With a clientele list that reads like a who’s who of Hollywood’s elite – think James Cameron, Colin Firth and Cate Blanchett – Yasemin Richie is seriously earning her stripes in the art world with her film-inspired collection, Storylines, garnering major attention at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF).
The interior designer and artist, who first showcased her Storylines works at last year’s DIFF, is back for another year and more celebrities. Not only is she hosting a stand at the gifting lounge, but Yasemin has also been smoozing with her new famous fans at the red carpet events.
“Cate Blanchett, Colin Firth and Kevin Spacey all have Storylines inspired by their Oscar-winning films,” said Yasemin.
Each Storylines piece deconstructs and manipulates colours from film stills. The result is varying shades of stripes. “When Colin Firth saw my The King’s Speech piece he said he recognised the colours immediately, having lived in the colour palette while making the film,” said Yasemin. “That was a great thing to hear.”
The film festival has been a huge springboard for Yasemin. Since her stint last year she has collaborated with Paul Smith and was the first host at the exclusive Peroni Privato dinner by Club Uno. Yasemin was also a winner at the Emirates Woman Woman Of The Year Awards 2013, winning the Artists category. Emirates Woman managed to catch up with Yasemin to discover more about her experience at DIFF, her A-list fans and her plans.
How does your participation at DIFF 2013 compare to last year?
Last year we launched the retail collection. It was the first time we showed Storylines. Since then we’ve launched the same collection in Bloomingdale’s Home and we’re always getting requests for more exclusive pieces, so we decided to create a limited–edition collection.
Yasemin Richie with Deputy Editor Alexandria at the Peroni Privato exclusive dinner
What do you hope to achieve from this DIFF?
I hope to increase my exposure as an artist and designer and showcase my work to another artistic audience.
What was your best experience last year?
I was honoured to be asked by Dubai Cares and Oxfam to create a Storylines piece inspired by The King’s Speech, which was signed by Colin Firth and auctioned at the Oxfam Charity Gala Dinner.
Who do you plan to impress at this year’s event?
I’m very excited about meeting Martin Sheen, and I’m looking forward to showcasing not only the limited–edition collection, but the new gift pieces that are now available in Bloomingdale’s Home.
How did the concept for Storylines come about?
I’m a film lover and the colours in film are always very apparent to me. In fact, I sometimes pay more attention to the colours than I do to the story itself. I wanted a way to take these colours out of a film, without any of the imagery, and display them. At first it was just an idea to use the colour palettes of films as the basis for other design concepts, but then the idea grew into Storylines.
Describe the process behind making Storylines?
A film is the sum of thousands of still images, passing the eye so quickly that they become a moving picture. We extract these frames as individual photographs, stretching and compressing each one into a thin line, and replacing them in sequence so that the moving image becomes still again.
Which is your favourite Storyline?
It changes all the time. At the moment it’s between a Storyline inspired by Scarface and one inspired by Shawshank Redemption.
Any new art projects in the pipeline?
My company, Yasemin Richie, has just launched another collection – Atlas. After a really exciting project in conjunction with Saks Fifth Avenue, the collection is available in Mood in Mall Of The Emirates, JBR and Galeries Lafayette in The Dubai Mall.
What’s the biggest career hurdle you’ve faced to date?
The hardest thing for me is showing my work to people. It was very daunting last year to show the Storylines to directors, producers and the actors that made the films, but we got such a positive response it’s going to be easier this time round.
What has been the highlight of your career so far?
Winning my category at the Emirates Woman Woman Of The Year, of course!
