Behind the Brand with Bernie de Le Cuona

1. Tell us briefly about you and your job as it pertains to the design industry?

I founded de Le Cuona 33 years ago. We design and market fabrics and accessories for interiors of the highest quality. They are rooted in nature and responsibly crafted from the world’s finest natural fibers. I champion traditional techniques and the craftsmanship of specialist artisans while also embracing the latest technology and innovation. I strive to create the most beautiful textiles imaginable that interior designers and end clients fall in love with.

2. What made you fall in love with design?

Design is such an integral part of my world. I cannot think of a time that I wasn’t fascinated by how things are designed and engineered – from a simple kitchen utensil to a beautiful piece of furniture, a paper clip to a groundbreaking architectural wonder. Human creativity never ceases to amaze me.

3. What’s the best piece of advice you have ever received?

As a child, my father taught me, through example, that ‘no’ doesn’t mean no. There is always a way around a problem, even if it isn’t what you first imagined. This lesson has served me well as an entrepreneur and business owner. Often, not knowing perceived norms means you ask questions or have ideas others would not, and I have found that a good thing. Ignorance can be your super-power.

4. What woman in the design industry (past or present)  do you admire most and why?

From the Past

Elsa Schiaparelli was a woman both of her time and ahead of it. I admire her bravery in bringing a bold, fresh new aesthetic to the staid world of Parisian couture in the 1920s – surreal and avant-garde yet elegant. It’s wonderful to see her legacy on today’s catwalks with the revival of the brand under Daniel Roseberry.

From the Present

I love Annabelle Selldorf’s work, especially her recent expansion and renovation of the historic Frick Gallery on Fifth Avenue.  Her quiet, highly refined style that prioritizes the people who use the spaces she creates by focusing on proportion, material quality and restraint over flashy spectacle, which resonates with how I approach the design of my textiles.

5. How do you define success for yourself now vs. when you first started?

In the beginning, although I had a vision of what I wanted to produce and who my customers were, I didn’t always know how to make the textiles I wanted to, or how to take them to market, so everything was a win when things worked out. To begin with it was all about paying the bills and I had no time. It was go, go, go! Now I’m in the fortunate position of having more time, and my focus is more on building and keeping a happy team. Without this, whatever your vision is, you won’t succeed.

6. How have you seen the industry change for women over the years? For example, are you finding that there are more women-owned businesses and designed-by-women products today vs. in the past? 

Unfortunately, the industry has not changed as much as I thought and hoped it might over the last 30 years. I do see a very healthy pipeline of young women interior designers setting up new companies, but I do not see the same when it comes to new product companies, whether fabrics or anything else for that matter. Perhaps it has something to do with the cost of setting up an interior design business versus setting up a product business, and the gender investment gap for women founders versus male founders. It’s very disappointing.

7. Can you share a moment or project that made you feel particularly empowered as a woman in design?

I love my work and I’d do it regardless, but it was rewarding to be recognised twice, in 2020 and 2023, by the Walpole Power List as someone who excels as a leader of innovation and sustainability in British luxury.

8. How do you stay inspired and push the boundaries of your own work?

For me, life is work and work is life. It is really not a challenge to stay inspired. Inspiration is everywhere, all the time. It might be the colour of a beautiful sunrise, the texture of the bark of a tree when I’m on a walk, or something I see during a gallery visit. I’m lucky that I have the cultural melting pot of London close by and the beauty of nature on my doorstep.