RPW Design, a leading hospitality interior design practice in East London, has been reaching new heights as founder Jan Wilson welcomes Ariane Steinbeck as the firm’s new Managing Director.
Ariane’s award-winning career has spanned throughout the United States, Asia and now Europe, with key projects featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and CNN. Luxurious Magazine managed to catch up with Ariane to ask her exactly what it takes to do her job.
LM: What inspired you to join RPW Design?
AS: I was inspired to join RPW Design as it offered me the opportunity to take a company that was already doing work I admired and lead it into the future. My vision for RPW was honed by my previous experiences and lessons from various successes and failures. The ability to start “over” in a field that I know and love with an incredible team was an exciting opportunity I had to take.
LM: What is it about RPW Design which makes it one of the most creative interior design agencies in London?
AS: RPW Design takes its creativity and flair from the fact that we are a group of people who are given the individual creative freedom to innovate and design. Working alongside women who have the professional and life experience to guide and shape talent means an open, honest and reflective team.
AS: Voracious reading and keeping my eyes open in reality and the alternative reality, the internet. Plus travel, of course!
LM: Can you tell us about your career journey and how it evolved?
AS: At home, I was steered towards a career in hotel management, but my heart wasn’t in it. I liked staying in hotels, not working in them, although I did enjoy my time in the kitchen, as I am a passionate home cook. At Cornell University I was exposed to hotel design and I’ve never looked back! Even though it can be said that I generally followed the path of most resistance. My passion for design is something that has always been at the core of my career choices.
LM: What elements of luxury hotel design can you implement in your own home?
AS: Buy the very best mattress you can afford. You may think the price is ridiculous, but consider how much time you actually do spend in your bed! And then get sheets that will make you want to spend the rest of the day in bed as well. Hotels sell sleep. I don’t think there’s anything more important than a restful sleep.
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