DORÉ

I am a forever fan of India Mahdavi. But, she travels all the time, so much that it’s like I can never catch her. So, when she told me she was in LA for a few days, I had to ask, India, will you record a Pardon My French with me??

For those of you who haven’t heard her name yet, well, you’ve probably have at least sat on her. Ok, sat on one of her creations. India is an architect and a designer, one who is defining our times. Not only has she created some of my favorite places, a lot of which we’ve featured on the site, but to me her sense of humor of shapes and sensuality and her use of color make her a truly great artist.

So, India was in LA to celebrate not one, but two things. Her newly reinvented Ladurée in Beverly Hills, I cannot tell you how much I love it. And, her exhibition at the Ralph Pucci showroom. This is where I met her for a conversation I hope you’ll enjoy as much as I did.

[podcast_episode episode=”249031″ ]

On her early dreams…
I wanted to make movies and that’s what I thought I would do. Whatever dreams I had were linked to an aesthetic world. We moved so much as a family that I never really had a family home and I was very attached to places and it was very important to me.

On her love of color…
Funny enough, I really think my love of color is all driven by these American memories I have of technicolor. Color television was sort of new and I remember having all these cartoons and bright colors all around. And the way I use color is bit of cartoon-y, also.

On her family moving around a lot when she was young…
It’s really quite amazing. You develop a survival attitude where you understand codes very quickly. I changed languages three times within a period of two years. English to German, German to French and all the grammar is very difficult. And then you’re always the foreigner. Finally, you become this sort of chameleon where you’re able to adapt very quickly to understand what’s going on.

On the difference of French and American approach to interior design…
I always say this in a very nice way, but French people have this arrogance of taste. Like, why should I have an interior designer? I can do this myself and I just need a technical person to help me buy things. Americans have a precise way. They have architects, designers, decorators, so many professionals. It’s very divided and precise.

On using feng shui…
Oh of course! I think I do it more in a natural way. You know you want energy to flow and so it’s never blocked. I know that a space works because it has the right flow and energy. So that’s super important. My work is always balanced between something that’s structured and quite round at the same time. Also, with the furniture I do, there’s a good balance between what I call masculine and feminine.

On joy…
The reason I really like color, is how it brings joy to a place. It’s something that makes a place happy and joyful. My work is about joy and there is something very immediate about coming into a place the colorful and joyful. It brings a lot of light into a room.

On humor in her work…
You’re sitting on this sofa, it can be used as a daybed, so you could lie down on it. So it is called Oedipe. When you’re speaking about your complex, oedipe is complex, you could be lying down with a shrink!

On the importance of exploring…
When I travel, I always have to take a day or two to see what is happening. Otherwise it doesn’t make any sense. You have to feed yourself from what you see. I guess everybody does that, or I hope so.

On using sofas to shape a room…
I first place the biggest pieces in a room and then I put the small pieces around. I see sofas like the eyebrows of a room. You place those, and then you can put the eyes, nose and the mouth!