Q&A: Wanda Jelmini

Wanda Jelmini is the creative director of T&J Vestor and MissoniHome, and an integral part of the Missoni family empire. Jelmini was chosen as this year’s Interior Design Show International guest of honour, and NUVO caught up with her to talk inspiration, colour, and of course, chevrons.

NUVO: What is the MissoniHome vision?

Jelmini: My Aunt Rosita [Missoni co-founder] always says “… the home is alive. It’s constantly evolving and never finished.” Her personal vision of the home atmosphere and furnishings has coloured the MissoniHome brand. This includes unusual, captivating fabrics; innovative, simple shapes for sophisticated settings; an artistic feeling but with a light touch; and important, seemingly simple elements that blend easily into existing environments, adding vibrancy and colour. We imagine designers using MissoniHome forms for separating and uniting, for defining rooms and just as easily changing them. We make our stories and collections easy to move around, including from indoors to outdoors or vice versa, enabling the magic atmosphere of the garden to be brought indoors.

NUVO: Who/what inspires you, and in turn inspires the MissoniHome collections?

Jelmini: Inspiration can be captured at any and every moment. I am inspired by a number of things: a long history of motifs and patterns already existing from the fashion line, my own experiences—something I’ve seen at a market or an old shop. We own the memories, we just choose which of them to revisit. And from there we take out forms, shapes, and colours and start by experimenting with how they could be applied in a new way.

NUVO: What items would we find in your home?

Jelmini: In my home I have a number of MissoniHome items. I sleep in the bedding, I practically live in the robes, and I surround myself with inspiring pieces from current and past collections. One interesting and unique piece in my home is an earring wall. I have a love affair with all sorts of earrings and find myself picking things up at flea markets as well as some favorite local jewellery shops. The wall is almost like a decorative piece itself but of course makes it easy to wake up in the morning and pick out a pair for the day.

NUVO: What are your favourite colours to decorate the home with? How often should you change the colour palette in your home?

Jelmini: No favourites and no colours that I would want to leave out at any one time. My home is literally a colour palette. My guest rooms sometimes change according to what my son or my mother prefer (my usual guests). Otherwise, I have a blue-themed room, a red-themed room, green, black-and-white, and so on.

NUVO: Are there specific colours that are best suited to certain rooms?

Jelmini: It’s nice to play with colours in every room. I would say, however, that there is a kind of colour code to respect. If you want to sleep well, red is not a suitable colour for a bedroom. Soothing colours, such as blues and greens, help to dream. I personally prefer white as a general wall colour so that the objects in the room can bring the colour.

For example, with the 2015 collection, we shot a number of stories at Villa Camilla, which is located high up on Lake Maggiore, Italy. It was the right settingbecause although it’s a beautiful house, it provided a white, minimalist blank canvas. The Poppies Outdoor story brought some sharp contrast with its bold black-and-white graphics. Lilium provided elegance to the space without imposing too much colour and hype; the brown and cream tones with some hints and flashes of turquoise were enough to bring life and a chic style to the bedrooms and living rooms. Meanwhile, Lilium Multicolor turned up the colour dial a little, creating a warmer, more playful space, also in the bathroom with a matching towel collection.

NUVO: How does lighting factor when choosing colours to decorate your home?

Jelmini: Lighting is extremely important. When in doubt, natural light is the best source. That is why my house is filled with it; I have a lot of big open windows.

NUVO: What do you wish people did more of in their homes, design-wise? 

Jelmini: Play.