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Like movie stars and musicians, couturiers are all having a go at hotel design. Where does that leave the pros?
By Mary Scoviak
When was the last time a couture house in New York, Paris or Milan rang up a hotel designer to turn out a six-figure confection? It's a reasonable enough question at a time when fashion's leaders have no trouble taking on the role of hotel designer.
Take Wilbert Das, Diesel's creative director. He trained in fashion studies at the venerable Academy of Fine Arts in Arnhem, Holland, before being hired by the Italian fashion giant as an assistant designer on the male, accessories, leather and kids' lines. There's no questioning what he brought to those collections or why the company would want his involvement in retail design. But how did that qualify him to take on projects like Diesel's Hotel Pelican or the Uxua Casa, which opened in March?
Maybe, as a recent article in London's The Independent suggests, owning/designing hotels is today's "must-have accessory" for fashion designers. Plum hotel projects around the world have the high-fashion stamp of Donatella Versace, Moschino, Jonathan Adler, Missoni, Ralph Lauren, Christian LaCroix, Giorgio Armani and Todd Oldham, among others.(The least some owner could have done is to invite Vivienne Westwood to bring something truly unique).
But the question no one has answered is whether these properties will have the bottom-line staying power of hotels designed as businesses first or whether they'll be passé as fast as last year's overbright handbags. Hospitality designers know how to make hotels the stars, which fabrics and finishes are going to hold up under tens of thousands of rubs and mishaps with luggage trolleys. And, most importantly, they know how to look at a space to maximize return on the design investment. No amateur can bring that to the client or to the guest.
This economy should provide a wake-up call for owners and investors who under-value the discipline of design and the professionalism of designers. Hopefully, the next time there's a big-budget project that needs star power, even ego-driven owners will have the vision to make the interiors the fashion statement. Your thoughts? E-mail me at Mary.Scoviak@stmediagroup.com
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