When it comes to being effortlessly chic, you can’t beat the French. To show you exactly how they do it, we get Isabelle Vernhes, Co-founder, My Tailor Home — a luxury home accessory store — to let us in on the trends du jour this season.
Impressions: Adrian Remedios
Images: Prachi Damle
Inspired by the “element of surprise” and “the vibes you get when you enter a particular place”, Isabelle Vernhes has developed the perfect mantra to style a home. She believes that décor needs to be adapted according to the space available — and especially — the personality of its owner. “It is necessary to reconcile design with the decorative arts and create a bridge between new technologies and crafts to create something that is not too pretentious,” says Vernhes as she talks about what design means to her. Isabelle launched My Tailor Home, in partnership with Philippe Coudray with a goal to bring in a French connection to India, and be a brand that boasts haute couture designs and intricate handcrafted pieces
Having travelled the globe, Isabelle feels that those experiences have taught her how to intuitively know what works and how to use it in the best way possible. While she believes that the transformation of a space is a collaboration between the architect and decorator, she doesn’t want people to fall into the rut of just copying and pasting looks. “I do not like the idea of themed houses. To me, a house is a collection of inspirations that belong to the place and also to the owner. This is what makes it unique and gives it an identity,” she explains. She makes it clear that the usage of colours, wall coverings, art and ethnic pieces help convert your home into an alternate space to live in.
If given a choice, Isabelle picks the kitchen as the favourite room in her home. “It is a lively place where everyone can meet, have discussions, dine together… All of which make it a friendly space,” she smiles. Claiming to be very loyal to her décor and operating on instinct, Isabelle doesn’t change her home around much. “But as I move fairly regularly, I add décor to adapt to my new surrounding,” she adds. Isabelle loves the usage of lighting as a part of Indian décor. “When you see the grand palaces, it is clear that décor is an important part of Indian culture. People decorate the outside of their home and the streets in a very organized manner, which makes you focus on the human aspect rather than the objects,” she states.
While My Tailor Home put together a stunning French inspired dinner table set up for TIHG, Isabelle let us in on its significance. “When I organize a dinner, I decorate my table according to my inspiration. That is also the case for the meal I am going to serve,” she says, explaining how the process could lead to something either very monochrome or very colourful. Her belief is that “everything can go with everything”, so when it comes to an Indo-French style table for a dinner party, Isabelle feels that all you need is to know how to make good combinations. “I love Indian art and colours, so what I like to do is mix trends,” she states.
According to Isabelle, wall coverings allow you to play with decoration. You can dress up just one wall when everything else is painted and create a dynamic space. She says she loves the use of fabrics and wall hangings. “This provides another dimension to the wall, another texture and additional warmth to the room.” Leather tiles, on the other hand, are very different, they are thicker and you can be creative with 3D designs. “They are generally used as headboards or as an accent wall behind the bed,” she suggests.
“Trends are manifold,” Isabelle says. They move along with the evolution of society and while the standard of living improves, people develop their own decorative codes. Isabelle looks forward to creating looks out of anything. “We have natural materials like wood and find colours that go with it,” she states.
She believes that the use of colours, that are more “flashy” like bright yellow, which became popular last year, will continue to be popular this year as well. As someone who doesn’t like to throw things out, she recycles in an intelligent manner, either by moving the furniture around or reinventing or reupholstering the item. When asked about the best way to re-design a space, she said that one should first list the positives of the place, whether it’s the architecture, artefacts or brightness. Then understand its use, if it will be a place to work or relax in and finally take a count of all the existing furniture that will be suitable or not. “If you can breathe in the place, then the ideas will come,” maintains Isabelle. We agree!
Leave a Reply