MASCULUS – The Male Domain

We chatted to Leoni Smit about her book MASCULUS The Male Domain- a landmark publication on South African men and the way they style their interior spaces.

WHAT DROVE YOU TO PUBLISH MASCULUS?

Naturally this question makes me think of the ‘Why Don’t You” column in Harper’s Bazaar (1936 – 1962) run by Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, who had some outlandish thoughts on impulsive behavior such as: ‘Have an elk-hide trunk for the back of your car? Hermes of Paris will make it. Or turn your old ermine coat into a bathrobe. Or bring back from Central Europe a huge white baroque porcelain stove to stand in your front hall.’ Vreeland’s ‘Why don’t you’ was usually followed by some expansive and somewhat ex- travagant eruptions...and often a tad impractical, which is of course what exquisite style is all about. I thought I should have a ‘Why don’t you’ moment, kick in my heels and do what I fancy. It is play at best and mostly amusing of course to do anything creative. It

is entertaining to photograph homes - looking into a private kaleidoscope and letting the pieces fall where they will.

So this got me out of the blocks to make a book. On Men. And their ways with décor.

WHICH INTERNATIONAL FIGURES IN INTERIOR INTRIGUE YOU?

I favour the fashion-rebels of yesteryear. You had to be introduced and get invited over to view ‘the rooms.’ I love the unique flavours of the socialites of New York, of Paris and Morocco and the precious few images of their uncompromising whims and tastes – the singular direction of those in the know who did not have Pinterest. When people still had a mind of their own and one could only view their intimate worlds when over for tea or a tipple on the lawn or in the drawing room. Names which pop up are Marella Agnelli – one of the Capote Swans and her incredible world of wallpapers and intricate patterns, Lee Radziwill and off course David Hick, Umberto Pasti and the extraordinary Robert Kime. Not forgetting Cy Twombly and his effortless interior. Or as CZ Guest, American author and interior diva remarked – ‘Style is about surviving, about having been through a lot, and making it look easy.’

Regarding the contemporaries, I think of the Russians such as Olga Sedova, of Hamish Bowles of Vogue fame and the iconic Michele Aka Doner, Mary Olsson Nylander. Marcel Wanders and Axel Vervoordt. I think of Martyn Thompson in his Soho Loft which serves as an experimental style lab for rampant curiosity. I think of the tribal beauty of cultural heritage found in African structures, especially in the northern areas where a mix of Indig-enous and European influence merged.

In my days, during the 80s, one could be seemingly outlandish with a black couch and plants growing in the swimming pool because folk lived in yellow houses and were light-headed on Biggy Best and cottage furniture. But with the waves of Pinterest and In- stagram, it has become increasingly difficult not to be served a drink of trend. Cellphones go everywhere – so a quick click of the button could bring everyone closer to being un- original. Being part of a parrot nation is a sad state of affairs and unpoetic, of not having ones’ own intuitive wonder at the world and, of course, there is the mortal sin of following fashions too closely. Of having too much contact with the ‘going-ons’ of others. But then again, through copying, you learn from those who you admire and eventually you find your own trip, your own way...allowing yourself to take a walk in the woods and getting your own stone...

HOW DID YOU CHOOSE THE MEN IN YOUR BOOK

They had to be first and foremost collectors and not in-the-race of what is in and what is out. I chose men who are prominent, but not overexposed. And of course, people’s sched- ules secured them a place in the time frame. It is a bit like lost and found when you work with 23 locations and I could make another coffee table book on the men which are still on a list. The males in MASCULUS are known for their taste, but a tad hesitant of publicity. The interiors of the men in MASCULUS had to be a bit undone, loose at the seams, not too styled or precise...more flexible and unrushed. And of course they had to have a spe- cific reflective presence, a specific way of setting their own pace. All the men in MASCU- LUS have one thing in common – they match a certain energy which is not found on the sidewalk. They are unafraid. Of risks and mistakes. Of carrying interior scars. Of making the eyes bleed.

THERE ARE 23 CHAPTERS IN THE PUBLICATION. WAS IT DIFFICULT TO CONNECT THE DOTS SO TO SPEAK?
MASCULUS is a hefty volume. It took a slice of time to get the flow of 562 pages to
be visually soothing. And it was technically difficult to produce because of the fold-outs which had to be inserted by hand. But my printers gave their pound of flesh! I decided on an index which follows the alphabet which did not favour anyone and made the order fair and just.

How difficult is it to sell an interior publication at R3950.00

The marketing was truly effortless. I think if one promises a voluminous issue, it should be that. It should feel heavy and feel worthy in the hand. The quality of paper and the lay-out should compete with standards set for international publication.

One has to keep oneself pure like a child according to Yohi Yamamoto.

CONTACT Leoni Smit at cheaparistocrat@gmail.com