Home TOUR Series | Episode 6
Yvonne Koné
Multidisciplinary designer Yvonne Koné has recently launched LaFine, a new brand featuring pieces thoughtfully made from Italian deadstock fabrics.
As a designer who shapes fabrics, colors, and materials that people wear and live their lives with, do you see your craft as something you hope to pass on to your children?
Looking at my adult children and seeing how each of them, in their own way, carries an eye for little details and materials feels inspiring and refreshing. It makes me grateful to share that passion with them. At the same time, I never specifically wished or expected them to follow my direction. I have always wanted them to choose what brings meaning and happiness to their lives, whether that is creative or not. I never wished for them to take it on professionally either, and the field can also feel very unstable. I felt this direction as my own calling early on, and although there are other paths that might have been simpler, I still have no regrets.
Do you also feel a connection to the idea of legacy in your home — furniture or objects that carry stories and stay in the family?
I love beautiful things of high quality — things that are here for a reason. At the same time, I honestly don’t feel very attached to things, almost the opposite, even if it is very contradictory as someone who is creating things. I never really liked being surrounded by too much stuff or feeling too attached to a certain item “just” because it has a story. I’m mostly drawn to quality — to things I can feel are worked through, things that carry a certain weight. But I’m also totally fine letting go of it all. And although I really love my home and the few pieces I keep here, should everything burn tomorrow, I could create an equally fine home in another place.
How do you choose pieces that outlast trends and become part of your long-term living environment?
I generally choose things because of their quality, their textures, colors, and proportions. I feel if you go with your own intuition and choose them because they speak to you — and you actually choose them for that reason — they have already outlasted a trend and have the potential to stay for long.
Can you share a moment or ritual in your home that feels meaningful to you — one that the right design piece enhances?
I love my little green tea moments in the early mornings. This is where I feel most clarity and where my head and heart feel most open to inspiration. I either sit at my kitchen table in front of the window or at my tiny vintage desk and write a few notes on my dreams and ambitions, or make plans and get a clear overview of what I’m currently working on.
What do you like the most about the Series 270 F Armchair and the Wire portable lamp?
The proportions. There is something generous, compact, and calm about them. They are both quite timeless and can go in many different directions. I love the Series 270 F Armchair in the popping blue — the unexpected slash of color, while the shape stays pretty clean. And the comfort too. I love the touch of something very defined and stringent that the Wire lamp brings to my home, and the portable function works perfectly for our ever-evolving little home.
