MODELS OF DESIGN
Highrise teams up with fashion house
February 9, 2008
Alex Newman
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
There's Fendi in the lobby, Fendi in the bathroom, Fendi at suppertime. Heck, there's even Fendi in the spa room by the pool.
A new condo project, NXT at Windermere by the Lake, has teamed up with high-end fashion house Fendi Casa to showcase its new model suite.
While pairing fashion houses with condo projects isn't a common occurrence in Toronto yet, it happens a lot in other cities, such as Miami and New York, says Maria Athanasoulis, marketing vice president for Cresford Developments.
And it's something Toronto buyers are ready for, she adds.
"This is the kind of style these buyers are accustomed to."
Not only are the lobby and model suite furnished completely by Fendi, but NXT is dangling an extra incentive to purchasers – a complete Fendi package, available at a discount from a studio in the building. When Athanasoulis first trekked down to Fendi headquarters in Miami to work with the company's design consultants, she was stunned by the array of striking colour and material palettes, unusual fabrics, uniquely styled furniture and eye-catching accessories.
What sold Fendi on wanting to work with NXT was the condo's proximity to the lake, and the fact that the building was designed by noted Toronto firm architectsAlliance.
The building's architecture includes a 29-storey, glass-and-steel exterior with courtyard, boardwalk and water garden and a see-through main lobby with a two-storey glass walkway between the two future condo towers.
Inside, the look is decidedly Old World. The lobby's floors are charcoal slate, and the furniture that greets residents is high-backed side chairs with sloping arms, a loveseat in black and cream jacquard and modern birch coffee table on slim steel legs.
In the model suite, vivid hues play a more dominant role. Cerulean blue pops out against the otherwise creamy neutrals of the living space, picking up the azure of the lake that's visible from large wraparound windows.
One bedroom in lightning-bolt yellow contrasts with the headboard wall in black, while another is set in a version of terra cotta toned down by cream walls and dark accents.
The Fendi furnishings, with their curves and come-hither textiles, are evocative of modern European interiors – that is, while everything is co-ordinated, nothing looks "matched."
A sumptuous round chair is the living room's subtle secondary focal point – the first being the view – and the form is repeated in a smaller, second blue chair, as well as a duo of nesting tables topped in faux alligator on trim stainless legs. The entire grouping rests on a signature F-for-Fendi cream wool carpet.
In the nearby dining space, four parson's-style chairs – with plump backs – surround a square cream-coloured table. The cream Fendi dishes – with blue Fendi napkins and chocolate Fendi placemats – are set directly under the delicate Murano glass chandelier with that telltale F on each arm, while a Fendi vase spills over with white lilies.
This unique, highly tactile approach continues in the master bedroom – a patchwork rug (Fendi, of course) in variously textured squares grounds the room and a queen bed laden with gazillion-count Egyptian cotton sheets shows off its flocked velvety box spring.
A silky gold coverlet draped across the bottom of the bed contrasts with the smooth cotton sheets, natural linen covers and assorted pillows.
Toronto Star