hospitalitystyle.com

(Summer 2010) posted on Tue Jun 01, 2010 EDT

Fitting Rooms: Fashion designer Silvia Tcherassi borrows concepts and materials from her runway world to craft a boutique hotel in Cartagena.

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By Jenny S. Reising

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Although she started her career as an interior designer, Colombia native Silvia Tcherassi switched to fashion design when she needed a new outlet for her creativity. Flash forward 15 years, and one of South America's few breakout fashion designers found herself coming back full circle.

“I was searching for different ways to expand my brand and express my style vision beyond fashion,” Tcherassi explains. Her solution was to apply her signature —“effortless elegance”— to a new kind of collection: hotels. First stop, her home country's city of Cartagena.

“I am a woman of contrasts who loves to synthesize extremes,” Tcherassi says. So when she and her partners at Miami-based CF Hospitality Inc. spotted a four-story, 250-year-old colonial mansion in the heart of Cartagena de Indias, she quickly realized the potential for marrying old-world aptitude with new-world attitude. The result is her eponymous Tcherassi Hotel + Spa, a five-star boutique hotel with generous-sized rooms (400 square feet and up) and balconies, a 40-seat Italian restaurant, multiple pools, a 3,000-plant vertical garden, and a spa for good measure.

Tcherassi followed the same creative process for interior design as she does for her fashion collections. “My fashion process is very experimental; I don't sketch. I love to try different ways to get a result, and I don't finish until I get it right. I applied the same approach to the design of the hotel.”

She began by compiling a look book with references and ideas that brought together images from her most memorable collections. Drawing on that collage, she explored different ways to translate those fashion statements to livable spaces. For example, her fractal-inspired “Mosaiques” influenced the organic geometrics of the furnishings. “In the Woods” suggested the natural materials for the floors and ceiling, as well as the intricate textures of some of the textiles. In fact, the hotel's seven suites are named after fabrics used in the designer's clothing.

Although she had to work with UNESCO guidelines for renovating and restoring this heritage site and was required to have an archeologist and a certified restoration expert on her team, Tcherassi had ample leeway to make her mark. Original stone walls got an update with a dusting of gold. Gray and beige semi-matte-finished floors were imported from Australia for some areas but the rest of the floors, the ceiling and stairs are made of salvaged pieces of exquisite Colombian woods, including Guayacan and Ceiba. “If you want a luxury look, you need luxury materials. You can't fake that,” she advises. “Style is not about budget. It's about creativity, originality and uniqueness.”

That's why the designer put her stamp on every detail, down to the lamps, uniforms, comforters and amenities. She also provided creative direction for the furnishings, using wood, leather and metal contrasted with exotic materials, such as plantain fiber in the headboards woven by Colombian artisans. Each piece was produced in her atelier, ensuring that its form and function would be tailored precisely to the space. “My employees are true artists,” she says.

Custom-designed accessories help bring the centuries-old manse firmly into the 21st century. Pendant lamps repurpose the same lace materials of Tcherassi's fashion collection, and bedcovers are composed of hundreds of the designer's clothing tags in silk, including the Silvia Tcherassi brand, care instructions and the country of origin. Each tag has a different size, and the random process of stitching, says Tcherassi, adds luxurious texture. A vertical garden transforms this city hotel into an urban oasis.

Although the Tcherassi Hotel + Spa takes inspiration from her runway collections, it won't be revamped from year to year. However, Tcherassi does plan to add different touches each season in keeping with the spirit of fashion, while maintaining the essence and original vision of the hotel. To tie in with her fall/winter 2010-2011 collection, which focuses on 3D textures and futuristic and tribal references, she's toying with the uniform design and the amenities bag. As Tcherassi puts it, “I didn't create a trendy hotel with an expiration date attached. Fashion is seasonal, but style is timeless, and if it is timeless, evolution is welcome.”

PROJECT PARTICPANTS:

OWNER

Samatch SA

OPERATOR

CF Hospitality, Ilan Segal, director

GENERAL CONTRACTOR

Eduardo Mendez, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia

SPECIALTY DESIGN CONSULTANT

Shian Wing (spa)

ART

Silvia Tcherassi, Sara Modiano

AUDIO/VISUAL

DJI (music styling)

BATH FIXTURES

Cifial

BED COVERINGS/LINENS

Silvia Tcherassi, private label HS