Cristian Mohaded channels emotions and memories into designs for Louis Vuitton’s home decor line

SINGAPORE – Louis Vuitton’s latest design collaborator, Argentinian designer Cristian Mohaded, gets emotional when he sees or touches materials such as wood, stone, textiles or leather.

“I feel like a child again when I get to work with raw materials and the powerful emotions – excitement, awe, exuberance – help guide my vision in imbuing form to something that looks almost shapeless,” the 45-year-old multidisciplinary designer tells The Straits Times.

He flew into town on Oct 1 from his home base in Buenos Aires for the week-long Savoir Rever event, which showcases French luxury maison Louis Vuitton’s new home decor line.

Shoppers and collectors pay thousands of dollars for its iconic monogram, which features stylised quatrefoil flowers – with four petals forming a diamond shape – and the overlapping initials of its namesake founder, who started the brand in Paris in 1854.

In 2023, Mohaded was invited by LV to collaborate with other renowned designers for the inaugural LV Home Collections.

The collection was first shown in the northern Italian style capital of Milan in April during Milan Design Week 2025.

Passion and palettes

Mohaded’s work caught the eye of the LV team for his namesake studio’s focus on creating a synergy between his cultural Latin American roots and a more universal design approach.

He and his team in the Mohaded Studio in Buenos Aires work at the intersection of heritage, materials and narrative, drawing on techniques and memories rooted in his birth town in Catamarca and the urban sprawl of Buenos Aires.

At Mohaded Studio, which he founded in 2008, even the most modern forms are infused with a tangible sense of place and emotional authenticity, making each object far more than decorative – it becomes a vessel for both memory and meaning.

Also celebrated as a South American design ambassador, Mohaded’s works include tie-ups with leading luxury brands such as French furniture retailer Roche Bobois and Italian fashion house Loro Piana.

“The Argentinian landscape, its colours and geometries are all full of emotions and always an inspiration to me,” Mohaded says.

He notes that materials are never neutral, as they have a voice, a history and a presence.

“Often, the material itself becomes the starting point. By researching it, understanding its history, processes and possibilities, then a gesture, an emotion or a direction emerges. I’m interested in how the material responds to time, how it ages, how its texture or bark evolves with use.”

This is nowhere more evident than in his design for the Pegaso Chair, which is part of the LV Home Collections. The three-legged seater features a sleek, curved leg as back support.

“I’ve never shared this before – actually, I sketched the design for the Pegaso in about two minutes,” he says with a laugh.

This was after his team pored over more than 10 years of design research on the LV brand, such as fashion shows, its trunks and the “savoir-faire” – or distinctive expertise – that sets the maison apart from other European luxury names.

“The design came to me instantly because after looking at the research, I could see how LV in the past has always aspired to stand out from the crowd and do things differently,” he says.

It felt natural to design the back leg of the chair in a way that makes it stick out, he adds, as he did not want it to be aligned or constrained.

“When we place chairs around the table, we rarely pay attention to the back of the chair. With the Pegaso’s curved accent, there is also a nod to movement which evokes the grace of the mythical winged mount, Pegasus.”

F1 revelry

Mohaded met guests and fashion industry players at the Savoir Rever event at Mett Singapore hotel in Fort Canning, which ends on Oct 6, a day after the Formula One (F1) Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix.

A highlight of the races is the unveiling of the F1 Louis Vuitton Trophy Trunk in Singapore, which has been specially designed for the winning team.

LV partnered F1 in a 10-year agreement in October 2024 to craft bespoke trophy trunks for other major Grand Prix circuits.

Each trophy trunk merges heritage with innovation. A signature “V” for “victory” is super-imposed on the monogram canvas which is not only inspired by the F1 finish line but also to celebrate the sport’s elite championship.

LV’s Savoir Rever series of events – which means “knowing how to dream” in French – started in 2023 in global cities such as Los Angeles and Bangkok, followed by editions in 2024 in other hubs like Melbourne and Taipei.

The event also shines the spotlight on LV’s expanding home and lifestyle collections – an increasingly important focus for the brand, which has maintained its storied atelier since 1859 in Asnieres, just outside Paris.

LV homes in on new designs

LV’s ground-breaking Home Collections comprise five key categories.

The first is the Objets Nomades collection of limited-edition luxury furniture and design objects. It was launched in 2012 and created through collaborations with renowned designers.

Next is the new Signature Collection of furniture and lighting which introduces collaborations with visionary designers such as Mohaded, Patrick Jouin and Jaime Hayon.

Then there is LV’s Decorative Objects collection of textiles and smaller decorative pieces.

The LV Tableware line features a range of designs inspired by LV’s signature motifs.

The last category – LV Exceptional Gaming – includes pieces such as a pinball machine inspired by American singer-designer Pharrell Williams’ Men’s Fall-Winter 2025 collection, adding an element of levity into the luxe leitmotif of the collection.

Mohaded, who was born in the mountainous province of Catamarca – known for its picturesque Andes peaks, volcanoes and deserts – says he was inspired from a young age by his grandmother and mother to create works of art.

He spent a lot of time with his grandmother, who, although not a professional artist, would go out into the wilds to express the beauty of the Andean countryside through her oil paintings.

“She captured colours and textures on canvas in a very dramatic and poetic personal style,” says Mohaded, who is of Arabic and Argentinian descent.

His Argentinian mother, an educator, used wool yarn to knit things for the home when she had spare time after school.

“From a young age, I was exposed to drawing, which I have grown to love,” he says. “Through my early drawings, I learnt to look out for tiny details, which are very important to me even today when I’m working in my studio.”

Collaborative synergy

Mohaded’s Signature Collection cuts across eight design categories, making it the largest by a single collaborator in the collection.

These include the Aventura Sofa and Armchair, Pegaso Chair, Atlas Table, Noe Lamp, Chacana Rugs, Inti Vases, and Echo and Sunset textiles. Prices range from $14,600 for the Pegaso Chair to $43,500 for an Aventura Armchair.

He says leather plays a central role, not only because it is deeply linked with the Louis Vuitton DNA, but also because of its precision and association with nobility in the last two centuries.

“Stones like onyx or travertine and woods, with their warmth, bring contrast and balance,” he says.

He adds that working with the maison was an extraordinary experience. The collaboration transformed his initial sketches into something visually much richer, he adds, thanks to LV’s mastery of savoir-faire.

“We used techniques that come from the fashion world, such as stitching, straps and pinched folds, in furniture and objects.

“This collective process is at the heart of the collection. It is not just my vision, but also a shared one, where artisans, designers and the brand’s heritage help shape the final look and feel of the pieces.”

Info: To view selected pieces in the LV Home Collections, visit LV’s Island Maison store at B2-36 Marina Bay Sands, 2 Bayfront Avenue. For more information on the collection and the Savoir Rever event, call LV Client Services on 6788-3888.