‘The girl from elsewhere’: designer India Mahdavi on her struggle for acceptance, and how a rented apartment provides the stable home a nomadic childhood never could
Our guest on this episode of Homing In – our podcast on which our co-founder Matt Gibberd asks cultural tastemakers about a home from their past, present and future – is the French-Iranian architect India Mahdavi. Known as the Queen of Colour, she has designed upbeat bars and radical restaurants everywhere from Miami to Mexico City. Her restaurant at Sketch in London became one of the most inspirational spaces of our time – and single-handedly changed the public perception of the colour pink. Here, Matt shares what made their conversation special – and you can listen to the episode here.
“Last autumn, I hopped on the Eurostar to go and meet India at home in Paris. I arrived completely drenched from a rainstorm, but my frost-bitten cockles were soon warmed by a cup of tea and a fireside chat in her beautiful apartment.
“She told me how her early years in Massachusetts influenced her love of bright colours, from the strawberry milkshakes she drank to the Technicolor cartoons she watched on TV. One day, she and her family relocated very suddenly to Germany, arriving at a neo-gothic house straight out of The Addams Family. Her world turned black and white and she felt like an unwelcome foreigner. Soon they moved on again, this time to France, where India started to find a way to express herself by making things and tapping into her creativity.
“What I found so interesting about our conversation was discovering how India has reacted against her itinerant childhood and established a very defined sense of place as an adult. Her studio, her showroom and her home are all located in a single block in Paris, where she’s lived for more than 25 years. She doesn’t even have to cross the road to carry out all the functions of everyday life.
“As India gets older, she feels increasingly drawn to her native countries of Iran and Egypt, even while remaining in France. She’s bought a house in Arles that’s hidden among cypress trees and reminds her of Tehran in the 1970s. All in all, India’s past, present and future are acutely defined by the notion of home and belonging – everything that this podcast is about.”
We hope you enjoy listening to this episode and, if you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe so you never miss a new one. We’re releasing them every two weeks – and have plenty more fascinating guests in store.
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