You never know where you will find Tara Bernerd. The in-demand designer splits her time among Switzerland, Milan and London (where her studio is based), though she says she’s usually in an airport lounge waiting for a flight to her next project.
Bernerd’s itineraries have included West Palm Beach, where she infused natural colors and materials into Milos, a new outpost of the upscale Greek restaurant chain; Germany, where she gave the baroque Rosewood Munich a contemporary, residential makeover; and Mexico’s Riviera Maya, where she transformed Maroma, A Belmond Hotel into a stylish ode to Mexican traditions.
Back in Italy, Bernerd ventured beyond hotel and restaurant interiors and into homewares, collaborating with two enduring Italian brands: Frette on a line of graphic, luxurious throws and pillows, and Medea 1905 on a capsule bedroom furniture collection.
After speaking at Forbes Travel Guide’s recent Monaco Summit, Bernerd sat down with us and shared why hotels are “lifestyle palaces,” what she’s working on next and how if you can’t find her, she’s likely in this charming Tuscan town.
Bernerd helped Maroma, A Belmond Hotel, Riviera Maya elevate its look.
William Jess Laird
Where do you find creative inspiration?
I’ve traveled since I was very young. Although I was born and raised in London, most of the time we were traveling somewhere. Part of my culture was being exposed to places in Hong Kong, traveling up the Yangtze River in China, going to New York, spending huge amounts of time in Europe, particularly in Italy and Switzerland.
All those things led me to be somebody with an ingrained interest. I saw how places changed. I was very aware of design as a young person, and my fascination grew. I was exposed, because of my father’s own work [in property development], to many architects — Norman Foster, who I saw recently, was and is a huge mentor; the late Richard Rogers; and later in life, I became friendly with Zaha Hadid — but as a younger person, I saw these architectural triumphs.
And then deep down, I guess I’m an artist. I’ve always drawn — I still draw. I wake up with an inherent purpose to see color and to be around it. I would say it’s a combination of things.
Rosewood Munich was given a contemporary makeover.
Davide Lovatti
You’ve said that you love hotels. Why do you love them so much?
When you travel, you are so exposed to hotels, and one of the things that stuck with me was, in a sense, they were the “lifestyle palaces” of today.
When you look back throughout history, some of the great, especially English, homes or a series like Downton Abbey might touch you — the ceremony, the theater, the way a home wakes up in the morning and in the evening as you draw the curtains. In the old days, you dressed in black tie, and you were served a martini. Well, that’s what the hotels are doing. The ceremony, the coming together of creating these places that just sweep you to another place.
I think I have always been fascinated by that. And if I could play a part in that, that is what led me through travel, through those experiences and very much since I started this business, really working towards working with hotels and hospitality. Maybe it’s my calling.
At our Summit, you mentioned that we must be more aware of wellness. How do you incorporate wellness into your designs?
It’s the bigger picture. Some of the bigger hotels, in the past there may have been a gym or not. Nowadays it is a simple must. You’ve got to have an incredible workout facility, some kind of health benefit. And now, increasingly, there’s an attachment to the spas, the actual services they offer.
We have to be aware of it when we’re space planning right at the beginning. Are we putting that in? Where is it going to go? What is our connection to that? I am thinking about [my upcoming hotel in] Mount Fuji, which is all about nature. We can’t necessarily take everyone on walks, but that relationship to indoor and outdoor is tremendously important from our side. The vistas and how we feel in a space provoke a feeling of wellness, and then throughout that I think there are many other nuances that can come in, too.
Bernerd is playing an important role with the upcoming Six Senses Milan.
Tara Bernerd and Partners
What do you think is the future of hotel design?
I think human nature seeks to explore. Human nature, on the whole, has a social kind of interest. Hotels are an incredible answer to allow people to travel, to socialize, and I think for many years we will see that people are drawn to that. The future of hotels is being aware of the human touch.
I know we get cleverer and cleverer with AI, but I would never underestimate this as we grow the brands and our brilliance in what can be done quickly and efficiently, especially the very high high-end luxury hotel market that’s even above premium luxury.
It’s the understanding of the guest needs. It is tremendously important there is a human element. Then that also can transcend into our designs so that we do something that is seductive but not overbearing, that has sensitivity in the materials that we choose. So there’s texture and tonality. And designing with the locale in mind — the materials, the stones being more indigenous — might allow things to sit and last the test of time.
