Olivia Kim’s Ultrafragola Mirror Marked a Personal Milestone for the Professional Tastemaker
Curating a Memphis-inspired experience for Nordstrom helped the retailer’s VP of creative projects and home manifest her dream piece
By Audrey Lee May 3, 2022
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What makes a purchase “worth it”? The answer is different for everybody, so we’re asking some of the coolest, most shopping-savvy people we know—from small-business owners to designers, artists, and actors to tell us the story behind one of their most prized possessions.
Who?
Olivia Kim has always loved creating environments. Although you may recognize the tastemaker’s name from the days she spent leading creative at Opening Ceremony or her exclusive Nike collaboration with Nordstrom (where she currently serves as vice president of creative projects and home), the multi-hyphenate has always been keen on curating collections that reflect her eclectic design philosophy. “I don’t like just one vibe, that just doesn’t feel very special to me,” she says, referencing her love of bold color combinations and unique texture. “I like the notion that there’s beauty in mess.” Now based in Seattle with her husband, the couples’ four-year-old daughter, and her mother (who lives with the family full-time), Olivia uses her talent to define “the next big thing” for Nordstrom’s retail experiences, making sense of a never-ending influx of inspirations by insisting that what matter is “just how you put it together.”
Olivia (pictured in her Seattle home) calls her Ultrafragola mirror “one of my favorite things that I own,” adding it’s the only full-length mirror in the family’s house.
What?
The one object that Olivia will never ever part with is her Ultrafragolamirror. Originally designed by Memphis pioneer EttoreSottsass in 1970, the photogenic mirror has experienced a viral moment in recent years thanks to endorsements from celebrities such as Frank Ocean, Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and many more. For Olivia, though, the piece has always been iconic. Describing its unique form and playful neon glow as “timeless,” she compares it to a classic watch or the perfect black dress that never grows old. “I love that this mirror is getting its fame and glory, considering that when it was designed, people laughed at it,” she says.
Despite recognizing the mirror’s inherent cool-factor and Sottsass’s forward-thinking genius earlier on, Olivia possesses a democratic attitude when it comes to design she admires. “I think that design should never feel that it’s so precious that it can’t be shared,” she says. In practicing this belief, the mirror’s youngest fan is Olivia’s daughter, Cleo. Propped up in the middle of the family’s high-traffic living room, the esteemed fixture has an unexpected admirer in the energetic four-year-old, though mainly because “pink is her favorite color.”
When?
A lifelong admirer of Memphis, Olivia pinpoints her fixation with the 1980s design movement onEsprit’scolorfulstoresofthesame decade. “I always wanted to be able to afford Memphis furniture, but you have to sort of earn your way up there,” she explains. She also recognizes that it’s not exactly the most practical (or affordable) option. When she launched Space at Nordstrom in 2015, Olivia knew that the mirror would be a key element in bringing to life the retail experience she had envisioned.
With the in-store boutique focused on shining the spotlight on emerging and advanced designers, she captured the essence of the shop by outfitting the space with recognizable fixtures—like Memphis-era pieces—mixed in with work from young and emerging design talent. Living vicariously through the store mirrors at first, she finally acquired one for herself a few years later while curating a Memphis Milano exhibit at the Nordstrom flagship in Seattle. “It just felt like the right time to be able to have it in our home too,” Olivia recalls.
Photo: Carina SkrobeckiFrom Milan with love: Arriving from Italy in an “incredibly massive” wood crate adorned with drawings of the Ultrafragola’s signature waves, the furniture could only be unpacked by using a crowbar, Olivia recalls.
Where?
Even though Olivia knew the Ultrafragola was what she wanted to tie Space together, sourcing the mirrors turned out to be quite the challenge. Made in Italy by Poltronova—the same Italian furniture manufacturers that first produced the reflectors back in 1970—each massive Ultrafragola needed to embark on a long journey across the Atlantic before it reached any Nordstrom storefront. Determined to see it through, she tapped her longtime friend Keith Johnson, an original collector of Memphis and president of Urban Architecture,for help.
Keith first brought Memphis to the United States back in 1981 after attending its original debut in Milan, eventually becoming a close friend and business associate to the late Ettore Sottsass. Later expanding his curated offerings to Poltronova items in 2011 (including, of course, Ultrafragolas), Keith remembers bonding with Olivia over their shared love of radical design and all things Sottsass. After nailing down the logistics with Poltronova, he was able to procure all of Nordstrom’s Ultrafragolas in addition to Olivia’s own.
Why?
Standing tall in the living room, surrounded by all of Cleo’s toys, the mirror feels less intimidating—and strikes an unexpected high-low balance that she loves. “It’s something that really brings us joy,” Olivia says. “It’s silly enough, but it still represents an artist and designer that we have so much respect for and that has meant so much to me, personally, and also professionally.” Although many may associate the Ultrafragola’s current ubiquity to social media notoriety and celebrity hype, it’ll never be just a trend for Olivia. “It’s easy to go take a selfie if you find one,” she says. “But to be able to live with it every day and have your daughter dance to Whitney Houston in front of it? Like, that’s so cool.”
Olivia’s mirror pairs well with Bertoia chairs from Knoll and a few of Cleo’s favorite toys.
Photo: Carina Skrobecki Photo: Carina Skrobecki
