This is an interview with Vick Vanlian V. V. Join his facebook fan page and Follow him on Twitter! www.twitter.com/vickvanlian

1. Virtual Tour
Vanlian followed
by Envy
the Legacy continues with
Vicken Vanlian
Passion, design, a love for art in all its form, and a great success story are the traits that
define a man who has a personality that makes the word “great” seem ridiculous. We
met with Vicken Vanlian to give you the pleasure of knowing a man that took his father’s
success and made it grow by providing luxury, glamour and fashion as a character to
your home. Knowing that his limits go beyond the skies,Vicken Vanlian took a break from
his busy schedule to share with us the establishment and the development of Vanlian and
Envy.
Can you please tell us the history of As for Envy I wanted to create something new
Vanlian. for people with a touch of luxury, something
customized, where the item he or she buys is
My father founded Vanlian around 50 years personal. Some of the pieces we have include
ago, by coincidence when one of his friends diamonds in them, others include semi-
wanted to buy a bed but couldn’t find one, so precious stones. With Envy we wanted to cater
my father proposed to make the bed for him, people who want to be different and exclusive.
and he did. Another friend of my father saw the We have reached a time where furniture is no
bed and liked it and this is how it happened. longer a need, it is a desire, a passion where
He considered the idea of selling and opened a people feel more precious, more glamorous
small factory, it became successful. Later on he which extends to their furniture.
opened a showroom near the factory and step
by step it became what it is today.
How long have you been working in this
field?
Did he have any background about
furniture?
I started at a very young age, around seven
when I used to go to the factory and work there
No, not at all, he was in electronics, he was
during summer time and any vacation I had. I
selling electrical appliances. He left school at
grew into the business and I loved it, and I grew
a very young age and he started working on
fond of interiors and furniture.
various things until he started selling electronic
appliances.
So you participated in the process of
What is the concept behind Vanlian and Envy?
why Envy after Vanlian?
Envy was purely my idea, it is as we say “my
Vanlian is for everybody, it is for the mass baby”; and the concept developed in terms of
culture, for the pop culture in term of designs variety of designs, colors and shapes. People
and prices. It is for everybody where newlyweds come asking for something very luxurious
can find what they want, single people can find we do that for them, others want something
what they want so do middle aged people; so simpler but unique, and we provide that for
we can say it is for everybody. them as well.
Photos by.Saidé Jabra
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www.saydejabra.com

2. Virtual Tour
You as Vanlian and Envy you do and create your trying to come up with a mix of furniture and from nature, from walking down the street. As What is the most difficult part in your
own pieces? fashion to come up with a new concept or idea. a person I am very open minded so there is no job?
specific thing that inspires me; the other day I
Yes, we do. We have factories all over the world and Lebanese fashion designers? saw the reflection of a tree on a window and I cannot call it difficulty but you always have
depending on the style we choose which factory, in which it inspired me to design a table. For example I to be ahead of everyone else so it becomes
country the required piece should be made. We are affiliated No, international fashion designers. also saw shoes with nice heels so I am designing stressful.
with many factories and according to the product we a chair from that; the list goes on for what
produce it wherever the outcome is the best quality with Which part do you enjoy the most about inspires me sometimes the energy of people
the best price. your work? inspires me, when they walk on the street,
and when I am relaxed I get inspired as well. I How much is the most expensive piece
The creative part because there is always travel a lot to places like Paris, Milan, London, you have and what is it?
What made Vanlian Envy to become the best?
something to do; it is a nonstop process that I and Barcelona; they are my favorite places to
work on and I always end up at home sketching go to, and walking in the street of London for Here I cannot talk about one piece, the whole
I have to say it is because we are not scared to introduce
and designing new pieces and new possibilities. example inspires me. I love London because process is endless, it all depends on what the
something new to the market. We like to be daring and in
It is definitely the part that appeals to me the every person is an individual, in most countries customers want. So far we have one piece that
our society people are usually a bit reserved when it comes
most. everyone wants to be like someone else have diamonds and it is $ 50,000, we have also
to their sense of fashion, so we promote being daring
and different and funky because fashion is so personal. whereas in London it is different, they want to a painting with semi-precious stones with is
What inspires you to design? be an individual. around $ 60,000. As I said the limit is endless,
Everyone’s home is unique to them and having the same
pieces to be seen in different homes remove this sense from for example we did a unique piece for a client
My inspiration comes from everything that that was priced by hundreds of thousands of
their style therefore we try to provide diversity in our pieces
surrounds me, I get inspired from a movie, dollars; so money is with no limits.
so the person can create his own style.
With Envy it was the need to be different because we have
clients who can afford any luxury available, and they come
to us because the pieces are custom made which bring them
pure satisfaction.
