Nicky gets Picky with MatchesFashion.com’s expanding homeware offering

Bolstering its growing homeware category, which launched in July this year, MatchesFashion.com has announced a new collaboration with creative director and interiors expert Nick Vinson.

The global ecommerce platform approached Vinson – or Picky Nicky, as he is known to Wallpaper* readers – earlier this year, tapping his design and fashion acumen to curate a capsule collection, which spans soft furnishings and tabletop accessories. ‘Scarcity is luxury’, Vinson says, and as such, selected the newly rendered items for their ‘precious and highly collectible qualities', from an impressive selection of British and European designers.

The 12-item edit will be available through MatchesFashion.com, and at 5 Carlos Place, the brand's London event and creative broadcasting space, which opened earlier this year. Vinson sees the hub, with its foliage-filled attic and personal shopping lounges, as ‘more of a townhouse than a retail destination'. Here, the collection will be displayed as it would be in the home, engaging the digital-first client in a more tactile, inspirational and interactive retail experience.

Vinson sought out makers, ‘who are all best-in-class in Europe, and quite hard to find here in the UK', working closely with them on new renditions of original designs. Highlights include vases by Linck Ceramics, which have been newly decorated by Roksanda Ilinčić, in her signature, expressive hand. Elsewhere, exclusive new colourways find their place in Connolly's Clyde cashmere blanket, and two-tone weave cushions by Tomas Maier for Bottega Veneta.

A personal story accompanies each design. Take the twisting twig candlesticks by Ted Muehling which Nymphenburg has produced in white bisque porcelain since 2002. ‘I bought a pair in 2009,' Vinson explains. ‘Muehling kindly agreed to make them for us in black bisque, which look rich and quite different from the white – and will be very collectible.'

A similar story is behind David Mellor's Pride cutlery, which was originally designed by Mellor in 1953 while he was still at the Royal College of Art, and has been produced in silver or stainless steel ever since. ‘When we moved into our Florence house,’ recalls Vinson, who shares his London and Italian homes with husband designer Álvaro González. ‘I asked David’s son Corin to make a special version of Embassy, designed in 1963. It came in silver or polished stainless steel. We wanted to use it in the summer outside, and we had it made in matt, which makes it less formal. The new Pride in black has a black PVD coating and a special brushed finish. Its really chic, and the small change does not compromise the original design.'

Objects by Bottega Ghianda, Lobmeyr, Carl Auboch, TAF Firenze, and Perfumer H, alongside ‘cloud leather’ presentation bowls by Stéphane Parmentier for Giobagnara, and a special silver teapot designed by John Pawson, for Belgian distributor When Objects Work, complete Vinson's selection.

‘Picked by Nicky' comes at an interesting time in MatchesFashion.com's development. The platform is renowned for its ability to adapt to changing retail climates, while maintaining its commitment to highly curated, personalised design. Matches opened in analogue in 1987, with a single boutique in Wimbledon Village, before changing its name to MatchesFashion.com in 2013. Now, with the launch of its townhouse-style London base, and progressive initiatives in homeware, the fashion-first platform seems to be ushering in another identity-pivot, fuelled by fashion-focused customers' increasing interest in interior design objects.

Approaching both categories with a similar commitment to rare and unusual finds is arguably the key to the platform's success. ‘Today, MatchesFashion.com has big brands like Gucci represented in fashion, accessories and now home, but it also introduces lesser known brands to its customers like Álvaro, my husband’s accessory brand, Lutz Morris bags which launched exclusively with the site, or John Booth's handmade ceramics,' Vinson explains. ‘Clients trust MatchesFashion.com to introduce them to new designers, and I expect they will be just as open-minded to our makers.'

INFORMATION

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