At home with Ben de Lisi

Following the closure of his eponymous womenswear shop in June, designer Ben de Lisi launched a new interiors range for Autumn Winter 09 exclusively for Debenhams and remodelled a three-bedroom apartment for Grosvenor Estates. He talks hot trends, onion styling and decorating advice.

I live in... a terrace cottage built in 1862 on the river by Battersea bridge in London.

My place is like... an artist's studio. It's very rich in texture, clean in line and bold with accents of colour. Nothing matches; the art, draperies and lovely materials look like a tapestry of beautiful things thrown together.

My favourite room is... the living room; everywhere you look, it speaks volumes about the man I am. It's comforting and enveloping. It's got paintings that I chose or that I painted and ceramics that I've found over the years. It's got a stone fireplace that I painted with a red lacquer hearth. All these lovely pieces reflect who I am.

My favorite possession is... a French mirror from Alfies Antique Market in Notting Hill. It came from a nightclub in Paris in the Fifties. It is backed with ribbons of colour which dance through the glass. It hangs over a low cabinet from Poliform.

My paintings are... abstract with a slant to the St.Ives period. The pieces I'm doing now are based on a shattered concept. I paint a large piece of paper, dissect it, then reassemble it and paint over it. They almost look like splash art but much more intricate, more like a mosaic up close. I've been selling my art for six years and having an exhibition at Jill George gallery in December or January.

My grandmother taught me... how to sew and I studied fine art at a school called Prat Institute of art in Brooklyn. I mix the two talents together by painting fabrics and sewing them together.

My French bulldogs are... like my kids and have become synonymous with Ben de Lisi, the brand. I still have Luca, Noya and Teya.

People are wrong to think... the Ben de Lisi fashion label has stopped just because I've closed my London shop. That is not the case at all. My clothing range is exclusive to Debenhams, other than private commissions for clients. I've moved the brand to the Debenhams umbrella. The price point for a dress is top whack at £350 starting at £90. It's Banana Republic prices.

Ben de Lisi is not only about... red carpet dresses - it is much, much more. Interiors are just another string to my bow. I've been doing my bathroom range with Abacus Direct for ten years.

I got into interior design... eleven years ago when working for Countryside Properties PLC company. I designed several projects in Manchester including The Edge and the NV building and a community in Didsbury.

The hero piece... of the Ben de Lisi for Debenhams home range is the red Ella cushion featuring my French bulldog who I sadly lost. It's important to have that sense of whimsy when you design anything; you don't want it to be serious or it becomes staid which is why Ella appears on the cushion with the citrus and red colours.

My theme is... discreet, quietly chic, hard working, never over the top. I like mixing pieces, I never buy things to match, I buy things to jar and clash a little bit - it becomes a much more interesting result.

I have been working with Grosvenor to... create a stunning luxury home within a classical period setting in fashionable Mayfair. I love anything Fifties and this apartment is particularly elegant.

In these financial times... it is easy to be complacent and harder to think of something new. Grosvenor Estate saw the potential of a designer name and invited me to redesign one of their rental properties. It's a three bedroom apartment just off Park Lane in London. It has a double height walnut staircase, a marble fireplace and the kind of look in an old picture of Carey Grant.

Accessorise in... threes or fives. I like stacks of ceramics and to layer carpets and rugs. Think of an onion; you layer and layer until you get the results you want.

This season's trend is... all about opulent wallpaper in a contemporary setting.

I love the craziness of... Zaha Hadid but I don't know if I could live with it.

I like the way that... Kelly Hoppen maintains an element of surprise. She might take a 1970s mounted light instead of doing down lighters. She brilliantly combines opulence and subtlety.

Interview by mydeco.com

Browse the new Ben de Lisi home range for Debenhams

Photo credits:
© Ben de Lisi for Debenhams

2nd September 09