When Vincent Van Duysen announced his first collection with Zara Home last year, there was a wave of excitement among design fans. This was a high-street collaboration liable to cause the same competitive clamouring as a JW Anderson drop for Uniqlo or Mugler’s range at H&M, but, instead of fashion, this is high-end furniture and homeware being offered at democratic price points.
The hype around ‘Collection 02’, however, feels rather at odds with the message of Van Duysen’s work. This is a collection that is solidly anti-trend, focusing instead on designs that are, he says, ‘timeless, functional and human-centric’. His aim, he tells us, ‘is to translate my DNA. Harking back to the past 30 years of my work, I have revisited the key elements that define my signature, distilling shapes and forms, and instilling purity into these new creations.’
The approach is intended as an antidote to what the designer calls the ‘one-time-use culture’, offering pieces with longevity that will be sympathetic to evolving interiors styles.
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Whereas ‘Collection 01’ was all about the living room, ‘Collection 02’ looks to the dining room, taking inspiration from ‘convivial moments in the company of loved ones’. It’s not all tables and tableware, however (although those do, of course, feature) – there’s also a sideboard, cabinet, armchairs, sofas, lamps, candles, vases and even scent diffusers.
It’s a multipurpose and transversal approach to the idea of a dining area that is influenced by how Van Duysen himself lives. ‘In my two homes, the dining table sits in the living room where I use it for reading newspapers or drinking coffee at,’ he explains. ‘I lay books or art on it, or work on it... Of course, it can also be set up in a more formal way.’
As ever with Van Duysen’s designs, tactility, texture and a certain organic quality are all key. ‘We have reworked the materials and nuances of the first collection, adding bone-white leather to stools and armchairs; there’s solid oak and ash, campaspero limestone, linen, cotton, wool and natural jute.’ The palette is, he continues,‘quite balanced and neutral’, but the addition of a pink love seat adds an unexpected note of colour.
And for those who may have been surprised to see a designer synonymous with the most luxurious of global furniture brands creating pieces for Zara Home, Van Duysen has a simple message. ‘I like reaching out to the world and preaching my gospel. My art of living.’ zarahome.com
