Alexis Contant, Vice President/General Manager of the Boston Design Center

Kyle Hoepner, Editor-in-Chief: You have been immersed in the world of luxury products since very early on. Can you tell me a little about that background, and how it prepared you for what you do now?
Alexis Contant: I went to university in Paris, and when I came back I worked in New York for Manuel Canovas, the great French textile firm. I was so lucky, because I was the president's assistant; I didn't go initially into any accelerated position.

KH: So you were seeing all aspects of the business being done in real time?
AC: Every single thing. I was sitting out front, and I fell in love with being at the front desk. I was devastated when I became the director of communications and got my own office.

KH: And you've also worked for the Decoration and Design Building in New York, and the Kip's Bay Decorator Show House—your involvement in interior design long predated your arrival here in Boston.
AC: And I was lucky enough to become a contributing editor for Elle Décor. Being able to see design from many different sides was very helpful and was part of why they created the position for me when I moved up here.

KH: Since you got your start in New York, you have worked in several other cities such as Washington, D.C, and Los Angeles, essentially on the national or international scene. Are there aspects of New England that seem different than other places you've been?
AC: Something new and fabulous in New York immediately gets a tremendous amount of attention. In Boston, there is a much slower acceptance of things. New York, D.C. and L.A. are much more driven toward the glamour aspect of what a brand represents. New Englanders are much more interested in things that are quality-driven and have substance to them. They want to feel that they have bought quality and value, and they want to understand the proposition that is being put in front of them.

KH: How do you see the BDC's role in New England?
AC: We really see our role as the place where the finest products in the industry are found. As one editor put it, we are the “design mecca” for New England. But we also see ourselves as a critical resource for the education of the design community.

KH: For several years now there has been some buzz about changes in the way design centers work, a growing feeling that the traditional trade-only model is inaccessible and obsolete.
AC: I'm so glad you said that. I don't know a designer today who is engaging in a new project where the client isn't coming to him with tear-sheets and saying “These are my ideas” and “This is what I want to accomplish.” We don't want the clients to have their noses pressed up against the glass—they know that in this little palace there's all the best of design on offer but they can't even look at it! That's why we created our Plush membership program. If somebody has a passion for Murano glass, and they see in the Donghia showroom these magnificent Murano glass lamps, and one is all they can afford for right now, I want them to have that Murano glass lamp, because I can guarantee that when the time comes for them to make their next purchase, it's the Crate and Barrel sofa that's going out the door, not the Donghia lamp. We want people to have more access because we want them to have more knowledge. The more knowledgeable and sophisticated consumer will want the better product.

KH: How do you see these changes in New England and within the business of design itself playing out over the coming years?
AC: I think in the home furnishings industry there will be a greater and greater chasm between luxury and not-luxury. Luxury to me is being able to have what is special—that Murano glass lamp, for example, or a fabric that comes in sixteen colors of beige so you can have exactly the one that is good for you. To be able to have something that you haven't had to adapt to, but that is adapted to you—that's luxury. The general population is so much more sophisticated and educated now about design and decorating and what is available, that you can't not give them all the options. It's going to be interesting to see how mass retailers can respond to that.