Merci: So, could you tell us a bit about this beautiful Star Lounge?
Wesley: The Star Lounge was inspired by a silk scarf. You can see the silk scarf I have around my neck by a company called Porter Teleo. It’s the same line you see around you {on the walls}. It’s all hand painted. If you start from one end and go to the other all the panels are done as one of series. Then, they are put on panels and placed on the wall. It’s really a piece of art on each wall, as well as the ceiling, which we’ve illuminated from above.
Wesley: The Star Lounge was inspired by a silk scarf. You can see the silk scarf I have around my neck by a company called Porter Teleo. It’s the same line you see around you {on the walls}. It’s all hand painted. If you start from one end and go to the other all the panels are done as one of series. Then, they are put on panels and placed on the wall. It’s really a piece of art on each wall, as well as the ceiling, which we’ve illuminated from above.
Merci:It looks like a ton of work!
Wesley: It’s amazing, and they do this full time out of Kansas City.
Merci:How did a scarf become the inspiration for a luxury lounge ?
Wesley: Well, I’ve been thinking of the whole idea of fashion. What to do to pull it in as a fashion experience. Last year we used Christian Lacroix fabric and a combination of beautiful things. This year I decided to take the silk scarf inspiration and expand it to where you’re wrapped in a silk scarf. And you kind of are!
It’s all sort of calm, cool and collected. And that’s where Stephanie Hirish’s piece above the mantle came in, “Keep Calm and Carry On.” Do you know who Stephanie Hirsh is? She was a model, now she’s a graphic artist. Donny Deutsch’s girlfriend actually. What she does is a graphic design and then has it beaded. See all the beadwork? All pulled together into a great piece of art!
Merci: Any secrets you can share with us?
Wesley: When you come in here you’re in a lounge like in a hotel or even your house. My events are residential in feel and a lot more comfortable, more-so then a typical lounge. We produce a mixed look. You can see how I’ve used lots of different furniture styles and directions to give it an eclectic feel. We haven’t done a lot of traditional things but we’ve done a few things to relay back to tradition. Most of it is mid-century or closer in. We’ve added in spots of color you can see. We used pinks and corals to finish it out.
My inspiration was from the silk scarf and the colors were a recolored scarf that felt cool, the colorations of a costal feeling. The press uses it a lot because they come in and camp out. They really have liked and responded to it this year because I’ve separated the space so they feel they can get away. We’ve had lots of stars and celebrities and we just had a {New York} Giant, that was kind of fun to let him in – they were just all over him {outside}. He was just so wonderful, so down to earth, really comfortable here and grinning from ear to ear. That was kind of fun.
Merci: What do you want people to get out of the space? What do you want them to walk away feeling?
Wesley: It’s something to talk about, to say this is so different from last year or could you just take this home and put it in my house? There are lots of things I want them to be excited, inspired, and really come away with something out of it. And they all do. Even the people who wouldn’t normally comment come in from the somewhat blank space outside and it’s like wow – this is really something!
I’m a creator of enviornments whether it’s fashion week or a wedding. I take it my client wants to be comfortable. They want to come away feeling that this is a great space and return saying Mercedes Benz has treated me well and given me a wonderful space to lounge in between shows.
Wesley: There’s always the functional approach. You’re designing an event for larger numbers. My policy about a wedding is to make it as intimate as possible. Regardless if its 600 people or 50 people you want to make some sort of intimacy about the space. I always have additional seating, space to make you feel comfortable, that you can go to – that you are drawn into. Even if you can’t sit because there are too many people you can at least visualize the space so you have a comfort feeling.
Merci: What makes a Wesley {designed} Wedding?
Wesley: We always manage weddings from the very beginning to the very end, often where my brides usually have moms who have known me before. They get engaged and it’s like what do we do now? Where do we go next? They call me. I know even before the bridesmaids. We help them through the process. We handhold. We’re a concierge service.
An event is just like theatre except there’s no dress rehearsal. You’re creating a set for something to happen. It’s all really important. And you never know what’s going to occur on stage. Whether you’re doing it here {at MBFW} or at a wedding.
Sometimes they the brides don’t know what they want. It’s my job to help them figure it out. It’s taking that bride where she wants to be in terms of the wedding. That’s most important for me. And that we have fun and enjoy getting there – that it’s a pleasurable experience. If I haven’t done that, then I haven’t done my job. That’s the way I feel about it. I’m going to figure out how to make it work and keep the stress level down. For me that’s a Wesley Wedding . To learn more about Wesley Cadle, the Merecedes Benz fashion Week Star Lounge, and his event and wedding design services, visit Wesley’s web site , “friend” him on Facebook , or follow him on Twitter . Photographs courtesy of Michael Buckner for Getty Images
