Keeping Happy at Home – The Invisible Collection Home Office
Courtesy of the Invisible Collection
For our new series “Objects of Affection,” ELLE Decor is asking designers and others from an array of fields to tell us about an item in their personal space that is bringing them comfort and solace as they stay home in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. (And here’s what’s keeping the ELLE Decor team happy at home.)
Anna Zaoui, an adviser who works with the Hayward Gallery in London and is a board member for the Serpentine, and Isabelle Dubern-Mallevays, a former journalist at Bloomberg, founded the Invisible Collection in 2016 as an e-commerce resource for singular furniture and accessories by top interior designers. Intended to provide a kind of through line from midcentury-modern icons like Jean-Michel Frank and Jean Royère to the talents of today, the Invisible Collection offers works by such notable contemporary designers as Pierre Yovanovitch and Vincent Darré. Naturally, when the London-based entrepreneurs were asked to choose objects in their respective homes for our series, both Zaoui and Dubern-Mallevays gravitated toward pieces from their own site.
A Table Lamp by Cristina Prandoni
“I have turned a little corner of my house into my office. I chose it for its proximity to both a window and a power outlet, into which I have plugged my favorite little lamp: the Rougemont Table Lamp by Cristina Prandoni. I bought it through the Invisible Collection and took it with me on the plane when I flew to the Hamptons to isolate with my family. I love it because it illuminates only my desk, which helps me focus and concentrate. It is small and precious. The light it creates is soothing and is enhanced by the reflections of the shining sun on the polished brass throughout the day.” —Anna Zaoui
A Chair by Pierre Yovanovitch
“I cofounded the Invisible Collection because I thought it was a shame that incredibly talented interior designers such as Pierre Yovanovitch were not offering the furniture they designed for projects to the general public. I have been dreaming about his Papa Bear armchair forever, and when I saw the Madame Oops chair, I immediately fell in love. This was the first piece I bought from the Invisible Collection when I started the refurbishment of my home in London, and the last one I received. It was installed just a week before the lockdown, and I see it as a new member of my family. I love it because it is very light, feminine, and volatile—I know it will follow me throughout my lifetime in any house that I will call home.” —Isabelle Dubern-Mallevays