|
|
Article: Chippy Irvine asks interior designer (and her husband) Keith Irvine: is English taste the best?(Interview)
- Article from:
- House Beautiful
- Article date:
- April 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Hearst Communications, reprinted with permission of Hearst. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
CHIPPY IRVINE: Your career is the modern history of English style. You started out in the 1950s at Colefax and Fowler in London. What did "taste" mean then?
KEITH B. IRVINE: Taste at Colefax and Fowler was strongly Francophile. We were in awe of Madeleine Castaing and we adored Dior, Jacques Fath, Balenciaga, and Givenchy. Fashion is always the lead act. Stephane Boudin at Jansen was the main competition. The house he did for the Windsors in Paris was a dream of high style. Le maitre John Fowler lui-meme, in his dreams, was a reincarnation of the hapless queen Marie Antoinette.
When you moved to America, you worked briefly for Sister Parish. What did ...