Designer Christopher Guy was at Covet House Porto on a sunny
day to talk about inspiration, crafts, the beginning of his career,
also the famous Chris-X leg design and technology as a challenge.
Let’s discover some thoughts and ideas of Christopher Guy’s brand
founder and head-designer!
Coveted Magazine: What inspires you in the city of Porto?
Christopher Guy: There’s a sense of design, knowledge and
skills, which I can see through the group here (Covet Group)
that has really put it into practice. We always talk about design
from Italy, and why from Italy? Maybe because Michelangelo
came from Italy, so it’s very easy to associate design with Italy,
you know, associating design with Porto... and Porto is now
getting these little and larger companies as a center of design and
creativity, which is why I am here today!
CM: What do you think about Covet House project?
CG: I’m very jealous (laughs). I said: “When I’ve gone wrong in
life!?” (laughs) It’s a beautiful house and it’s lovely to see. It’s in
the perfect environment as well: you’ve got water, you’ve got
vegetation, and a beautiful house which showcases all the work.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
WITH CHRISTOPHER GUY
It creates the fabulous backdrop for a showcase. When I did The
Georgian restaurant in Harrods, the reason why I wanted to do it
was because it was a great showcase, it was a great environment,
so whenever you have the opportunity to devote your products
into a great environment it makes it all worthwhile.
CM: Handcrafted process was on spotlight at Maison et Objet in
January, what do you think about the role of crafts in interior design?
CG: With handcrafted you can change directions very quickly and
that is the great opportunity that it offers once upon a time you
would have a sofa with a matching coffee table, everything would
look the same, like in a bedroom, the headboard, the side night stands
will look the same. Now design is all about how to get movement
and how to get variation, so you look at different materials and the
combination, but somehow they will work together. To do that,
craftsmanship works so much better as a result.
CM: Your design includes the Chris-X leg design, how would you
describe it to a design lover?
CG: The Chris-X came about when I was looking at dining chairs.
When you look at a dining chair... they always tend to be designed
from the front, you see a little head on the front of the dining,
when they slip under the table you see the front head. That part,
that top third was important, but you mainly see the backs. If
you saw the film Gone with The Wind, and you look at Scarlett
O’Hara, you had that waist line , you have the shoulders, you have
the waistline, but then I needed a leg, and if I had gone down to a
single leg it wasn’t gonna give me the stability that I was looking
for. So I thought “well, I need a Chris-X leg, a cross leg”. Then it
happens to match my name, so Chris-X (laughs)!
CM: Which major international events do you attend/follow to
get all the latest novelties?
CG: You have two main American shows: High Point Market
and Las Vegas Market. Las Vegas deals more the South American
Market, High Point still more about the rest of the country, and
then in Europe people always talk about either Maison et Objet,
which is more for the decorative items and for the furnishings,
which turns us down to Milan (iSaloni). I think you can learn a
little bit from each one of them for various reasons, but you don’t
probably need to go to them every single year, there’s always gonna
be something new... I mean, as long as you get to go to these every
couple of years, you’re pretty much following the trends. But some
of the times, is the smaller artisans. That’s where the hard work
comes in design, those individuals, the smaller companies are able
to produce individual items and the company isn’t large enough
the be able to do some of the shows.
