The Way I Work... Anissa Kermiche
In our series where we look at the things, places and people that inspire a creative’s working life, Marie Claire Chappet meets designer Anissa Kermiche
The success of Anissa Kermiche is such that, even if you don’t know her name, you will have seen her bottoms. Namely, the shapely derrière ‘Love Handles’ vases that are synonymous with her brand. The Paris-born, French-Algerian designer originally worked in corporate engineering before following her passion to London where she re-trained as a jewellery designer. Her eponymous line, founded in 2016, began with imaginative fine jewellery and has since found a cult following with its irreverent homewares. She sits down with Service95 to talk about pink rooms, movie interiors and the importance of not putting off your dreams…
On Her Perfect Working Environment… Not to sound like a diva, but I need a pink room to work in. And I have two! One, in my London Bridge office, which is inspired by a dream work-from-home setup: a living room space, a homely kitchen, a cinema for film nights and a cosy space for creative brainstorming. The other is my actual bedroom. Some of my best ideas come to me just as I’m waking up.
On Her Working Playlist… We have an office rule: every day someone different DJs. Thank God we all have quite similar taste in music! I couldn’t function otherwise as I am very specific with music. But it still allows us to discover newness… a whole new wave of female rappers – Ice Spice or Saweetie – singing about empowerment, independence and freedom.
On Seeking Inspiration… Everything I watch impacts my creativity. I’m drawn to the interior design and colour palettes film directors use. I will never forget the incredible house in Parasite, or the neutral colours of Dune. I went to see Tár recently and I was stunned by that Berlin loft – the brutalist architecture and raw cement walls were just an absolute wow. I also love dance. Be it Sleeping Beauty at London’s Royal Opera House or Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance, I am obsessed with choreography and watching bodies moving in symbiosis. I’m really proud of the French dancer and choreographer Léo Walk – he deserves all the success he is having.
On Her Best Career Advice… My friend Sabrina Herlory-Rouget, the CEO of Mac Cosmetics in France, told me: “If you talk about it, it’s a dream, if you envision it, it’s possible, but if you schedule it, it’s real.” I’ve taken that with me: whatever it is in life, if you don’t schedule it, it gets easily lost and remains a dream.
On Her Most Prized Possessions… Since I started my business we have created hundreds of designs. Each piece of jewellery, each object, requires so many hours of sketching, measuring, researching and remaking. Keeping the moulds that allow us to remake a piece from an old collection if a client asks is magical. Looking at the library of past work makes me proud; this is more important to my heart than any possession.
On Her Favourite Artwork… A drawing by Lucian Freud that I bought a year ago, of a young and an older woman chatting. It is the mature, wise spirit in me trying to tame and teach the wild, naïve side of me.
Discover the Amuse Bush collection at anissakermiche.com until September 2023
Marie-Claire Chappet is a London-based arts and culture journalist and contributing editor at Harper’s Bazaar