What are the future plans for Vanlian and Envy?
We have a plan expansion to open in the Gulf region first
and then hopefully Europe and the world.
How old is Envy?
Envy has been in the market for five year now.
What are your goals for the future after this
achievement?
My goals? Where can I start?! I have too many, and
surprisingly I was thinking about that while driving today. It
may sound cheesy but I like people and love life and I want
to get to know as many people as I can, to interact with as
many people as I can; and I like the fact that throughout a
piece of furniture or interior design or design a house or
a hotel people can forget for a second their worries, and I
want to be able to give that effect to others. So my goal is to
affect as many people as I can.
How are you going to apply this goal on future
projects?
We are contacting designers, fashion designers and we are
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3. Virtual Tour
What is your definition of luxury? I met a Saudi princess who asked me to design
her house. It was my first trip to the Kingdom
I define luxury as satisfaction, for some people having of Saudi Arabia and the cultural differences
an expensive diamond watch is a luxury for others it is shocked me. During the whole experience it
What are the qualities that you took from What is your favorite movie?
different so I can say that it is to satisfy your needs and was like another world. your father?
wants, what you have and what you want to get, and the Life wise it was when I went to London and Avatar. In Avatar they created a whole
satisfaction behind this is the luxury. attended Madonna’s concert, she has so much From my father I inherited new world; dragging you to it with their
perseverance and to have a goal in imagination and a fantastic scenery with
energy so much life coming for her songs life. He provided us with everything floating mountains, and animals
How do you apply your definition to luxury and performances, it was one of the most but always pushed us to have and plants with the design,
bigger dreams and cease bigger the idea and the concept.
into your business? memorable moments of my life. opportunities. They emphasized on
everything we live in,
I always try to define my clients’ perception of luxury Who is your idol? and how we should
What about your take care of our
by meeting them, understand them as people and see qualities or traits planet and respect
what they want, then give that back to them in their It is my dad because he started from scratch and that define you? it, and most
own way. his business grew, he worked a lot to take care importantly respect
I have a big heart. I love our ancestors.
of his family and his big heart filled with love to love and I love to spread
stopped him at nothing to make sure our family that love around me to those What is your
Who are your favorite designers whether they who surround me. I always see
is taken care of. favorite book?
are related or not to furniture? the good traits or side in people
and out of experience when you Lately I have
see goodness in others they give you been reading the
Philippe Starck is one of my favorites, his style is their goodness as an outcome. Celestine Prophecy by
versatile, he affected a lot of people in different ways. James Redfield. It also
Zaha Hadid as an architect, and Tom Ford as a fashion emphasizes on how we can
evolve as people and how
designer. What do you spend most to make this world a better
of your money on? place. It is book that takes you
in its spiritual and psychological
Do you have hobbies or favorite things to do On clothes, watches… issues.
other than traveling? everything fashion.
What is your favorite perfume?
I am addicted to the gym, it is my own therapy, I go What is your favorite brand to I have a lot of perfume and I wear them
wear?
there every day six times a week. It feels like therapy according to my mood.
since my day gets hectic between meetings and phone “My Dad is my Idol” I love Dolce and Gabbana and Dsquared.
Give me the name of the perfume that
calls and everyday’s work, for one hour I forget is elegant.
everything while I am at the gym. What is your favorite type of music?
Tom Ford.
Electro Pop and Pop music. I like Lady Gaga, Kylie
What are the places you stayed in where you Minogue a lot of these new upcoming electro What is your favorite restaurant?
like the designs? bands, Scissor Sisters…
I love Porter House, it is a new restaurant that
opened in Gemmayze, they have delicious steaks.
The Sanderson hotel in London, I always stay there, What is your favorite type of food?
and there is a hotel called Straf in Milan; I like them How about your Favorite dessert?
Hamburgers! Because I don’t get to eat them that
a lot because I like luxury but at the same time “cool often so they are my favorite along with pizza. Pain Perdu at Balthazar’s.
places”. There is also this small nice boutique-hotel in
Paris called Le Petit Moulin that I also happen to like.
Can you give me in a couple of words
what is your secret to success?
Do you collect special pieces, or something
that adds a personal touch in your style and
I think these words have to be determination
home?
and perseverance. You have to believe in
yourself and be determined; things can happen
I like art and small figurines, Japanese figurines,
by a coincidence, just like my father’s story, and
watches, cars.
one should grab the opportunity presented to
you. Lately I really have come to believe that
What are the most memorable experiences that you meet people for certain reasons and that
ever happened to you? everything happens for a reason. So to say it
shortly, just believe in yourself and go for it.
Work wise it was when I graduated from university and
By M. Rahi
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