There’s a lot to be said for some of the family-owned hotel businesses because they’re not building at such a rate. They’re constantly revisiting like home in their hotels, checking if that art goes there, maybe adding something from that family’s own travels. They’re not “home from home” as such, but it goes back to my lifestyle palaces. We must always consider them really important destinations to take care of and celebrate.
A relationship with Frette has blossomed into a creative marriage.
Kate Martin
What made you decide to delve into homewares with Frette and Medea 1905?
We’ve always designed furniture and built it bespoke with the hotels and some private clients. So, designing furniture was not our first rodeo. And whilst building the Six Senses Milan, I met cousins Luigi and Andrea Tagliabue. They were very drawn to everything that I was designing. We ended up working together again when they were designing my furniture for a private client, and they were like, “Tara, we want to build collections with you.”
I said, “Well, let’s go slowly.” In Italian it’s “piano, piano.” Slowly, slowly, one step at a time. For that first step, we decided to launch with eight pieces of furniture, and we’re thrilled. It’s been just a total joy designing and creating this collection.
Whilst I was doing that, I met Filippo Arnaboldi, the CEO of Frette. I personally shop at Frette. It’s the pinnacle of all sheets and toweling. I was talking to him about my furniture collection and one thing led to another and he said, “Why aren’t you doing something with us?” It was Filippo’s vision to invite me in, and my first port of call was to say again, “Let’s start slowly and build the collection.”
To me, it was an opportunity to celebrate color. The collection is called “Disrupting Architecture” because I look back at everything I’ve shared with you about my work, my journey, and took elements from the Chrysler Building, Port Lympne and Eltham Palace [in the U.K.], deco buildings around the world, modernism and messed up all the patterns and played with things, hence disrupting architecture. The graphics that came out felt so right.
It was all about working with Frette, their legacy, the craftsmanship, the artisans who are helping produce this. The combination of all our efforts allowed us to bring the most colorful cashmeres and throws celebrating all the movement. There’s a lot of energy in it. Frette is not dissimilar to Medea 1905, who, by their very own name, [have] been around 120 years. Again, you dive into working with the greatest craftsmanship and artisans. For me it was perhaps something that was always meant to be, but I’ve never engaged in a committed and full collaboration to these extents because you have to wait for the right marriage.
And my work with Frette certainly feels like a very good marriage, and we’re very excited about even the next collections that I’m designing now.
Bernerd’s styles will soon extend from the bedroom to homewares.
Kate Martin
When will those launch?
We will add to our colorways now of the collection we already have, so that will come out as people get more and more used to modernism and deco. You don’t have to buy it as a collection — you can integrate it with Frette’s other things or even in your own home.
We will launch later this year or early next year an extension of all of that — we will move in out of your bedroom and into your home with homewares. And the same with Medea, we will extend on the eight pieces.
What are you working on next?
The Six Senses Milan, which will open early next year, is the most marvelous project. And I just feel so honored to be working in the heart of Italy, in Milan, the most designed savvy of cities. It’s a responsibility and such a privilege, and we have really embraced the local feeling of Brera, which has got a very different vibe than other parts of Milan. It’s going to be a wonderful project with a huge emphasis on wellness, some exceptional rooms and suites and a very unusual building because the windows and the views across that area are incredible and unexpected.
We are starting on hotel near Mount Fuji. In the U.S., I’m really honored to be working on a project for the St. Regis in Fort Lauderdale, which frankly will be game changing.
Later on, we’ve got Six Senses Lake Como coming and a Paris hotel. And I’m writing my second book.
When she isn’t working, Bernerd’s dreaming about designs in Tuscany.
istock_Dar1930
What will the book focus on?
It is about hotels. It’s about experiences, living lifestyles and it’s everything from what we might see in a beautiful suite that we can bring back into our own homes. It’s about exploring new places, experiencing different materials. It is about the world of hotels, and it is about the world. It’s traveling with me for a little bit from my eyes.
What are your favorite travel destinations?
There are many cities I like to visit. I really enjoy going to Stockholm, and if I go, I’ll always stay at Ett Hem, which is a wonderful hotel. A friend of mine, Jeanette [Mix], designed that with a marvelous designer.
I travel a lot around Italy, so one of my go-tos is a place called Forte dei Marmi [in Tuscany]. When you can’t find me anywhere, you might see me there on an orange bicycle.