Portrait/Interview: Phil Euell
Phil Euell is an American designer living in Paris, he runs the eponymous studio Euell
and a little coffee shop in the Marais. Words by Anna Stewart.
The Boot Cafe is a very special little cafe in Le Marais, which is adored by all Parisians. It’s also the smallest cafe I’ve ever seen. How did this project happen?
Well, about ten years ago I quit my job as a lawyer in New York, and moved to Mexico City
to attend Le Cordon Bleu; the idea was to move back to New York and open a restaurant with a friend. While I was there, I met a French girl who was finishing her studies. I convinced her to move back to New York with me, and we opened a furniture store in the East Village.
You are an American living in Paris, what brought you to Paris and what do you love about the city?
My wife brought me here. Before having met Elsa, I never would have considered moving to Paris. For the first couple of years I had a lot of doubts about our decision to leave New York. But, 8 years later, I can honestly say that Paris is not only my home, but my favorite city
(Hong Kong is a close second).
There are three main reasons why I love Paris:
First: the scale is perfect – Paris isn’t big, the buildings aren’t tall, and almost everywhere slopes toward the river. These things give the city a softness that other places don’t have.
You always know where you are, and you always run into people you know. whilst, at the same time, Paris is very cosmopolitan.
Second: Paris is avant garde. Whether it’s fashion, design, art, film, photography, or cuisine, Paris is at the forefront. This gives one a sense of being very much in the present – even if
it’s in a passive way.
Third: Paris is conservative – not in a political sense – but culturally. So, while there are trends here as elsewhere, style seems to be more grounded in tradition. The rules of tradition form the framework within which the avant garde is expressed – this yields sophistication and subtlety.
One of your most recent projects was in London, the Le Labo shop on Redchurch Street. This follows the Hong Kong and Paris shops and now – Milano?
Can you tell us what do you find interesting about working in the different locations?
The strangeness of new cultures. The food, drink, language, mannerisms, expressions and the landscapes, the colours, the smells. I love it all. And, surprisingly, I found London to be
as foreign as Hong Kong.
You are a furniture designer as well as a designer of interiors. And you even made a bespoke sash window for a restaurant (sash windows don’t exist in Paris so this must be a rare skill!). What’s next for you?
Right now I’m working on the design of a new restaurant in Paris from the owners of Verjus. It’s called Ellsworth and I’m creating the furniture and lighting. It should be open mid-march.
After that, I’m doing the Le Labo offices on Arnold Circus in Shoreditch, London. At the same time, I’m preparing some new work for Milan [the furniture fair in April], I’m also putting all the pieces together for a new cafe project in Paris and our Boot Cafe is about to produce an original vinyl ep that will be out in a month.
Also, I try to be home early enough to cook dinner for my wife and two kids most nights
of the week.
Phil Euell working in the new Le Labo shop on Redchurch St in Shoreditch, London.
Portrait/Interview: Ion Ander Beloki
ja! Studio
Ion Ander designs and creates beautiful and intriguing window displays for a number of clients in Spain. He shares with us his inspirations and key influences on his work. Interview by Anna Stewart.
Your work at ja! studio takes the form of intriguing visual displays in shop windows and your work has been published internationally. What’s your approach when thinking about a window, a display?
My approach starts by understanding the brief and the project´s concept itself.
I believe that my windows are about more than just selling a product. I like to create images that stop people in their tracks, make them look, and intrigue them. In some cases I design and produce from scratch whilst with others, I just improvise by decontextualizing daily objects, endowing them with new meaning. I quite like to experiment and create compositions with materials and objects from my daily life. I find it enjoyable and the final picture is always fresh and has a special energy. My windows dispense with superfluous elements and only take on those which best describe the concept, creating a dialogue between the shop
and the customer, month by month.
Window dressing is one of the oldest techniques of wooing customers, and a celebrated art form in itself. How did you enter the world of visual installations?
It really was coincidental. It was a time when I wasn´t sure about what to do career-wise and one day I came across a magazine which had an article about window dressing and, at that time, not much was known about the subject. The idea of working creatively attracted me,
so I decided to move to Barcelona and undertake studies in graphic design and window dressing. Two years later, after studying and working as an assistant with various window dressers in Barcelona, I decided to set up on my own. I created ja! studio, offering my services as a window dresser to independent shops and companies.
How is your work influenced by where you grew up in the Basque region of Spain?
And where you live now, in London?
I try to mix elements of the Basque culture in my work, which is, in the end, closest to me.
The Basque Country has an enormous contemporary art background connected with our language, culture and landscape. The work of artists such as Oteiza and Chillida, amongst others, has been greatly inspiring to me.
On the other hand, I split my time between London and Spain. London seems to me a place that keeps you awake and constantly stimulated, so working and living in different places gives me the possibility to feel enriched, networked and connected to what is happening now.
We were introduced by the Spanish product designer Oscar Diaz.
Do you collaborate with other designers?
And if so, how important is this to your practice?
Collaboration is important and necessary and gives another perspective to the project.
In fact, my studio is based on collaborations supported by people from other areas…
In addition, it gives me the opportunity to meet different people and this enriches my work
and has a direct influence on it.
Charlotte Wood, Wild Wood London
A few weeks ago I met Charlotte Wood, a talented floral designer and founder
of Wild Wood London. I photographed her at work in her studio in Hampstead
where she was busy arranging seasonal floral compositions in incredible vases
for a big event in Mayfair the next day.
A portrait of Daniel Nordh,
Dapper Dan Magazine
I was excited to receive the latest issue of men’s fashion & philosophy black and white magazine DAPPER DAN this morning.
The cover was shot by Vassilis Karidis. Every issue of DAPPER DAN finishes with a portrait
and self-interview of someone called Dan; for this issue Vassilis asked me to take Daniel Nordh’s portrait (image on the right). Daniel happens to be a good friend and the founder
of an app I can’t do without called Curator, designed to collect, organise and present ideas visually, perfect for portfolio presentation and lectures; I recently used it to talk about my work at the V&A.
This issue also contains an essay by Nuno Coelho on hisNomads At Last project and
an interview of Maison Martin Margiela by Filep Motwary.
DAPPER DAN issue 10
Autumn/Winter 2014