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A Look Behind the R&Y
Augousti Brand: Interview with Ria and Yiouri
I first met Ria Augousti at Maison &
Objet in January. Even more than the
irresistible handbags and home accessories in exotic skins, I was struck by her
very professional and astute management of the stand, and by her beauty. I met her again, this time with her husband and
business partner, Yiouri, at Premiere Classe in February as they prepared the
stand to present their new fall fashion accessories line. The two seem to belong together like pieces
of a puzzle and as they move around the stand making sure it’s all in order
you can tell that nothing is left to chance in what they are doing and nothing
is final unless it is perfect. It’s the
first morning of the fair during which they will be presenting their sexy new fall
handbag line in python, cobra, and ostrich leg.
The exotic skins Ria and Yiouri have been using for their furniture for
the past 16 years, and have been using for their handbags the past five, are protagonists
in many of the stands at Premiere Classe.
R&Y Augousti have however outclassed other vendors with their signature quality and
colors (their fall line introduces crimson, darker metallic greens, purple—I
was a fool not to place an order!).
 Partners in business and life, Ria and
Yiouri Augousti are the couple behind the R&Y Augousti lifestyle brand,
known for its art deco inspired furnishings using exotic skins: shagreen (stingray), ostrich leg, eel,
python, cobra, mother-of-pearl, and horn.
The R&Y Augousti label began with only a home accessories line,
launched in Paris in 1990, and has grown into a lifestyle brand, expanding to
handbag production four years ago (one of their handbags was just featured in O
Magazine), then stationery, pillows, and most recently jewellery. Their furniture designs are considered
‘modern vintage’ and are new interpretations of art deco, their favourite
design period.
They both wear natural smiles and are
incredibly affable, despite the fact that one of the boxes of their shipment is
missing, coming directly from the Philippines where their entire line is produced. Their stand is one of the most elegant of the
fair. Where most other vendors have
opted for the most cost effective display materials, Ria and Yiouri have
fitted theirs with their own creations.
The display cases which form an island to the front of the stand are
covered in cream-colored shagreen and the shelving system is wooden. Were it not in a tent with synthetic
flooring, you’d swear you were in a high-end boutique. As Ria and I talk, Yiouri paces the length of
the fair’s Alley 1 with his cell-phone, contributing to the interview each time
he passes the stand. He’s amazingly able
to be on top of the interview, even when he’s not there.
 Ria was born in the Philippines, where she spent her adolescence until age 15, then studied art in New York, and
finally moved to London where she graduated in design from the London School of Furniture. She had been working a year at the interior
design firm of John Stefanidis, when Yiouri, a native of Cyprus joined
after obtaining a degree in architecture from London’s
Architectural Association, he has never.
“We got on like a house on fire. Only a few months after we met we decided we could make something on our
own. We left the firm and started our
own business,” Ria said. As I read over
their bio, I see something interesting—when just starting out, for financing
they sought to trade sugar futures.
Sugar futures? Yiouri passes in
that instant, finishing a call on his cell phone and answers as if he’s been
there the whole time, ”It was just an idea we had. It wasn’t something I had experience in, but
through family contacts on both Ria’s and my side, we were able to be in touch
with the right people to advise us and that’s how we chose to finance our
venture. At one point, we had $48
million in letters of credit! But then
the market crashed…” The market crashing
didn’t seem to have a negative effect on their own future!
To produce their
first line, which consisted of small items, they went to ten of their friends
and asked each one for a design. Their
first fair was an unbelievable success.
Barney’s New York and Neiman Marcus bought pieces and Paris’ Hotel
Crillon commissioned an order for desk accessories. The inlay technique that distinguishes their home
furnishings is a traditional craft of the Philippines, which, at the time they came up with adopting it for their purposes, was
only being used to make small boxes. Ria
and Yiouri, who remain the sole designers of all of their products, thought
they’d take the craft further. When they went to
her home in the Philippines to introduce Yiouri to her family, they found a nearby factory for
sale which used the inlay technique. “We
were really lucky to find it where we did when we did, and that is one of our
accomplishments which has brought the most satisfaction. We bought the factory and kept the twelve
workers who were working there. Within
six months we had grown to 50 workers, and a year after that, we numbered
200.” Today, R&Y Augousti employs
400 people, 30 of whom are in management.
