EXCLUSIVE: Grace Coddington on Her Foray Into Home With Astier de Villatte

MILAN — While she hates the word “branding,” Grace Coddington’s talents and image have successfully transcended the worlds of fashion, jewelry, art and even talk TV. Since she stopped working full time at Vogue, she launched a talk show “Face to Grace,” created murals for the bar at the San Vicente Bungalows in Los Angeles and starred in a campaign for jewelry line Pandora, along with Pamela Anderson. This time she’s in Paris, celebrating the release of a home decor collection with Astier de Villatte, the artisanal ceramics firm which imbues the 18th-century tradition ceramics making with up-to-date prints. For the collection that debuted Sunday, her comic-strip like illustrations of her capricious cats personified came to life at the Astier de Villatte boutique in Paris in Rue Saint-Honore during Paris Fashion Week.

The legendary Welsh-born designer and devoted cat lover first encountered the Astier de Villatte’s chic decor after being gifted a mug with a cat on it. In this first series, the firm unfurled six teacups, two sizes of teapots, two saucers and a small sugar bowl with mischievous cats drinking tea, reading the newspaper and engaging in courtship, all in the company of a friendly little mouse. The black and red drawings were printed in relief, as if they are hand-painted.

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Coddington and her partner, hairstylist Didier Malige, first chronicled the lives of their cats in a 2006 book “The Catwalk Cats,” full of Coddington’s drawings and Malige’s photos. It included characters Henri, a surfing chartreuse, his couture-obsessed sister Coco, her friends Baby and Puff a curious long-haired cat from Harlem and more.

In an interview with WWD, the legendary creative director discusses how the adventures of her cats live on, her home debut, her ongoing partnership with Astier de Villatte and where her love for illustration all began.

WWD: Growing up in Northern Wales, you were a fan of children’s comics and British weeklies like Beano and Dandy and glossies like Girl and later in your memoir “Grace: A Memoir” you illustrated your life in fashion. Where did your own talent for drawing begin?

Grace Coddington: I always drew. Was it because of comics? Not really. I’m not a fine artist or anything. And then I used to draw all the girls at [French Catholic] school. It’s true. But, but then I just turned to cats and I did a cat book of drawings called “The Catwalk Cats.”

It’s exciting to have another whole different thing to work with. And also, you know, I’ve always wanted to do something with my drawings. So before this, they were just little well faxes to my boyfriend.…I didn’t do very much, but now they’ve turned into mugs and teapots and all sorts of things.

WWD: You and [Astier de Villate cofounder] Ivan Pericoli share a love for cats — he has three mixes and you [have] three Persians. How did you first encounter Astier de Villatte? 

G.C.: A while back. I eventually noticed that by chance I owned several of their things. Somebody gave me a big mug with a cat on it. Well people give me everything with a cat on it. Anyway, so then I saw that the cat teapot was by Astier de Villatte, this one designed by Setsuko Klossowska de Rola.

WWD: What was your favorite part of the process of working with Astier de Villatte and the process of seeing your first home decor collection come alive? 

G.C.: Well, meeting all the people, and the factory where it’s made is such a beautiful place. It’s all covered in white dust and things. It’s quite an amazing place that there’s, unlike other things, I mean, it’s almost wrong to call it a factory. It’s totally, totally quiet.

WWD: Astier de Villatte cofounder Ivan Pericoli told WWD that this is an ongoing partnership, there are plans to enlarge the collection and there are also “plenty of projects” on the horizon. Are you considering doing anything else within the home sector anytime soon? 

G.C.: No, just with them [laugh].

WWD: Since publishing your memoir and stepping down from Vogue full time, your image and talents have resonated throughout diverse industries and mediums. You’ve been quite successful in branding yourself.

G.C.: Well, I hate that word, branding. I just do things that I love, basically. I’ve done a number of books actually. But they just sort of came about. I didn’t go out and say, I’m going to do this because it’ll make my name and then I’ll make millions.

I wouldn’t mind making millions, but I haven’t yet. And we’ll see [laughter].

WWD: You were a fashion warrior for a long time. Do you miss fashion or being in fashion full time?

G.C.: Me? Yes, I still shoot some things for Vogue, some for W et cetera, so I keep my hand in fashion through that.

But I don’t do that whole thing of going to every show in every country 10 times a year or whatever everybody has to do these days. It was always fun, you know, it’s fun seeing all the people all your friends and all the people you compete with and getting together, but it can get very tiring. It goes from early in the morning to late at night and you end up having dinner and then you’re still talking fashion.…It’s total immersion.

WWD: In 2015, it was revealed that the film rights to the “Biography Grace: A Memoir” were sold. Do you have any plans for an upcoming film? 

G.C.: Oh, that comes and goes and goes and usually goes at the moment. It’s not really happening.

WWD: Have you ever hosted any exhibitions of your work?

G.C.: I did have a show of all photographs I had worked on at James Danziger [Danzinger Gallery in New York City] in like 2002.…It was just before my first book came out. It was Anna Wintour’s idea when I first joined her for the second time in New York, to do an exhibition of all the photographs I’d worked on, both at British Vogue before her and at American Vogue.

And then from that, you know, we pulled all these pictures and stories and things, and from that it became why not do a book? So I did “Grace. Thirty Years of Fashion at Vogue,” which was published by Steidl [a publisher of many of Karl Lagerfeld’s works] and Karl Lagerfeld who was incredibly generous about it, he wrote the intro.…He let me do exactly what I wanted.

WWD: How can one buy your illustrations, or could they ever? 

G.C.: Now listen, I’m trying to sell the mugs here.

WWD: Your life has been marked by great change. Your work as a model to working as a creative director and moving from the U.K. to the U.S. What advice do you have to give to young professionals about facing change and challenge? 

G.C.: I find it difficult myself. I find the whole world difficult, but specifically how the fashion business has changed just within my lifetime. The speed of it I would say…if you do something too fast, it’s possible that it may not be done quite as well as if it were done without consideration.

Taking time, taking time to think and consider, make sure it’s done perfectly. Not in a slapdash way.

WWD: Now that the fashion frenzy and the intensity of the fashion business is something of the past. What are some things that you find joy in on a daily basis? 

G.C.: Well, drawing…I guess slowing down a bit and being able to take time when I want time.

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