THE JOURNAL
“J
oy is very important to me,” says Laura Gonzalez when we meet, via video call, in her belle epoque studio in Paris’ 16th arrondissement. She is sitting at her iconic ‘Rainbow’ table and I cannot take
my eyes off the swirling geometric pattern in shades of cream and brown that dances across its surface. It is made of raku marquetry, the work of craftswoman Fabienne L'Hostis, and is the most exquisite and joyous conference table I have ever seen. Gonzalez is one of France’s most sought-after interior
designers. When the crème de la crème of the luxury world want a brave and beautifying facelift, they come to her. Since launching her eponymous studio in 2008, she has worked her pattern, colour and culturally diverse magic on legendary restaurants, landmark hotels and 20 Cartier boutiques from New York to Doha. Current projects include a boutique hotel in Rome, Casa Monti, due to open in March 2024 and the private members’ club at London’s much anticipated new venue, Cambridge House. Somehow, she has also found time to have three sons (Anton, 10, Sacha, 7, and Louis, 2) with her husband, former fashion designer and now studio CEO, Benjamin Memmi. “I talk fast and don’t sleep much,” she tells me when I ask how she fits everything in. Born in Paris to a French Algerian father and Spanish mother, Gonzalez grew up in Cannes surrounded by
pattern – floral fabrics in the sitting room, paisley in her father’s office, moiré in the dining room. As an only child, she also accompanied her parents on their regular treasure hunts. “They were collectors,” she says, “so we spent every weekend at flea markets and auctions sales. I think that gave me my open mind towards style and it also taught me about design history – if you go to auctions every weekend, then you learn the difference between art deco and 19th-century furniture.” Gonzalez studied architecture at Paris-Malaquais, but quickly realised she was more interested in what
“THE NARRATIVE OF THE LOCALE AND THE PROJECT’S CULTURE INFLUENCE EVERYTHING”
went on inside a building than the building itself so, when a friend asked her to help redesign a bespoke shirt boutique in central Paris, she didn’t hesitate. “It was a British-style men’s tailoring store,” she says “I went to London to buy the wallpaper and that was when I discovered the Design Centre. It was incredible to see all these brands in one place, we didn’t have that in Paris.” (She has remained a fan of the Design Centre ever since, speaking about her interiors on the main stage as part of Conversations in Design at Focus/23.)
She had just turned 24. By the time she was 25, she
had six projects under her belt and had launched her own studio. The following year, she was commissioned to redecorate the famous nightclub/restaurant Le Bus Palladium. It was 2010 and minimalism ruled, but Gonzalez filled the place with an invigorating, maximalist mixture of 1950s wallpaper, multicoloured carpets and vintage furniture. “That’s when I started to get press,” she says with a smile. The list of legendary Parisian restaurants she has
transformed since include Lapérouse, a favourite haunt of Baudelaire and the spot where, reputedly, Serge Gainsbourg first met Jane Birkin; Dar Mima on the roof of Jean Nouvel’s Institut du Monde Arabe, and the famed Lebanese restaurant, Noura. Each is imbued with her distinctive style, but every one is unique. Gonzalez is celebrated for her ability to mix patterns, colours and styles, but the thing that marks her out as a truly great designer is her ability to make storied spaces that tell of their place and history. “The narrative of the locale and the project’s culture
influence everything,” she explains. At Lapérouse, filtered light and sensual textures, including jacquards, damasks and velvets custom-made by Pierre Frey, one of her favourite brands, speak of seduction, while Noura’s handmade tiles and spice-warm palette is an evocation of Lebanese architecture and culture.
OPPOSITE: French designer Laura Gonzalez in her Parisian atelier – part home, part office and part showroom. ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT: The bedroom in Gonzalez’ country home, an hour and a half from Paris, with walls in a pagoda-motif wallcovering by Pierre Frey; the rainbow tabletop in the dining room is made from raku ceramics, made by Fabienne L’Hostis to the designer’s specification; the hallway demonstrates Gonzalez’ eye for the eclectic, with a shell-encrusted vintage chest of drawers, Mexican folk chairs and a horse-motif stair runner by Pinton, based on a design by Gonzalez
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