
I need the space & amp; the food to be comforting. In Paris I would have diner at the Thoumieux or share a big round table with friends at the Tokyo Eat. Then I would go for a hot gin punch at the Prescription (of course!) and then catch the Eurostar to finish the night with a few dance steps at the Box! That will be ideal… My nights are more and more turning now into a spoon of Weetabix in one hand and my Wacom stylus in the other!
What has been you biggest achievement so far?
For the ECC Chinatown, I really deeply wanted to have antique Chinese wallpaper, with a gold background and those naïve scenes painted, as a tribute to the amazing Givenchy’s Château du Jonchet. It has been very difficult to get it but I finally found a way, and I love it! Same with the piano bar: to create a functional bar inside an antique Piano was tricky! But thanks to Boris Vian, nothing is impossible!
ECC Chinatown, London
What can we expect next?
A Wine bar in Saint-Germain (with cushions I have sewn myself!), a bar in New York (challenging…), a Restaurant in Paris… a Hotel … chhhhut
Can you quickly describe your apartment?
Old Paris building (19es) so nothing is straight… An old wooden floor, antiques (Eames, Mourgue, Aulenti…), a unique Howl with a convex mirror as belly, books and books, magazines, pictures & amp; fabrics taped all over the walls… a giant Rocky in Cardboard & a robot R2D2 as gurus !
Dorothée in her flat
Which designer you will let design your apartment?
Autoban !
What are you planning to do this weekend?
Week end in London, my list of new places to visit there grows to fast!
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