Designer of The Year: Laura Gonzalez

Laura Gonzalez has been awarded as The Designer Of The Year at Maison & Objet, September 2019.

Laura Gonzalez

The magic that has been worked on Lapérouse, Hotel Christine, the Brasserie La Lorraine and the Cartier stores in Paris, Stockholm and Zurich is all down to her! And at 37, prolific and talented architect Laura Gonzalez continues to stamp her glammed-up mix and match style not just on the French capital but all around the world.

How would you describe your style?

Classical with a quirky twist. My inspiration is classical, gleaned from the decorative arts, but I then add my very own whimsical spin. I’m a huge advocate of eclecticism, and love combining different fabrics, motifs, materials, colours or eras. I also love adding a plethora of details, ensuring there’s always something of interest, no matter where the gaze falls. I feel that spaces need to have their own soul. And for each project, I work with the very best craftsmen, including marble masons, cabinetmakers, glassmakers, glass blowers, mosaic specialists and lacquerers. I really enjoy seeing all that creativity at work. The difficulty I then have is striking the right balance between tasteful maximilism and an end-product that’s totally OTT, but I just follow my instincts!

What can you tell us about your most recent projects?

I’ve completely renovated La Gare, a huge brasserie-style restaurant in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, incorporating numerous references to travel by looking to the shores of the Mediterranean for inspiration. I’ve also refurbished the Cartier store on rue de la Paix in Paris, designing it to resemble an apartment worthy of Coco Chanel. Another project I’ve recently completed involved revamping one of Paris’s most iconic restaurants, Lapérouse, carefully restoring all the woodwork, artwork and period frescoes whilst simultaneously adding my own quirky, romantic touch. All these projects have totally different designs, as I’m always driven by one obsession: never do the same thing twice.

Is it true you’re also launching your own furniture range?

Yes. Designing furniture’s something I’ve already been doing for years whenever I couldn’t find that perfect piece for my projects, and I started working on an official range just over a year ago. It will be retailed online as of September, and come November it will also be displayed in a XIXth century mansion in the Vexin, which I’m currently renovating and turning into a kind of living showroom. My furniture is very “me”: everything is bespoke, you can choose the colour of a chair, combine an endless number of fabrics on a fireside chair… The pieces in the collection will sit alongside one-off creations designed hand-in-hand with craftsmen, as well as vintage finds. Hunting for vintage pieces is another of my passions.