Sharron Lewis Design Central in Miami.
Before the magazine “O at Home” folded, I loved to read the section of the magazine “Women Who Make Beautiful Things.” I had pitched them a handful of talents who I thought would fit right in but never managed to snag an assignment. Several of them are Miami-based. I thought I’d share with you an introduction to these creative souls who’ve produced some incredible products for the home.
A chance comment landed Sharron Lewis in Miami in January 2006. Calling from a cold, snowy New York, she mentioned to her favorite upholsterer who was based in sunny South Florida that if he ever wanted to sell his business, she wanted to buy it. The next day he called her and said, “It’s yours!” Lewis swiftly gained praise for her upholstery designs and created a stir with her interiors at the Sagamore Hotel in South Beach. By late 2006, she had opened Sharron Lewis Design Central, a Miami home furnishings shop that is filled with luxe home products. Lewis is currently designing the interiors of a variety of residences as well as hospitality projects that include a hotel in Thailand. She also continues to manufacture her sophisticated designs in upholstery. The image of her shop to the right shows her flair for creating artful serenity.
Designer Sam Robin and Francesco Caracciolo di Marano launched their Sirio line of furniture in late 2006, and the duo has created a newer collection called Ready to Wear. The pared-down line includes both upholstered pieces and casegoods. Robin includes Jean-Michel Frank among her influences. She continues to create interiors for a list of celebrity clients that have included Gianni Versace, Antonio Banderas and Don Johnson. About her furniture, she quips, “Everyone needs to have one of my pieces to ensure their happiness!” And she’s not kidding!
Federica Bisazza, the muse of Trend Group, a company that makes dreamy tiles and mosaics, doesn’t actually produce tiles but her collaborations with the company’s artists result in lush, vibrant mosaics. The young mother of two little boys, who started Trend in 2000 with her father Pino and brother Riccardo, uses the family’s Villa in Vicenza, Italy, as a working laboratory for her ideas. She is also instrumental in keeping the art of mosaics alive by producing several exhibitions in the Villa each year.
Collaborating with Trend to design the “Scent of Colours” collection, Patrizia Gucci, granddaughter of Aldo Gucci—who brought the Gucci brand to the U.S.—draws from her experience as a painter, designer and author for inspiration. The ten patterns in her collection are created with precious hand-made glass smalti and 24-carat gold mosaics from the Angelo Orsoni foundry in Venice. Gucci based the tile designs on paintings that bring to mind a visual landscape saturated in color and accentuated with vivacious gold and silver. “I use colors to create an atmosphere, a fabrication of comfort that extends a personal desire for stimulation, peace or purification,” says the resident of Florence, Italy. “All colors evoke magical energy, however it is gold that provides perfection.” Gucci has also recently designed a new line of purses.
See the dynamic designs of these talented women in the slideshow below! On my International Design Examiner page, I’ve featured Eileen Gray, another woman who made beautiful things on a very grand scale. I hope you’ll take a look. I’ve highlighted her Bibendum chair on Chair Chick. What a talent she was!
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