Three Layer Cake

Couturious...? 
Debra Franses Bean talks about her transition from handbags to textiles

I felt like I had won a contest to spend a day with a rock star when Debra Franses Bean asked me if I wanted to meet up with her in January while we were both in Paris.  It was the perfect Saturday.  We spent the day at Maison-Objet (taking tea at Mariage Café with some textile producers interested in her work), then we went for drinks on avenue Montaigne at L’Avenue and on to dinner at Sushi Cho et Yakitori.  It was sensational!  The ‘rock star’ rhythm of those twelve hours typify Debra’s personality—fun, fearless, and addictive, and it comes through in the textiles and wallpaper she designs for her Couturious…? label. 

Debra’s work caught my eye in London in September 2005 , when I was visiting one of my favorite interior designer shops, Caira Mandaglio in Notting Hill. Sharon and Anna had Debra’s handbag sculptures in their shop front window and her textiles and wallpaper were next door at John Oliver.  I learned then that Debra was a recent Central Saint Martins graduate. 

In her last year at CSM, she was recognized for her creativity and talent and was awarded a sponsorship from Digetex, a leading bespoke digital wallpaper and fabric brand.  This sponsorship, a perfect match between producer and designer, allowed Debra to pursue her bigger interest in digital and screen printing technology to bridge the gap between fine art and fashion.  Debra launched the Couturious…? label in May 2006 to give her interior couture concept a home. 

As we walked the fair, I had the chance to see Debra at work on the business side of Couturious.  She brought her design portfolio with her and targeted the companies she wished to have a relationship with.  “To get appointments with all these guys individually would take forever.  All the creative directors are here now, but they aren’t necessarily expecting someone to come in to see them with their portfolio.  I’m zigging when they’re zagging, and I think that’s when it works out.”  She was right.  Fifteen minutes later, she was sitting at a grand table in a prominent Italian home label’s stand with her portfolio open.  The Creative Director, initially hesitant to meet with an unknown ‘walk-in’, was won over by her firm professionalism and portfolio.  He liked one of her designs so much, he asked her not to show it to any other producers and it was agreed that after the fair, she would be flown from London to their headquarters in Italy to discuss a possible collaboration.  It also didn’t hurt that she spoke in Italian.  At the departing handshake, she left her contact details—  a swatch of Couturious wallpaper printed with her contact details.  (Right:  Wallpaper pattern "bird")

That’s Debra.  She’s a witty, charming, and talented woman who doesn’t take no for an answer, but she’s not pushy.  She’s an optimist and believes in her designs and isn’t afraid to go straight to the top to get them seen.  That’s what it takes in her business if you don’t have contacts in the companies with which you’d like to work. 

Couturious…? specializes in bespoke textiles and wallpapers for residential and commercial applications.  Clients can buy as much or as little as they want, choosing from a range of materials using digital and screen printing methods.  Debra describes Couturious...? designs as quirky and eclectic.  They are Debra’s take on what she sees around her transformed into digital images.  Her textiles and wallpaper have a rock baroque and retro 1980’s glamorous feel to them.  Not surprisingly, her handbag sculptures and wallpaper were used as the backdrop for a book reading in 2004 at Selfridge’s in London, by the ultimate rock-star, Madonna. 

I was sad to say good-bye to Debra that Saturday evening right about midnight, but it had been a full day.  I was genuinely happy for all she had accomplished at the Fair, and quite impressed with her ability to command even five minutes from the Creative Directors of the most important design houses out there.  I love to get her press releases and news updates because I always know it will be one-up over the last.  She just gets better and better.  (Left: Handbag wallpaper, handbag sculpture, cute fox terrier)
 

Your design philosophy.  What do you hope to contribute to the current design panorama?  What about the Couturious label?  I have had no formal “design” training, so to speak.  My training was as a conceptual fine artist, so I approach my designs first by thinking about what I want to communicate and then about the visual medium, colour and stimuli that convey my intended concept.  This way I hope to make work that is robust to critical appreciation and that looks good whilst maintaining a professional approach to quality and durability.  This is really what underpins the choices that I make as Creative Director for the Couturious label.  (Right: Couturious logo)

You went back to school after being in the corporate world, which is where people learn important life lessons.  What was the most valuable lesson that you took away from Central St. Martin’s?   If you believe in something that no one else gets completely yet it peaks curiosity, you should pursue it because you’re onto something! 