They opened their first boutique in Paris in 1994 and
three years later moved to the current two-floor corner location in via Rue du
Bac. They divide their time between
Paris and the Philippines to oversee production, and participate in 8 fairs
a year, 4 in Paris (both editions of Maison & Objet and Premiere Class) and
New York. Their
daughter, Kifu, has also contributed her art work to the R&Y Augousti
label, and soon, Ria’s sister may begin to design for them.
 After Premiere
Classe, I take a quick trip over to their boutique to see the space. I am greeted by Corinne, the shop
manager. The monochromatic yet elegantly
designed space is filled with light by one wall of floor to ceiling windows. “Everything you see here is an R&Y
Augousti creation, from the walls down to the items for sale.” Corinne answered
with a smile. Ria and Yiouri have always
kept a close eye on images of their collections circulating on the
internet. In fact, Ria confesses to
being comfortable only quite recently with the idea of putting up a website, but you will still find very few (if any) images of their product on line, and almost no information about them or their company. Their furniture designs have been copied a
lot over the years, and their bags are now being copied. Copying is the highest form of flattery, she
agrees, but says she was bothered when her daughter’s drawings, which were
embroidered on some of the purses they produce, were digitally reproduced and made
into cheap imitations sold locally in the Philippines. Ria and Yiouri laugh when
they declare themselves control freaks, but it’s not a joke. When you’re as successful as they are at handling
all aspects of a design business, what's the incentive for risking it by putting it in someone else's hands?
R & Y Augousti / 103 Rue du Bac
/ 75007 Paris /
tel. +33 1 42 22 22 21
R&Y design philosophy: What you want each person who sees/purchases
one of your creations to know about you, the story they will tell to their
friends who admire the object? We are inspired by the Art Deco
period where they used exotic material like parchment (goat skin), shagreen
(stingray skin), mother-of-pearl – and have re-invented the period using the
same material and other exotic skins like eel,
ostrich leg. The Augousti furniture or
object is Modern Deco.
 Which of your accomplishments to date has
brought you the most satisfaction?
Mixing our
exotic material with cast metalwork, giving a new depth to this kind of work. Also getting our entire collection into
Barney’s on one floor.
Which strengths do each of you bring to the
design process? We work together on the entire design
process, beginning to end. Occasionally,
one will start an idea and then we both take-off on that. Ria tends to have a more simple, clean-line,
modern take on things while Yiouri is more complex and adventurous in
his style. The most successful results
are when our diverse mixed ideas melt into one form, truly producing what is
the Augousti-style.
Any designers or mentors who have shaped your
ideas?
The spirit
of the 30’s and 40’s started our love of that work but eventually, through our
personal experiences and travel, our own ideas have evolved in their own right.
What are you working on now? What would you like to work on? What’s next?
We have
recently started a Handbag line, very much related to the Homeline and now,
are very proudly starting jewelry, fondly termed as the Augousti Body
Accessory. Who knows what could be
next….we feel we have the potential to design all kinds of lines, it's simply a
matter of time.
Best city for design vibes?
Frankly,
within us…. But realistically, Venice is always fabulous!
 What food/dessert best describes your design
style? How has it changed over the past
ten years? What would you like it to be
in five years?
Fusion-style
food, of course. It has not really changed, but evolved, much finer and more
complex in textures and color. Hard to
say what we would like it to be in 5 years….but definitely a well-established
lifestyle brand.
The first thing you notice in a restaurant?
Décor.
Eating what food brings back the best memories?
Hot prawn
pasta!
The last piece of art you fell in love with?
The work of
Gustav Klimt (impossible to choose one) (an exhibition at the Grand Palais,
Paris)
If money were no object, you’d buy what for
your home?
A Gustav
Klimt.
Company/place/institution you’d love to leave
your mark on.
The world.
Place you go for design inspiration?
Kifu, our
daughter.
Magazine you can’t live without.
R: Vanity Fair
Celebrity you’re inexplicably intrigued by.
R: Kate Moss
now, Charlotte Rampling then…
You can never have too many…
R: Well, I
love to shop…
(Photos: R&Y Augousti)
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