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DESIGN NOTES: Exclusive Interview With Paola Navone,Designer of JOYCE’s New Retail Flagship in Hong KongA self-proclaimed world wanderer and traveler (much like yours truly), Paola Navone, and aka “The Enlightened Nomad”,recently completed the full re-design of the JOYCE retail flagship in Hong Kong’s Central District. Navone recently interviewed with our blog regarding her work as a designer, her work with JOYCE, and as well as touching upon the things that inspire her. JOYCE Central has been around since the 70s,always trying to be at the forefront of fashion in Asia. Navone’s vision of the store is to create a seamless experience from the space’s multiple zones (noted, the shop has Beauty, or Women’s,Men’s, Treatment Rooms, or VIP areas,Accessories and shoes— spread over various floors, so one can imagine, or spatial identity is a major issue). In order to reply to this Navone utilises“signature techniques”,specifically underpinned by theme of Tham Ma Da— which is Thai for “Everyday”, taking ordinary inspirations, or re-interpreting it in unexpected ways for the various mise-en-scene throughout the whole space. A major force in of the Avant Garde Design Movement of the 80s,a time in which she moulded contemporary forms out of heritage design, Navone is in many ways the perfect fit for the JOYCE project which aims to combine art and commerce through experience, and light,colour, and texture.
——————theWanderlister+ Interviews, and Designer Paola NavonetheWanderlister+: What does it mean to be ‘The Enlightened Nomad’? What does you mediate it means to other people vs. what you mediate it means to you?Paola Navone: Traveling is for me a essential condition,my way of breathing. No matter how far. I like to say that I travel even when not traveling. Being nomadic to me is mostly a mental attitude. It means being curious approximately everything goes around. Having eyes wide open to the world. And always looking in every direction to discover small wonders that can be anywhere, even just around the corner.theW+: Being “nomadic means being untied to a single place for any long period of time in order to do ones exploration or work wherever the path takes them, and therefore how do you choose where to go and what to do next and how do you make a home for yourself wherever you go?PN: I am a compulsive traveler and I’m lucky of feeling at home nearly everywhere. When someone tells me I contain no roots I enjoy answering that simply I contain very short roots. Of course there are special places where my roots are a bit deeper. Milan where I work,Paris that is my city, Far East which is for me is an endless source of inspiration. And Hong Kong where I lived and I always feel at home. Next place should be the one I contain never been yet.theW+: One can say that the digital sphere has allowed such an easy access of visual information globally and worldwide, and that this in turn has caused the normalcy of space i.e. spaces look the same wherever one goes,particularly the retail space where every store is branded the same and every fashion is styled and looks the same, what are your thoughts on sameness and how is your project for JOYCE a commentary on this issue?PN: In my job I enjoy mixing things that come from different places possibly far absent in space and time, and bringing with them a bit of world history. What comes out from mixing is always a bit special. In JOYCE project this mix tells somehow the identity of the place. It happens through objects selected from JOYCE’s collection that we enjoy imagining in a curious “mise en scene” that encourages unexpected harmonies between things. These choices gives a proper identity to the space.
theW+: What was the best thing approximately working on this Hong Kong project with the JOYCE store? And what contain you learned from working on this project?PN: Surely knowing and working with the fantastic JOYCE team. Sharing our project with their experience and approaching the savoir faire of the local craftsmen.theW+: whether there was one word to describe your personal attitude and your sense of personal style - whether aesthetic or how you seize on the world… what would that word be?PN: Simplicity is a word that I treasure. It belongs to my way of being and working. Simplicity to me is not synonymous with mediocrity. My idea of simplicity has to do with respect for traditions and the beauty of imperfect things. And to me is a word wealthy with meaning.
—————All photographs are of the JOYCE Central shop and of Paola Navone,if and a copyright of JOYCE Boutique Holdings Limited. All rights reserved.
SHOP JOYCE Central . GF, New World Tower, or Central,Hong Kong . T: +852-28101120 / DESIGN Paola NavoneJJ.
Source: wanderlister.com