Designers We Love: Sarah Bain

WORDS Amelia Brown

South African hairdresser-turned-award-winning-furniture-designer Sarah Bain shares what it’s like to change course, pursue a passion, and live in Paris.

Born and bred in Cape Town to parents who were passionate about restoring old Cape furniture, Sarah recalls weekends and school holidays “being dragged around dorpies looking for yellowwood and stinkwood pieces, often disguised under layers of peagreen oil paint, and then being forced to help restore them – uncool for a teenager!”

Sarah’s hairdressing training led her to Paris, and later a job at L’Oréal where she remained for 20 years, rising through the ranks to become international director of education. At the age of 50, ready for a new challenge, she signed up for a course at an art school, Écoule Boulle, to “transform some sort of latent flair into the profession of furniture design and wood handcrafting”. She set up Atelier de Sarah in 2015.

Making a life as an artist in Paris sounds like a dream come true!

I am married to a fabulous Frenchman, Jean-François; I am fluent in the language, quirks, cheese culture and driving habits; and I’m grateful to France for having integrated me. I love living here!

You’ve won awards for your work?

My piece Aurore just won the 2016 Carrousel des Métiers d’Art et de Création Young Talent Award (“young” referring to my experience, not my age!). The prize, worth €5 000, was a stand at the Carrousel du Louvre.

Tell us about your Aurore piece.

Aurore (the French word for dawn) is a console in luminescent wood inspired by the work of French Art Deco designer Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, revisited in a contemporary way using traditional techniques and materials (wood, veneers), contemporary materials (Plexiglass) and modern technology (LED lighting).

What inspires you?

I am passionate about styles from about 1900 to 1965, which includes Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Arts and Crafts and Mid-century Modern. My life has had quite a lot to do with Japan, and you’ll also see a Japanese element overlaying my work.

What do you love about what you do?

I love going into people’s homes, listening to their stories and needs, and building, together, the concept for a piece of furniture that will become part of their memories. I get immense satisfaction from the complicity that develops and the joy as they receive their own bespoke, handcrafted, stamped piece of furniture.

What’s on the horizon for 2017?

I am sure the young trendies will be making furniture in curved, bulbous, amoebic forms manufactured with digital milling machines or poured resins, but it’s not my thing! I’m about authentic, slowly made, timeless design, using locally grown woods (no melamine, chip or fibreboard), which I guess is a trend in itself, but not mainstream. My next project will be something combining wood with slate and mother-of-pearl inlay.

See more work from Atelier de Sarah here.