November 02, 2020
11:02
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Three months after arriving in New York, Belgian interior designer Kim Mupangilaï decorated his first restaurant. His next challenge: launch a line of designer furniture.
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When the Belgian Kim Mupangilaï (31 years) decides to move to New York two years ago, the only thing she is sure of is that she will stay on the ground floor of a building that was to be transformed into a restaurant. This is little…
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“I made the decision to move to the United States during a gap year: I traveled to Australia and that’s where I met New Yorkers. Then I decided to take them. follow “, recalls the interior designer. “I had just started to read the memoirs of the widow of Jean-Michel Basquiat.”
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“At that time, I hadn’t yet made the connection between the New York artist and the address I was going to: 342 Bowery. But, after a week in New York, I realized that I had settled at the exact same address as the one in this book. In the building that had belonged to Andy Warhol and where Basquiat had been able to set up his workshop. My adventure could not have started better! “
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The Ponyboy in New York
“My adventure couldn’t have started better!”
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The young woman spends three months in what was the studio of this legendary artist. One fine day, she receives a phone call from business friends: would she like to develop their restaurant, the Ponyboy, in Greenpoint, a booming neighborhood in North Brooklyn?
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“I had a Masters in Interior Architecture from Luca School of Arts and this was my first real solo project. I had just started a full-time job for the architectural firm Crème / Jun Aizaki Architecture & Design.”
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“In Europe, you shouldn’t go outside the box, whereas here, everyone can be an artist.”
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“Working simultaneously on the layout of Ponyboy was not easy, but it was worth it: I always wanted to go to New York because I knew there would be opportunities. In Europe, it didn’t You have to stay within the framework, whereas here everyone can be an artist or create furniture. You just have to do it, no one is preventing you. “
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When it comes to fashion, too, you can be whoever you want in New York. “When I was a student, I tried to have my own style, but I was always getting comments about what I was wearing. In New York, it’s not like that: you can take to the streets in their underwear, with a trenchcoat and a hat, nobody cares. “
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A determination that has not escaped the Danish fashion label Object. With #thewomancollective, the clothing brand features committed women who do their thing and are above all themselves.
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That’s why Object chose Kim Mupangilai to be the face of this fall’s #thewomancollective campaign. According to the fashion brand, it is “because the Belgian is a woman who has her own vision of the world, a go-getter who has distinguished herself through her work and her creativity in a metropolis like New York.”
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Black Lives Matter
“For my own line of furniture, I will combine my Western and African roots.”
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To make these images with the young Belgian, a whole team should have gone to New York. “But, because of the coronavirus crisis, I had to take care of the production and styling of this shoot. For that, I was sent a box containing thirty outfits and, for the rest, to me. ‘do what I wanted with it, long live freedom! Fortunately, my companion is a photographer: he took all the pictures. “
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Will she ever come back to Belgium? “Yes, definitely,” Kim Mupangilaï replies. “The quality of life is better in Europe. But first, I would like to launch my own line of furniture here in the United States.”
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This collection is still in its infancy. “What is certain is that I will combine my Western and African roots. All my life I have been asked if I feel white or black. You don’t always really know where to stand, which is why I will combine the two and create a line where each piece of furniture will have the ambition to become an intercultural experience. “
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Kim Mupangilai also intends to show that she appreciates both. “The Black Lives Matter movement awakened something in me. And it is precisely because of this mixture that I feel at home here in New York. This city is a melting pot where a host of nationalities come to make their stuff. This city has given me incredible openness and freedom. “
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Le New York de Kim Mupangilaï
◆ Win son
“My favorite Taiwanese restaurant. He just opened a small bakery.”
◆ Malin Landaeus
“A vintage boutique of luxury clothing and shoes, quality classics.”
◆ Barbès Brooklyn
“A bar / lounge where artists from all over the world perform.”
◆ Manitoga
“It was owned by industrial designer Russel Wright in Upstate New York. The Japanese-inspired house is surrounded by a 30-acre garden with a pond.”
◆ PS1
“This contemporary art workshop and exhibition space is affiliated with MoMA.”
◆ Nogushi Museum & Garden
“A museum designed by my favorite Japanese-American sculptor, Isamu Noguchi.”
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