Matali Crasset

ed: What did you do last Sunday?

mc: I was in Nice and part of jury for the café Malongo, so I took some time to work and to get on with my projects, namely those that I am developing together with the proprietors of the HI Hotel, the HI matic in Paris and the Dar’Hi, a small guesthouse in Nefta in the south of the Tunisian desert. My family joined me even knowing that I couldn’t enjoy the beach with them.

ed: How important is fashion to you and what’s your favorite piece of clothing?

mc: I like classic pieces and then, from time to time, to wear a very personal, very colorful outfit. I pay a lot of attention to the way clothing is produced. That’s why I am involved with the project d’Aurelyen for Misericordia.

ed: What book or film would you recommend and why?

mc: A book by Jane Austen. A film by Stanley Donen with Audrey Hepburn or Jean Druon’s documentary “Alerte à Babylone”. A mix of both.

ed: You have the chance to initiate a cultural revolution. What will you do?

mc: I don’t think I would start a cultural revolution. My goal is rather to lead up to the contemporary, to do it gently, together, as a collective project.

ed: What is your favorite travel destination and what hotel/resort should everyone visit at least once in their lifetime?

mc: Amongst my favorite destinations, are the places that I have designed, like the HI Hotel. Every time I return to the hotel and they give me my card, I’m touched by the fact that it says: “Matali welcome home”. But the most important thing is to be amongst those dear to me.

ed: What was in your opinion the biggest ever faux pas in architecture/design/art/fashion?

mc: Personal taste is not a selection criterion to me. I don’t believe that diversity is purely a byproduct of chance, nor do I believe in faux pas in that sense.

ed: Who has influenced you the most?

mc: My parents. I inherited kindness from my father and the desire to make things change from my mother.

ed: How would you define “cultural identity”?

mc: I’m curious about life.

ed: When is an idea a “good” idea?

mc: Everyone can have a good idea. The difficult thing is to find the right partner to develop that “good idea” with and the ideal context. Then its up to find the right methodology and the right team to materialize it.

ed: And last but not least: You are entitled to a single question. What would you ask?

mc: ...