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THE DESIGNERS
January 9, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
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WHO is she?
Valerie Barrelet has spent a lifetime in fashion, interior design and antique hunting. Born and educated in France, she has spent time working in Europe, Montreal and now China, her most challenging experience.
Tell us some of your works and the one you are most proud of.
All my first times, it is exciting to challenge yourself. My first costume design work in France, first stained glass in Montreal, my first restaurant project in Shanghai "The Caribe." I'm a gypsy business type, following the cities' pulses. China was and remains an experiment of heart and spirit. Here, challenges are important and taking risks is a true component in the development of each new project. It's why China is so exciting now.
Are you currently involved with any project?
Yes, but it's still confidential. A big project from Paris is coming to Shanghai and needs to wait until September. I am open-minded to any kind of projects, here in China or elsewhere. Creation and imagination is a country without borders. I keep listening to the vibe and leave my instincts to decide.
Describe your design style.
Asian chic, a mix of timeless design and antique. I know how to bring different styles and color to create a specific atmosphere in your house, and to keep the space comfortable. I'm not a minimalist at all. I love furnishing with art works. I believe the home should speak about the homeowner. I'm here to listen and understand customers' needs, I bring the sofa after we finish a sort of psychoanalysis without a sofa.
Where are you most creative?
Residential and restaurant projects are my favorites. I enjoy bringing a concept into a living place as well as enjoy designing furniture, making a prototype and following the process. Design is all about details.
What does your home mean to you?
My home is my safety box. My dream house would be located in the middle of the trees in the south of France or Tuscany, Italy. It will be a Californian villa style from the 1940s and 50s. There will be a system of bridges surrounded by water around the property, where I do not need any fence or walls. It is like my private island that allows me to be isolated from the rest of the world.
What do you collect?
Artwork and designer shoes.
Where would you like to go most in Shanghai?
I'm a breakfast and appetitive person. I love restaurants and coffee shops with terraces. Terraces with greenery and urban terraces like the Portman swimming pool terrace, Coffee Tree in Ferguson Lane or M on the Bund.
What will be the next big design trend?
Small quantity collections that can be renewed every six months. The customers want creativity and quality, keeping the natural materials and green aptitudes but with sophisticated attitude. Mass products and rough finishes need to rethink their approach. Interior design is starting to have season trends like in fashion.
Valerie Barrelet has spent a lifetime in fashion, interior design and antique hunting. Born and educated in France, she has spent time working in Europe, Montreal and now China, her most challenging experience.
Tell us some of your works and the one you are most proud of.
All my first times, it is exciting to challenge yourself. My first costume design work in France, first stained glass in Montreal, my first restaurant project in Shanghai "The Caribe." I'm a gypsy business type, following the cities' pulses. China was and remains an experiment of heart and spirit. Here, challenges are important and taking risks is a true component in the development of each new project. It's why China is so exciting now.
Are you currently involved with any project?
Yes, but it's still confidential. A big project from Paris is coming to Shanghai and needs to wait until September. I am open-minded to any kind of projects, here in China or elsewhere. Creation and imagination is a country without borders. I keep listening to the vibe and leave my instincts to decide.
Describe your design style.
Asian chic, a mix of timeless design and antique. I know how to bring different styles and color to create a specific atmosphere in your house, and to keep the space comfortable. I'm not a minimalist at all. I love furnishing with art works. I believe the home should speak about the homeowner. I'm here to listen and understand customers' needs, I bring the sofa after we finish a sort of psychoanalysis without a sofa.
Where are you most creative?
Residential and restaurant projects are my favorites. I enjoy bringing a concept into a living place as well as enjoy designing furniture, making a prototype and following the process. Design is all about details.
What does your home mean to you?
My home is my safety box. My dream house would be located in the middle of the trees in the south of France or Tuscany, Italy. It will be a Californian villa style from the 1940s and 50s. There will be a system of bridges surrounded by water around the property, where I do not need any fence or walls. It is like my private island that allows me to be isolated from the rest of the world.
What do you collect?
Artwork and designer shoes.
Where would you like to go most in Shanghai?
I'm a breakfast and appetitive person. I love restaurants and coffee shops with terraces. Terraces with greenery and urban terraces like the Portman swimming pool terrace, Coffee Tree in Ferguson Lane or M on the Bund.
What will be the next big design trend?
Small quantity collections that can be renewed every six months. The customers want creativity and quality, keeping the natural materials and green aptitudes but with sophisticated attitude. Mass products and rough finishes need to rethink their approach. Interior design is starting to have season trends like in fashion.
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