Alexandra Golovanoff Wants to Liberate Your Home
Alexandra Golovanoff believes there’s no such thing as bad taste.
The French TV personality and knitwear designer recently published a manual called “Le goût, le goût, le goût” (“Taste, Taste, Taste” in English) — the title a reference to the fashion program that propelled her into the spotlight, “La mode, la mode, la mode.” But this consummate Parisienne is against hard-and-fast rules when it comes to style.
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“The idea of this book is to question the notion of taste — neither good nor bad taste, but simply one’s own. I feel that right now, everyone has the same taste. Instagram and Pinterest have made things very bland, and it’s not even that nobody’s taking any risks, it’s that the very idea of taking a risk, of doing something personal, has disappeared,” she laments.
To Golovanoff, the daughter of antique dealers, that’s akin to having no personality.
“For me, taste is like a map, it’s almost like ID, it’s the sum of 10,000 little details. You have the tastes you advertise, hidden tastes, private tastes, explosive tastes, tastes that change over time. And in the end, all of that defines who you are. I think it’s something you shouldn’t neglect, because at the end of the day, it’s a source of fulfillment and happiness,” she argues.
Her book covers all areas, with sections dedicated to interior design, fashion, beauty and food, each accompanied by an interview with an expert: architect and interior decorator Charles Zana; accessories designer Pierre Hardy; makeup artist and beauty brand founder Violette Serrat, and chef Heloïse Brion, known by the pseudonym Miss Maggie’s Kitchen.
“They’re all leaders in their field, so I asked them about formal taste, acquired taste and given taste. But I’m no expert,” she says. “I question the idea of taste in a bid to hold up a mirror for others to ask themselves, ‘What is taste? What is my taste? I mean, do I have to love rattan right now?'”
Having launched her cashmere line in 2016, it was only a matter of time before Golovanoff turned her hand to interiors. The publication of the book coincides with the launch of her first homewares collection, developed with La Redoute, the French online retailer owned by Galeries Lafayette.
“It’s the ancestor of the internet,” she says, recalling how as a teenager she would spend hours leafing through the thick catalogue. “When they approached me, I didn’t think twice.”
A nomad by instinct, Golovanoff moves every three years on average with her husband and two children, though they never stray far from the same area of the Left Bank of Paris. Along the way, the DIY aficionado and creative problem-solver has acquired a certain expertise in how to furnish a space.
While she loves to scour flea markets and antique stores for vintage furniture, she relished the opportunity to create items like a velvet couch in a ’70s-inspired shade of tobacco; a geometric-patterned wool carpet, and shirred curtains in an ivory bouclé fabric that add texture to a room.
Prices begin at 29.99 euros for a metal vase and rise to 1,799 euros for the sofa, which is made in Italy to order.
“It’s a universe of colors and materials, and textures and palette. I think I really see the world in color,” explains the designer, who was looking for the sort of flattering shades she likes in her sweaters. “Combining colors and then creating a harmony, that’s what I try to do.”
Sylvette Lepers, head of designer and image partnerships at La Redoute, says Golovanoff has an instinctive knack for interiors.
“It was very enjoyable because Alexandra is very assured in her taste. She knows what she wants and what she doesn’t want, and she really collaborated with our designers. It was a very natural process,” she says.
“But I also think there are no set borders. Fashion people are interested in interiors, interiors people are interested in fashion. That makes for interesting encounters, which are the essence of a successful collaboration,” Lepers adds.
Golovanoff hopes to inspire others to be a little more experimental and unique. In her book, she chronicles some of her more daring looks from the days of her TV show, which ran from 2006 to 2019.
“Some of them are downright ridiculous. But so what? With hindsight, it’s no big deal to get it wrong. If you loved it at the time, if it allowed you to express yourself, and it was fun and made you happy, then why not?” she says.
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