An admirer of pure lines and “non-colours”, the fashion designer Marcel Marongiu shows the same preferences in his domestic life. When, in the Norman countryside, he allowed his Swedish background a free rein, the interplay of whites, greys and blacks brought a theatrical note to the Gustavian rigour of his former farmhouse.

This is where he takes time out from his day job, spending his time off cooking, going to the market and entertaining over a glass of wine. “I spend time with my friends, I rediscover the family atmosphere I had when I was little… I share day-to-day life with people I love.”

His taste for interior decoration comes, he says, from a desire to take refuge in a world he has created himself. “There is no limit to creativity. I have shaped a world in order to surround myself with an environment in which I feel good.

“In fashion, what matters is the outline and the way things are put together. The same applies in decoration: I give priority to materials, which I allow to express themselves, and after that I stifle them as little as possible, whether we are talking about wood, a colour or a handsome 18th-century gilded mirror. For me, the setting is always in equilibrium, in harmony with the people who live in it.”

Marongiu likes to mix different styles, drawing on different periods and cultures. So in Normandy he brings in elements of the 18th century, the Nordic style of the Fifties and Sixties, Scandinavian design and a few ethnic touches, notably from North Africa and India.

The basic palette is always the same: black, grey, white, beige. “They go with almost everything and enhance what I add afterwards. For example, a grey wall allows a wooden table all the space it needs to express itself. In fashion, it’s the same: you must always leave a small opening through which the person can express themselves.” His favourite material is wood that has acquired a patina through time, together with silver. “I like a very natural, unvarnished side combined with a refined touch, but one that ages with the years.”

As he works with fabrics all day long, he doesn’t surround himself with too many at home. The exception is linen, which he loves for the way it softens with time. “Also, it always has little imperfections, which I especially like.”

A designer who understands the power and theatricality of a catwalk show, he pays particular attention to lighting. “A lovely place can be utterly ruined by disastrous lighting,” he says. “In the evening, I love to have only candles… I try to recreate the atmosphere of the film Barry Lyndon.”

However, he tends not to replicate the seasonality of the fashion world in his home. “It’s not a case of change for its own sake, but rather continuity through change. A human being does not change from one season to another. He or she has his or her own style, a particular way of being and living. I am interested in people who see life as a continuum. We build ourselves up, little by little. On the other hand, I don’t like to live statically, and even though my tastes are constant, I am happy to evolve within that framework.”

The result is a warm, nostalgic but timeless look. “I am very fond of the Gustavian style of the late 18th century in Sweden, where everything tends to be white or pale grey. Because the kingdom of Sweden was so poor, it was not possible to use gilt. Everything was decorated in oil paint, which soon acquired a patina.”

The room Marongiu loves most is the living room, because it is reduced to its essentials. “The materials convey something, the doors have a patina, and there are great flat areas of white and black. I need this purity and this visual simplicity around me to feel at ease.”

Photographs © Guillaume de Laubier 2008.
Text © Marie Bariller 2008.
Extracted from Fashion Designers at Home: The Private Spaces of 21 Makers of Style, published by Thames & Hudson on February 5

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