4 minute read
Interior Design
From Chicago To London: Top Interior Design Duo, SKIN, Brings Their Boundary Pushing Style To The Capital For The First Time
When interior designer Lauren Lozano Ziol and graphic designer Michelle Jolas decided to join forces in 2016 to launch their Chicagobased lifestyle brand SKIN, the aim was to take interior design to a whole new level. Four years on, the pair have established themselves as one of Chicago’s top interior design brands, and they now have their sights set on a London launch later this year. With a design philosophy that stems from the belief that our surroundings have a profound impact on emotions and behaviour, SKIN aims to use design as a means of unveiling the many layers of a client’s personality to create a home that is truly theirs. While many find themselves still working at home for the foreseeable future, the idea that interiors can have a transformative effect on our wellbeing has never been more apposite. “We believe a beautiful space has the power to alter a person’s mood and wellbeing,” says Lauren,
“now, more than ever, people want to be in a space that makes them feel uplifted and good design can be a means of unleashing people’s creativity and passion”.
Lauren is considered one of Chicago’s top interior designers, while Michelle worked as a creative director for big ad agencies and more recently owned her own boutique agency before merging with Lauren. In bringing together their different skills and styles, the pair push each other out of their respective comfort zones, resulting in a classic yet edgy style defined by provocative combinations and use of the unexpected. Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in their Breaking Trad project where SKIN was enlisted to decorate the recently renovated 1896 Lakeview home of April Bridgeman in Michigan. April called upon her friends at SKIN to make the house “comfortable and sophisticated, but also colourful and fun.” In answer to this, Lauren
broke with traditional colour schemes and styles, introducing her love of deep, dusky blues to the period property. “We flooded the original bones of this Lakeview mansion in Chicago with a striking and contemporary design, resulting in a traditional, yet modern elegance,” she comments. To balance the moody tones, SKIN used an eclectic mix of unexpected furnishings, wallpapers and vibrant art and photography, such as a Slim Aarons’ iconic image of a Palm Beach poolside party which hangs against the petrol blues of the living room.
In the bedroom, SKIN selected a traditional Gracie wallpaper pattern and installed it as framed panels – complete with gold leaf bamboo frames – which established an unexpectedly exciting yet sophisticated colour scheme in the master suite. Meanwhile downstairs, an Osborne & Little wallpaper introduced a veritable butterfly garden to Bridgeman’s home office. “It’s bright and playful, but also strong and chic,” says Michelle, whose eye for graphic wallpaper designs is seen throughout any SKIN project.
Indeed, the name SKIN was initially a play on Lauren and Michelle’s mutual love of wallpaper, but the duo quickly realised that it had many more meaningful connotations too, from digging below the surface to get to know and understand a client’s personality, to the in-depth layering of colours, paints and style references that they apply to their projects. Getting under the skin of each client is essential – something that is set to be showcased in their forthcoming book, which looks at past projects and how interiors can have a transformative impact on someone’s life. As part of each project, Lauren and Michelle aim to educate their clients along the way on design, art and furniture while listening to their particular needs and vision. In this way, SKIN ensures that each space is as unique and diverse as the homeowners themselves.
As well as interior design projects with private residential clients, SKIN also works with developers and commercial and hospitality clients and offers design consultancy for smaller projects. As part of this aspect of the brand, they have recently announced a new venture, Trinity Luxury Group, which is poised to take on the ambitious task of transforming beautiful European châteaux into art-minded luxury hotels and creative havens.
For now, SKIN is focusing their attention on bringing their avant-garde style to the UK. “We are so humbled to be able to work alongside the British design landscape and to find new inspirations and influences,” says Lauren, who has a longstanding connection with Europe, having previously studied at Oxford, and worked in Paris. “It’s exciting to be launching in London at this time,” she says, “there is a significant opportunity in the interior design market as many homeowners are taking this time to preoccupy themselves with refurbishing and reinvigorating their homes in time for winter.”
