Sandra Benhamou Q&A

D/A UK: Starting off with your project for The Invisible Collection: can you explain more about In the Mood for Love?

Sandra Benhamou: We transformed the space, curating a selection of my own collection alongside a mix of vintage pieces, and designs from The Invisible Collection catalogue. We placed the Pierre lamp and Edo vase on a console by Axel Einar Hjorth (from Modernity), the Marcello backgammon table on a Diurne rug, the Dolly armchair in front of a screen by Pierre Bonnefille (from Marion Stora), Jean-Michel Frank chairs around the Kaki table, and Puiforcat x Donald Judd pieces on the Leon bar.

The whole is both free and precise, expansive and refined. Nostalgic and full of longing.

D/A UK: What was it about that film that made you think it would translate well as a physical space to show your work?

SB: Many things: the music, the atmosphere, the set design, the photography, the poetic imagination… It’s all about feelings, and rhythm.

D/A UK: What are some of the key pieces shown at In The Mood for Love?

SB: The Mia armchair, the whole Dolly collection – which unfolds into a sofa, an ottoman, and a bench – and the Leon bar. These pieces all have something to do with the 1960/1970s, and we adapted them with specific textiles inspired by my personal sense of Asia.

D/A UK: Does film influence your work a lot?

SB: Definitely. I started my career in the cinema industry and remain passionate about movies, telling stories, composing, photography, lighting – and emotions, of course.

D/A UK: You’ve recently completed another project in London, the interior for jeweller Kimaï – how did that come about?

SB: I spent four years in London working on residential projects there, and I remain very familiar with the city. Kimaï is a young brand specialising in lab-grown diamonds. They contacted me and I really felt like supporting their project and energy. Plus, the location is amazing and I found it very inspiring – Chiltern Firehouse is just across the street.

D/A UK: Was there a theme or a story you were trying to tell at Kimaï, as a way of expressing the brand’s values?

SB: There’s an intentional sense of luxury in this project. The brand’s founders Jessica Warch and Sidney Neuhaus wanted a space that was both welcoming and exclusive, refined yet accessible, simple yet sophisticated. The overall design, composed of velvet, satin, plaster, and speckled wood, where soft blue and white tones dominate, creating an enveloping softness.

Working with the challenge of a long, narrow space, I first focused on creating an inviting and dynamic perspective, using a rhythm of niches facets, and lighting along the walls. This sense of acceleration enhances the surprise at the back of the boutique, where a small, intimate, enclosed room awaits, where one can feel like a jewel themselves: a little haven for pausing and spending time with a client. When imagining the private room, I simply thought of that moment when an engaged couple comes in to choose a ring. I wanted to put that moment on stage in a very frank way.

D/A UK: Your residential work is eclectic in the way that you select pieces from many styles and eras – is there a thread or a personal viewpoint that helps to hold it all together and make it coherent?

SB: Two objects having a very different story can share the same vibration and become stronger or more interesting together.  Sometimes I’m also interested in making pieces compete with each other! My work is to create a composition with the feeling I get from them. I play with an energy, a colour, a light, a background. It has become a very natural work for me. Almost physical, like a rhythm.

D/A UK: Where’s your studio and what’s it like?

SB: It’s in Paris, on place du Palais Bourbon – one of the nicest squares in town, just behind the Assemblée Nationale, near the Seine. I love it. It’s very homey and peaceful. I organised the space like a real apartment. And it’s where I keep my very favourite books and pieces of art and design.

D/A UK: What projects do you have coming up for the rest of the year?

SB: Country houses in Normandy and near the Fontainebleau forest, a beach house in Ramatuelle, a top-floor flat in Milan, new pieces of design and new collaborations.

D/A UK: Where will we find you when you’re not working?

At the cinema, at the opera for a ballet, in a nice Japanese restaurant drinking sake, or in my kitchen cooking for friends and family.

In the Mood for Love runs until 25 June at The Invisible Collection, 2-4 Huntsworth Mews, London NW1 6DD