HIGH POINT — Thousands of designers will descend on High Point over the next week, and one in particular is certain to create a buzz as he unveils his latest book and shares stories from his nearly 50-year career.
Internationally acclaimed designer Vicente Wolf will be making several market appearances over the weekend to debut Creative Interior Solutions, his fifth book and one illustrated with the designer’s own photography of product, projects and a celebrated career.
“I love doing books,” Wolf told Furniture Today. “With each one, I am trying to pass on to readers my experiences and lessons learned over the years.”
Those lessons began more than five decades ago when Wolf burst onto the interior design scene in the mid-1970s and was soon recognized as a trailblazer, earning the nickname of “The White Knight” for his glossy, white spaces.
Later in 1999, he opened the VW Home by Vicente Wolf showroom next to his design studio, creating a neutral palette of home furnishings mixed with authentic artifacts that was made available to both designers and design enthusiasts and that underscored the global influences garnered from Wolf’s extensive travels around the globe.
Some of those same influences inspired product designs as well, including a 1990s collection with furniture manufacturer Henredon.
“Good design doesn’t have a price, and money doesn’t equate with good design,” Wolf said. “To have well-designed things doesn’t require a lot of money but instead an understanding of quality and construction.”
When asked about what he considers well-designed products on a scale from one to 10 that might surprise some people to hear, Wolf points to a few everyday items with utilitarian purposes, as well as a couple of affordable retail home furnishings brands.
“Think about the Popsicle stick, it’s function: well-designed,” he said. “Other things? A 1962 Lincoln convertible. A folding chair. The Panton chair. Even a paper cup well-designed can have a 10 as its worth.
“In home furnishings, CB2 and West Elm have really well-designed and beautiful pieces that are very reasonable,” he continued. “There are so many things that are well-thought-out and functional. That is good design.”
Wolf said he believes well-designed furniture and accessories will “always work,” and his first step for any interior project is to “see what the direction is for the environment.” He added that to “start a room from scratch doesn’t always make the best room,” explaining that he follows the same principles regardless of a client’s budget or the size of a space and often incorporates a mix of new and existing.
The design approach has been embraced by celebrity clients including Julianna Margulies, Bryan Cranston, Twyla Tharp, Prince and Princess von Furstenberg, Marianne Williamson and Clive Davis, as well as commercial customers including Wynn Resorts, New York’s Westin Hotel, Joyce Theater and, most recently, nationwide Saatva mattress viewing rooms.
“The more aware I become of how important a balanced, restful environment can make life so much better, the more I try to bring that to my designs,” Wolf explained. “It’s so important to have an ethereal calmness that makes your soul feel better when you enter a room.”
With Creative Interior Solutions, published by Rizzoli, Wolf features projects that highlight his design philosophy of “making quiet elegance a livable lifestyle,” and he added that it is one that he espouses in his own home. His list of items that will always be part of his interior includes a 45-year-old industrial lamp, his beloved plants — some of which are 30-to-35 years old — and his extensive photography collection that includes dozens of Frida Kahlo images that appeared in one of his earlier books.
As he continues his book tour for Creative Interior Solutions, Wolf said that he hopes to help other designers in their own careers by sharing hard-earned nuggets of wisdom.
“It’s important to learn what mistakes not to make,” he said. “For example, if it takes years to design a job, that’s less money, and I think we designers can forget that time is money. It’s also important to delegate. You never throw away your principles, but you find people you can trust to help you. It’s impossible to do it all.”
Market appearances
Saturday, Oct. 14, 3-5 p.m.
Creative Interior Solutions by Vicente Wolf Book Signing Party
Currey & Company, IHFC, M-110
Creative Interior Solutions is organized by topic and illustrated with Wolf’s own photographs. The design principles in this new volume are engaging and above all, practical. Signed copies of his book will be available for purchase.
Sunday, Oct. 15, 10-11 a.m.
Vicente Wolf | An intimate Conversation with Gary Inman
The Point (corner of Commerce & Wrenn streets)
Inman, the designer-in-residence and professor of interior design at High Point University, will talk with Wolf about weaving his world travels into his design in a manner that delights the eye and inspires the imagination. Signed copies of his book will be available for purchase. (Sponsored by Currey & Company)
Sunday, Oct. 15, 12:45 p.m.
Book signing with Vicente Wolf
Chelsea on Green