What is the most difficult professional obstacle that you’ve overcome?  The fact that I do actually need to sleep!  Really though – there were many people out there who wanted to help me at the beginning – I had to learn to distinguish the good from the bad.  Now I realize that as soon as you feel that things are going wrong, you should just pull the ripcord.  Don’t look back and keep plugging forward. 

You got quite a bit of visibility for your handbag sculptures even while still a student.  Can you describe the genesis of the handbag sculpture?  How did you transition to interior couture?  The handbag sculpture was the seed that got me started on my departure from figurative to object-based design sculpture.  My father was in the handbag business and I was given bags from the age of about 4, and this made me grow very sophisticated womanly tastes at quite an early age.  So the sculpture is an actual life-sized cast of a totally unpractical designer handbag that my father had given to my stepmother.  (Right:  Handbag wallpaper, handbag sculpture, Selfridge's designer room)

It was my first casting project at St Martin’s.  I liked the fact that I was effectively ruining a £500 handbag –desecrating a luxury item– and covering it with clay and plaster to make the mold, all in the name of art.  It was somehow very satisfying.  This is where the psychological twist in my work started. The handbag came to represent my idea of womanhood. 

I made various handbag sculptures: one containing a goldfish, which upset quite a few people!  Someone actually tried to get me to use a plastic replica. The fish was representative of the caged effect and the looking out at the world.  I called this sculpture “Catch” and it was actually the first thing that went up in my house fire, I guess it was set free in a purifying fire. It was very dramatic yet somehow ironically satisfying. 

The transition to textiles is another way of communicating this same sense of female and domesticity.

The Couturious logo is the butterfly, which is a recurrent theme, along with other insects, in many of your textile designs.  What does the butterfly (and all his friends) signify?  How did you develop the logo?  The butterfly signifies a metamorphorphic moment. The logo was developed in collaboration with some designers from Paris who were working in my studio, we were an all girl team – it was a very creative and stimulating phase this spring, the birth of the logo was like the birth of the identity of the company.  The use of the other insects is not really a conscious one, I just happen to like the small things in life because they are so pretty.  I often find myself watching bees as they pollinate or making wishes with ladybirds, saving spiders from the bath…  However, even though I love them too, I do admit to killing the odd mosquito! (Left:  Jade mini-beast silk window blinds.)

Your studio often hosts visiting designers.  How do you work with these designers on projects?  Which strengths do you bring to it?  What strengths do the others bring, and how do you decide with whom you’ll work?  Before attending St. Martin’s, I worked for large corporations in the role of partnerships director.  My job was to identify complementary skills to create an entity that was larger than the sum of all the parts.  Recently, I have been lucky enough to meet some great artists and our collaboration evolves from a grain of an idea. If it grows, the process starts working of its own accord – it is intuition and creativity.  I am learning my strengths every day and try to get better all the time, but I definitely bring very strong business creativity to the party which I consider to be quite a unique skill.  As for how I decide on the designers with whom to collaborate, it can be difficult as my studio is part of my home.  If I don’t like someone in my private space then I will find it very hard to collaborate with them.  I often meet very good business people or very creative people – finding the mix is very difficult but I do admit my weaknesses and try to collaborate with people who compensate them. (Right:  "Bird" fabric and cushions in a London home)

Femininity, womanhood, the female identity all seem to be integral to your work.  Which personality traits do you think are necessary in order to succeed as a woman in your profession?  Confidence in what you feel about the world and the determination to overcome the obstacles that face you daily. It is important to be strong but not hard. Being a woman is a great strength if you embrace your womanliness but don’t abuse it, as this gives others the license to abuse it back. I am also a very positive and optimistic person – this definitely helps in any profession. (Left:  Debra, expecting, at her studio.  Under her feet, a pouf upholstered with chandelier fabric as are the pillows to her left.  Handbag sculpture to her right.)

Time Capsule:  Which three of your designs would you put in a time capsule today that say the most about you and the times we live in?  Let’s see…A transparent resin handbag sculpture containing a dead butterfly called “still here”.  It is about the endurance of beauty that is visibly fragile at the centre but has a hard outer shell that protects.  It is important that women are strong – I am preparing for motherhood at the moment and I think this forces a woman to protect the creativity inside in a warrior-like way.  Then I think I’d include the logo – the name Couturious describes an inquisitiveness for things made for the “me” generation.  And…third…I don’t think that I am ready to know yet what the others are – I may have made them but they may be to come… 

What motivates you?
Restlessness and fear of underachieving.