And a Donald Trump bed – yours for $3,000
By Jonathan Owen
As consumer obsessions with designer clothing and designer interiors expanded, sooner or later they were bound to overlap – welcome to the world of haute couture furniture.
While Milan’s catwalk is a highlight of the fashion calendar, this year it was dwarfed by the city’s furniture show. More than a quarter of a million people turned up to last month’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile, breaking all records and exceeding by four times the number who turned up to see the frocks.
This is just the latest sign of a trend that, in Britain, has seen an explosion of interest in designer furniture. The UK’s furniture market is worth more than £17bn, the latest figures reveal.
Predictably, as with clothing fashions, a growing number of celebrities are jumping on the bandwagon, lending their names to everything from sofas to storage chests. Property tycoon Donald Trump and tennis stars Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf now have their own furniture ranges. Describing the Agassi-Graf collection, the former men’s champion extols the virtues of “comfort and subtle elegance, something that’s luxurious but not opulent”. Warming to his new role as designer, he adds: “While the collection is chic and sophisticated, the strength and texture of the materials lend themselves to an indoor-outdoor lifestyle.”
David Pattison, a senior analyst with Plimsoll Research, said furniture manufacturers were keen to cash in. “People are prepared to pay more for designer labels and this trend is set to continue,” he said. “This is an extension of the fashion industry ‘designer’ tag that we are seeing sweeping across the sector.”
Sir Terence Conran, regarded by many as the founder of fashion furniture, warned against the cult of celebrity. “Design must not be like the fashion industry,” he said, “It needs to rise above the ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ culture because timeless design is the most appealing quality.”
Still, couturiers have been quick to switch to interiors. Versace and Armani both have furniture collections. Ben de Lisi has designed bathroom suites and Matthew Williamson has a wallpaper range. Julien MacDonald’s limited edition chaise longue for a decoration products company. Although they carry a price tag of more than £3,000 each they are already close to selling out.
