Chaos, risk and design with Louise Liljencrantz and Christopher Dessus

Monocle on Design

The episode explores the intersection of chaos, risk, and craftsmanship within the realms of design and fashion. It begins with Grace Charlto

Key takeaways

• Grace Charlton aims to bring a macroeconomic and entrepreneurial angle to Monocle's fashion coverage.
• Architect Christopher Dessus uses pop culture references, such as Madonna, to bridge design with the masses.

Main topics

• Fashion Journalism
• Paris Design Week

Notable quotes

Everything is chaos.

Conclusion

The episode highlights how deep-rooted craftsmanship and cultural rele

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Range Rover is proud to partner with Monocle on Design on Monocle Radio. Speaker 2 (0:05) The original luxury SUV is now available to order with electric propulsion. Built in Solihull, home of Range Rover since 1970, the first ever Range Rover Electric heralds a new era of refinement with uncompromised capability. Quieter, more responsive and with more torque than any Range Rover to date, Range Rover Electric is a combination of peerless design and breathtaking modernity. Range Rover Electric. more Range Rover than ever. Speaker 3 (0:56) This is Monocle On Design, a show where we discuss everything from architecture and craft to furniture and fashion. I'm Nick Manisse. On today's program, we're in Paris for Design Week, talking with architect Christopher Dessous about why chaos is an important aspect of design. Then Louise Lilienkratz tells us about the risk involved in merging the worlds of bespoke furniture and industrial design. Plus, some highlights from Monocle's party at our cafe and bureau on Rue Bachemont. All that coming up on Monocle On Design. Speaker 3 (1:32) Grace Charlton, wow, this is going to feel good. Monocle's fashion editor. Speaker 5 (1:37) Surprise! It's Speaker 3 (1:39) huge! How does it feel? Speaker 5 (1:41) It's wild. I was having real imposter syndrome last night. to be honest, but it's okay. I think I'll just have to fake it till I make it. Speaker 3 (1:48) You know exactly what you're doing. What's the new role entail? Fill our listeners in. Speaker 5 (1:52) I'm managing a section in the magazine and I'm moving to Paris. Who knows when? It depends on French bureaucracy, but that's in the works. Speaker 3 (2:00) Famously efficient? Speaker 5 (2:01) Yeah. Yeah? No. Okay. Speaker 3 (2:04) Can we talk a little bit about what you're hoping to put in the magazine's pages over the coming months? What do you want the fashion coverage to look like? Speaker 5 (2:11) I want it to be a little bit more re-energized and like, maybe a bit more unexpected, bringing some joy into the pages. I can't reveal too much yet, but there are some fun stories in the works already. Speaker 3 (2:23) What do we think? Because it's not just about picking, helping people pick nice clothes. Speaker 5 (2:27) No, because with Monocle, it's mostly a business angle most of the time. I think we need to find some sort of way of making... Her story evergreen and interesting because, you know, fashion, we don't do it like other magazines do, which is maybe more focused on trends. We're not like the other magazines. We're not like the other magazines. Speaker 3 (2:43) Is it about like looking at how fashion has reached beyond what just kind of goes on our bodies, like how it might affect small scale economies? Yeah, Speaker 5 (2:50) I was thinking about it. It's like on a macroeconomic scale, always keeping that in mind, but also the sort of smaller entrepreneurial stories that other people could learn from. is a very monocle way of looking at fashion. Speaker 3 (3:01) Are there parallels with design? Is there also an opportunity to dive into materials, to look at the granular things that go into construction? Yeah, for sure. Speaker 5 (3:09) Materials, but also cultural sensibilities I find with fashion. I spoke to the CEO of the British Fashion Council a few days ago, and she was saying, you know, Milan is heritage, Paris is luxury. London is creativity. And I think that's quite cool to sort of see how different geographies bring their own perspectives. And like, obviously, we're in a very globalized world, but there is a bit of a pullback, like a reshoring of manufacturing and all this. It's a really interesting time to look into fashion. I know it's easy to dismiss cute clothes, but it represents the livelihood of so many people. And it's like a really good way to do a temperature check on consumer behavior and, you know, the way that people spend their money, how a business should be run, what fails, what flops. It's Speaker 3 (3:51) fascinating. I can't wait to read kind of the cultural pieces because I think this is it. And I really like clothes. I probably spend far too much money on them, but I really do. But if anyone's listening and wants to send me nice, how would you describe my look? Speaker 5 (4:05) I'm going to say pattern forward most Speaker 3 (4:10) of Speaker 5 (4:10) the time, although you have calmed down in recent years and I do believe that is my influence. Speaker 3 (4:14) I think we spend too much time. Speaker 5 (4:16) And your silhouette is often quite formulaic, but again, you've evolved it over the past few years, thanks to me. Speaker 3 (4:22) So this is just you taking credit. I'd like to think my clothing is robust. I need things that can handle a little bit of wear and tear. I just spilt coffee on myself this morning. I wear things quite... hard. And Speaker 5 (4:34) you travel a lot. So I think what you've really nailed over the past few years is the travel set. Speaker 3 (4:39) Oh, yeah, big time. Huge. So if anyone wants to send me some maybe lightly patterned travel sets, please do. This is what I wanted to get to before I kind of tried to request clothing. It's that, yeah, obviously, clothes shape how we feel, but it can also shape how kind of cultures feel about themselves. We make associations with cities. We make associations with countries. We make associations with cultural movements. We're not holding you to this. Is there a city or a cultural movement that you'd love to zero in on on the fashion pages? What are you fascinated by? Well, Speaker 5 (5:08) you know, it's crazy. I have been thinking of evolving my own look. Speaker 3 (5:12) Here we go. Speaker 5 (5:13) Here we go. And I was talking to my mother this morning and she was like, oh, you'll go shopping in Paris. And I realized I actually don't like the way Parisian people dress. I think it's too prim and proper and like buttoned up. And she was like, where do you like, which brands do you like? And they were all Australian. And I think there's like something about the Australian minimalism, like brands like Essie or St. Agni that I really love. And it's always like. super relaxed quite loose fit also sensual and like the palette is neutral but also quite earthy at the same time I think oddly maybe that is where I'm from wow Speaker 3 (5:47) this is and this is coming back to the identity piece this is good I like this Nick Speaker 5 (5:51) you were trying out a new look last week because we were in Paris for a party how do you feel about it so Speaker 3 (5:57) it was a neckerchief I like it kind of sophisticated take on workwear. Maybe that's what I'm kind of going for. And this is coming back to the hard wearing things. When Speaker 5 (6:05) you say workwear, you don't mean like office? Speaker 3 (6:07) No, no, no. I'm talking like, like jeans, like things that you could wear in a workshop maybe is what I'm going for. I've got a lot of like kind of shackets that I don't like the word shacket, but what else do you call them? The shirt jacket that are made of like quite heavy textiles. I like to bring them in. I think I quite like the cowboy aesthetic. I'm kind of inspired by that. So I wanted to, I felt like a neckerchief is like a formal kind of take on that in some way. I know you have strong feelings on it. This is why Hassel, our producer, has given us a quick fire kind of list of things in the world of fashion that we want your take on as Monocle's new fashion editor, the in or the out. And the neckerchief is on there. Where are we landing on this? Did I pass? Speaker 5 (6:46) I could just tell that you were slightly self-conscious about it all night and you were trying a new look and I just... It's Speaker 3 (6:55) going to keep going. Speaker 5 (6:56) Okay. Maybe it was just some teething issues. I could tell that