[Designers of Brazil]: "Design is for feeling", says Victor Vasconcelos

^{Victor Vasconcelos, a designer from São Paulo, emerges on the national scene, with a strong international flirtation, creating pieces for his brands Zeea and Eminência em Preto, as well as designing for major furniture brands. In a chat with Expo Revestir, he talks about his trajectory, creations and influences}

By Simões Neto

It was an autumn afternoon like I haven't experienced in a long time, after two years cooped up at home. Visiting designer Victor Vasconcelos at the Zeea shop in São Paulo, the place where his creations reign supreme, reminded me of the time when the world was fading away and my senses and curiosity turned solely to listening to the stories I was told.

Victor involves: either by his calmness, or by his passions personified in sofas, armchairs, lamps and objects that are presented in the labyrinth of surprises that is his shop in São Paulo. In every corner, a revelation full of feelings, elegance and stories.

But who is Victor Vasconcelos? "I was born and raised in São Paulo, I had a very peaceful childhood alongside my sister (Larissa Vasconcelos), we had a lot of fun in our universe created in many moments inside the house, after school. Today we are partners and cultivate a very great affection and love for each other. In adolescence, things became more agitated and I became a bit of a rebel: I was an emo youngster who liked to go out a lot", says the designer, and continues:

"My parents never held me back, but always made it clear that freedom was accompanied by responsibilities. Today that rebelliousness still exists within me, but in a different way. I believe that it has somehow influenced my creative self", he says.

Victor says that he did not fit in the standards that were expected by society: "I used to go to school in boots, blue eye shadow and received encouragement from my parents to express myself the way I felt comfortable with my essence", details.

A Product Design graduate from Istituto Europeo di Design (IED), Victor reveals that it was there that he discovered what made sense for his career. "It was incredible to see how things started to fit in with all the baggage I brought with me. Since then I haven't stopped. Today, I travel through different universes, but I keep my essence in everything I do. I currently have my own brand, Eminence in Black, but I design for Breton, Marché Art de Vie and Zeea.

In an exclusive interview for Expo Revestir 's Designers of Brazil Series, Victor talks about his great passions: mother, design, projects and the creative process.

EXPO REVESTIR: I heard about you from a friend who commented on a statement of yours that he heard at an event: "when I was a child, my mother used to take me to see works of art at MASP and ask me: 'what are you seeing? I would tell her. Then she would ask: 'and what do you feel? What impact have these experiences had on your adult life?
Victor Vasconcelos: I consider this moment with my mother as a turning point that made me perceive a world different from the one we see with the naked eye. What we feel is something that is also very important and relevant for art and for life in general. It is possible to observe things through feeling and not only seeing.

EPRV: So, design is feeling?
VV: In my work, design is feeling. It is the emotions that I put into my pieces. Everything I feel, see and that somehow makes sense to me, I express in my creations.

EPRV: There is a work dedicated to your mother. Tell us about her!
VV: My mother's name is Jo Vasconcelos, she is a fashion designer and taught at the European Design Institute for many years. She is extremely caring and never judged me. On the contrary, she always tried to understand me, encourage me to be who I really was and am and never wanted me to adjust to what I didn't want. Therefore, "being a misfit" in my family was always seen as something positive. Sometimes I believe we have a relationship from other lives. If I'm not feeling well, for example, she calls me, intuitively, even without knowing. I like to say that she has always been the perfect mother for someone as weird as me. Being with her is like my personal paradise, it's cozy, and that's why I decided to create the J.O. sofa, because it represents exactly the sensations I have when I'm with her: coziness, care and love.

EPRV: What is the purpose of Zeea, your furniture brand?
VV: Zeea's purpose is to transform poetry and feelings into furniture. We work with a sensorial design focused on going beyond the visual. These are pieces that tell stories, have a plot and go hand in hand with poetry, aligned with the highest quality. I believe that everything is important for the brand's essence to be transmitted. That's why the architecture of the shop, the soundtrack that permeates the environments and the consonance with the collections presented... everything is designed to make sense.

EPRV: Your works are fluid, organic, well structured and all composed of comfort. How is it to build collections apparently so complex?
VV: It is always a big challenge to produce pieces that escape a little from the aesthetics of the current market. So, we have a team committed to thinking outside the box. I believe that this motivates everyone involved in the creation process, both the team that works in the shop and the one that works in the factory.

EPRV: At what time of day are you most inclined to create?
VV: The early morning is the time when I find myself most connected to my essence. When I create, I realize that it's like it's not 100% me there, I always end up influenced by what I'm seeing, hearing, feeling...

EPRV: Inspiration comes from where?
VV: Inspiration comes a lot from what I live. It is important that I perceive myself and am aware of what I see, feel, hear. The people around me also end up bringing life experiences. So my creations come from real life experiences.

EPRV: Sofas, armchairs, objects, tables... What do you miss creating and what gives you the most pleasure in designing?
VV: What I most enjoy creating are sofas and armchairs, it's amazing to see pieces that were only in my head take shape. I have yet to design a bookcase and some other objects that are forming in my head.

EPRV: Fabrics, finishes, seams and an infinity of details. What can't be missing in a piece signed by Victor Vasconcelos?
VV: What can't be missing without a doubt is a feeling. All my pieces have plot, poetry and history: this is fundamental.

EPRV: Is there a drawing you did, but couldn't execute due to some technical difficulty? Did you give it up or are you just waiting for the right moment to start again?
VV: Yes, I designed some wooden pieces a year and a half ago and I had a hard time finding a supplier that worked with organic format wood. But I haven't given up yet, because I like the challenge of doing something new.

EPRV: Eminence in Black is a projeto which translates some of your vast repertoire. What is this projeto about?
VV: I joke that Eminence in Black is my therapy session. It's a brand that represents my alter ego. So it's basically my light side and my shadow side. I believe everyone has both sides. I manage to put into the design of the pieces what goes on in my head and the things that go on in my life.

EPRV: You design for your own shop and for other brands. What is the difference in designing for different profiles and purposes? Please name some pieces and brands you have designed for!
VV: I really like to move in different universes and still be able to put my essence in all of them. At Breton I recently launched the Athos armchair, a remake of a piece I had at home when I was a child. I learned to read sitting in it. Even though I use different brands, I always end up bringing history and poetry to the pieces. Maybe that's what is making people look at my work. Another creation I really like are the Pills: bottles I designed for Eminence in Black with several words of feelings that made, or still make, sense to me. At Zeea it's the sofa J.O. I believe this piece brings all the baggage I carry with me of affection, love and respect for my mother and my family.

EPRV: What do you feel like creating that you haven't done yet?
VV: I haven't made a bar cart yet, maybe because I don't drink very often, but it might be an exciting challenge to create a piece like that.

Interview written to the soundtrack of Delibes: Lakmé, Act 1:Duo des Fleurs, with Sabine Devieilhe and Marianne Crebassa.