Interview with Vicente

The Material Girls recently got the chance to interview the legendary and very talented Vicente Wolf.

Vicente has been in the interior design business for over thirty years.  There really isn’t a space that he hasn’t designed- from hotels and restaurants to private homes around the world, Vicente has designed them all!

House Beautiful named him one of the ten most influential designers in the United States and Met Home designated him as one of the top 100 designers in their “Design 100” issue.

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{Vicente Wolfe in his home- New York Social Diary}

Here’s our interview with the design great…enjoy!

Favorite space in the home to design?

I love designing bedrooms- it is the most romantic environment, I feel an affinity to it, it’s a place where you can use color, softness and introduce a high sense of drama.

Favorite “indulgence” or luxury?

Travel- it’s the way that I escape the realities of life in New York and go back to the experience of discovery.

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Favorite city to shop in?

Bangkok- it’s a city that offers such a wide variety of things- from the most exotic art and design to classic colonial furniture.  And this all while having a great time.

Proudest accomplishment?

Survival.

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Favorite home accessory?

Beautiful sheets- it’s the last thing you feel before you go to sleep at night and the first thing you become aware of when you wake.  Sleeping in high quality sheets is like wearing beautiful La Perla underwear…no one sees it, but it feels magnificent.

Most addicting TV show?

Antiques Roadshow– it sharpens my estimating capabilities.  I don’t watch much TV, but when I do I watch the Discovery Channel, the History Channel and I am addicted to old musicals- any time of the night or day that I can see one I would.  It helps me to relax and I just love to experience the glamour of old Hollywood.

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Preferred metallic- silver versus gold?

Neither.  I prefer bronze or gun metal.

Favorite kitchen countertop?

White Corian or white Formica ColorCore

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Best “green” advice?

I love bamboo-derived products.  There are some wonderful products made out of bamboo like carpets, floors and fabrics…it is a fast-growing material and when we buy these products, it helps the under-developed countries that grow it.

Favorite ink pen?

I love a Sharpie, but never carry one for fear of ink stains inside my bag.

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What is your favorite color combination?

I always use Benjamin Moore’s Super White as the foundation and match colors to it that are very mercurial- a blue-green or a gray-blue…usually colors that are indefinable.  Though I must say that I love brown and pink- it was used by Sister Parish in her apartment in the ’70’s and it has always been a favorite combo of mine.

Who would you love to get the chance to meet?

Mmmmm…the playwright Noel Coward, the Portuguese Brazilian samba singer and actress Carmen Miranda, first female Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright and the most famous South African anti-apartheid activist, Nelson Mandela.

What is your favorite piece in your showroom right now?

We have just received shipments from Indonesia, Africa and Paris so the showroom is full of my favorite things.  If I had to choose I would say a cabinet from Indonesia that was a Dutch-Colonial secretary.  I love the sense of drama it offers.

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Last but not least…our signature Material Girls question- what is your favorite design “material”?

Silk Tafetta- it’s not just about the fabric but the array of colors it comes in.  Though I don’t use it a lot in jobs, it’s one of the materials that I use initially to start the color design process in a job.

Vicente also has a blog of his own- be sure to check it out!