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The legendary Red Room, home to Hildreth Meière’s 1931 mosaic masterpiece, has been reimagined as Printemps’ New York flagship. -
Interior designer Laura Gonzalez. -
The bar in the Boudoir at Printemps, created with artist William Coggin. -
Le Salon at Printemps is defined by organic forms and pink floral pendants. -
Hotel Hana in Paris, and its restaurant Hanabi, showcase the meeting of Japanese minimalism and French elegance. -
The exterior of the Cartier boutique in Haikou, China, alternates undulating glass with glossy ceramic tiles. -
inside Cartier Azabudai, Tokyo. -
At Cartier’s Azabudai boutique, custom panels with delicate floral motifs reflect a dialogue between Japanese teahouse serenity and European refinement. -
The hotel blends nostalgia with a refi ned mix of Art Deco, 19th-century allure and eclectic antiques. -
The Lilypad chandelier (in Amber) is composed of individually illuminated, hand-moulded glass petals. -
The Kapla Disco desk features flared legs, wavy drawers and handcrafted marquetry. -
Bosphore wall lamp in Mustard.
Our series on global design luminaries continues with Laura Gonzalez, renowned for her romantically opulent yet timeless approach to interiors.
WORDS Jo Buitendach PHOTOS Gieves Anderson (Printemps), Antoine Wagner (portrait), Stephan Julliard (Hotel Hana), Jérôme Galland (Casa Monti), Courtesy of Cartier, Matthieu Salvaing (Saint James), Tony Pradeu (Kapla Disco, Bosphore), Supplied
Paris-born interior design Laura Gonzalez is known for a creative universe where classic, maximalist and contemporary influences meet, guided by a respect for craftsmanship and a passion for art, sculpture, photography and painting. Her spaces are curated, soulful and unmistakable. She works her magic from a studio that occupies a six-storey Belle Époque mansion in Paris’s 16th arrondissement; more a country estate than a traditional office, it exudes warmth and elegance through patterned carpets, printed fabrics and curated details at every turn. It is from here that Laura collaborates with artisans such as cabinet makers, ceramicists, sculptors and decorative painters to transform spaces into poetic, one-of-a-kind interiors.
For Laura, design is about storytelling as much as about aesthetics. “My ambition is to compose interiors that tell a story,” she says. “Every piece, every pattern, every texture contributes to a visual narrative. I like to invent wandering daydreams, drawing inspiration from panoramic landscapes, wallpapers with sweeping scenes, and delicate touches gathered during my travels.”
Not content with interior design work alone, Laura has in recent years expanded into furniture, lighting and object design, contributing pieces to both permanent and limited-edition collections. She’s also opened galleries in Paris (on Rue de Lille) and New York (on Franklin Street), which function as exhibition spaces, creative laboratories and staging areas. “I often reconfigure them with a scenographic dimension, based on themes,” she explains, thus turning each space into a constantly evolving narrative.
Laura’s first book, Intérieurs (published by Rizzoli in 2023), offers a glimpse into her most emblematic projects and recent creations, tracing the evolution of her distinctive style. From elegant homes and luxury hotels to restaurants transformed into works of art, it is both a retrospective and a source of inspiration, showing how she seamlessly blends tradition with modernity.
Among her many notable projects, the Saint James hotel in Paris’s 16th arrondissement stands out. Laura has transformed a private mansion into a sumptuous 50-room château-hotel, in which Art Deco touches, 19th-century references and a rich collection of antiques converse with the building’s grand architecture. The lounges, rooms and suites celebrate colour, texture and the artistry of French craftsmanship, offering guests an experience that is both refined and delightfully eclectic.
March 2025 saw the arrival of Printemps in New York – a showcase of Parisian savoir-faire in the heart of Manhattan. Laura’s interiors explore a poetry of contrasts, pairing marble with soft fabric and classicism with contemporary boldness, and translating the spirit of the iconic Parisian store for a global audience. Highlights include a brasserie, a bar, and her reimagining of the historic mosaicked Red Room (by Hildreth Meière, 1931), which has been transformed into an enchanted forest where gigantic silver flowers bloom, their petals catching the light and casting ever-shift ing shadows.
The recently opened Casa Monti in Rome embraces a sunny, colourful aesthetic rooted in Italian tradition. In a celebration of la dolce vita, each space functions as a stage, inviting guests to experience the hotel as a living tableau, and effortlessly blending Italian elegance with bohemian fl air.
Laura and her team also designed several boutiques for Cartier, including Cartier Azabudai in Tokyo and Cartier Haikou in China. These projects extend her ongoing collaboration with the maison, allowing her to explore a more international design language. Cartier Haikou is an interior interpretation of the tropical island of Hainan. Spanning three levels, it takes visitors on a sensory journey through a variety of spaces and moods, from the island’s marine depths to its lush mountain peaks. | lauragonzalez.fr
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