Sommaire
Marie Honnay
Bieke Casteleyn © Laure van Hijfte
After her studies at the Sint-Lucas School of Arts in Ghent, she went on to train in product design at the Domus Academy in Milan. If she had given free rein to her wildest dreams, she would have embarked on a career fitting out boats, but her mother’s alarm at the thought of her learning her craft in a school “located on an island, a long way from Belgium”, made her change her mind. After a few years’ work experience at RR Intérieur in Knokke, she decided to open her own interior design studio in 2012. “In 2015, I designed my first table. I wanted to break away from the codes of the 3-metre-long rectangular piece of furniture found in many interiors that is largely shunned when dining every day with the family or as a couple. I wanted to steer away
Ces lignes organiques ont permis à la jeune designer de forger sa propre identité.
from conventional straight lines and come up with a soft, fluid aesthetic. Immediately after its launch, I was asked to create the same table in different formats, including a low version for the living room. We then quickly developed a network of distributors in Zurich, New York, Toronto, London and Paris,” explains the designer. This project now accounts for around 70% of her business, but she has no urge to keep the two activities separate, since they interact so perfectly in her studio.
The essence of a design
The standout piece in the collection presented in Milan is a bar made from afrormosia, a sustainable and luxurious African wood, a cousin of teak, which contrasts with the sober, elegant character of cement-based plaster and marble, her favourite materials. “I love its orange-red highlights, which remind me of the furniture of Charlotte Perriand and Willy Rizzo. I find that this wood is the ideal choice, as it is in keeping with the slightly vintage spirit of this piece, which I designed a year ago. As far as possible, we manufacture everything in Belgium, but I source my marble from an Italian supplier. Even when you take a top-of-the-range approach, keeping the price in line with the market is essential.”
The brand’s flagship dining table has been joined by new creations, including these coffee tables.
Free figures
While the bar presented in Milan recalls the mid-century spirit of Willy Rizzo, one of the designers whose influence is most unmistakeable in Bieke Casteleyn’s work, her new sofa very much stands up to the comparison in terms of stylistic audacity. “This piece, which also has an afrormosia base, makes no compromises. You just have to look at the choice of flowery fabric upholstery,” points out the designer who makes no apologies for the way-out quality of her personal style. “Generally, people either love it or hate it. My aim is to create a collection that is akin to haute couture, both in terms of the choice of materials and the sheer amount of thought that goes into the design. When I go for walks on the weekend with my children, I pick up on a colour or a facade detail without immediately knowing where it will take me. My aim now is to distribute this collection even more widely, while maintaining a niche strategy that perfectly reflects what I’m about.”
@biekecasteleyn_shapingobjects biekecasteleyn.com
