Celebrity Designer Brigette Romanek Dishes On Her Debut Furniture Collection
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Designer to the stars Brigette Romanek has taken the world by storm with her eclectic yet refined interiors, impeccable taste, and light-up-any-room smile. Though she has only been in practice since 2018, Romanek's projects have graced the issues of top shelter publications and her spaces have become Pinterest inspiration for many a design enthusiast. The L.A.-based designer is embarking on her next design chapter by launching her first furniture collection in collaboration with Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, which debuts today in-store and online at MGBWHome.com.
"It felt like such a good collab for many reasons," says Romanek. "I'd met [Mitchell and Bob] at a dinner in L.A. and just immediately fell in love with them both. They are really great guys and [President and CEO] Allison O'Connor is really incredible." The designer says this collaboration was born organically from simply having thoughtful conversations about furniture and design, and the pair reached out to Romanek soon after to gauge her interest in working together. She didn't have to think twice before saying an enthusiastic yes.
"I came to the party with bells on and knew of their commitment to craftsmanship and quality, as well as how they care for their employees," says Romanek. "The atmosphere and environment they've created is so beautiful. It feels so special to be a part of what they are doing."
As this was the designer's first stab at creating a collection of furniture, she was so appreciative of the guidance Gold and Williams offered while also trusting her to do her thing and run with her own creative intuition. She says they didn't strip or take away anything she created and rather enhanced all her designs with their years of expertise in creating beautiful, comfortable, and environmentally considered pieces that can last a lifetime.
Romanek and MGBW Home's collaboration consists of two collections: the four-piece L.A. Collection and the three-piece Lucy Collection, both of which showcase Romanek's passions and design prowess. The L.A. Collection features a sofa, a fabric and a leather chair, and bed while the Lucy Collection features a daybed, chair, and sofa.
"The L.A. Collection is definitely inspired by my lifestyle in Los Angeles and had me thinking about my clients and how they want something pretty, serene, and comfortable but still with great architecture and definition," says Romanek. "The detail was so important to me and I wanted there to be all of these little nuances and special moments."
The designer says The Lucy Collection was born out of her affinity for vintage pieces while still being very rooted in modern functionality for the way we live today. She spent countless hours imagining how to best service the user from designing a high back and finding just the right cushion height and depth for these pieces to allow one to linger for hours while still being beautiful enough for a client to make it a focal point of their space.
"As an interior designer, I do so much research and know pieces really well, both old and new," she says. "I am aware of more modern pieces that are pretty but not comfortable. Then with vintage pieces, they are often designed in a way that's not practical for how we live today. I was thinking about all of that and all of the different pieces I've sat on and experienced over the years from working with so many different types of clients. This collection is a testament to the fact that something can be both truly beautiful and functional—you don't have to sacrifice one or the other."
Many of the collection's pieces now have a spot in Romanek's own home and she hopes that doing a collaboration with a brand that offers so many custom options will inspire design enthusiasts to make these pieces their own. Romanek says she desires for the Lucy and L.A. Collections to be seen as pieces worthy of investing in and passing down, so she designed them in a way that they can speak to a variety of aesthetes while MGBW Home allows for personalization in texture, and color.
"One of the great things about MGBW is that they have tons of fabrics and great materials so it allows someone to go in and customize the piece so it really can fit in their environment," Romanek says. "The bodies and styles are such that highlight my love for eclecticism as a way to design, and I think about that with all my interiors because that's the way to have the most longevity. Mitchell and Bob create pieces that give a lifetime guarantee of wear and allow you to switch out a fabric, which no one is doing, and that's incredible. It's quite a statement these days to say that something is not a throwaway, temporary piece but can actually go with you and be passed on. That's a beautiful way to showcase sustainability, and they really helped me grow as a designer in the process."
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