The 5 most beautiful houses of fashion designers

It is often said that fashion brands do not sell clothes but a lifestyle – lifestyle of which the great fashion designers are the main interpreters. It is not surprising, then, that these entrepreneurs and creatives live in houses that live up to the dream they sell. The houses of the great designers are often so large and lavish that, when their owner leaves them, they become hotels as happened at Gianni Versace's Casa Casuarina in Miami, Villa Laetitia in Rome or Il Borro by Salvatore Ferragamo, which is not a simple estate but contains an entire medieval village inside. But for that very reason, they couldn't find a place on our list. 

Below nss magazine has listed the five most beautiful residences that bear the signature of the big names in fashion history, from the garden house of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé to the surrealist mansion of Pierre Cardin. 

Yves Saint Laurent's Orientalist villa 

Imagine having such a large estate that the garden and villa have separate names. This is the house of Yves Saint Laurent in Marrakech, renamed Villa Oasis by the designer, while the huge botanical garden that surrounds it was named after the original owner, French artist Jacques Majorelle, who gave his name to a shade of blue he created and used to paint the immense Moorish-style villa. Saint Laurent bought the house in the 1980s and I love it so much that his ashes were scattered among the garden roses. 

The Palais Bulles by Pierre Cardin 

Designed by Hungarian Antti Lovag and built between 1975 and 1984 in the Maison Bulle style for industrialist Pierre Bernard, this imposing villa was purchased in '91 by Pierre Cardin who later called it "a woman's body". The concept behind it is to return to the origins of the dwelling, with a "natural" looking architecture reminiscent of the ancient caves of prehistory. Every aspect of the house recalls the element of the sphere. In its 1200 square meters, the house includes two lounges, one panoramic and one for receptions, a 500-seat amphitheatre, swimming pools and waterfalls, and ten bedrooms, each decorated by a different artist. Several images of the house have also recently appeared on social media of Jacquemus, a great admirer of Pierre Cardin. 

Valentino's Chateau 

Valentino Garavani owns houses throughout the world's major cities, including a stunning apartment in one of Rome's historic palaces, but nothing could be the same as the gigantic Chateau de Wideville. Originally built in 1580 by Louis XIII's finance minister, Valentino bought the eight-bedroom mansion in '95 and redecorated it room by room, following an Orientalist theme inspired by his love of China's decorative and textile arts. The homeowner is very liberal with the use of the spaces: dances and gatherings are often organized here, such as Natalia Vodianova's Naked Heart fundraiser and the pre-wedding reception organized for Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.  

Giorgio Armani's palace in Montenapoleone

Located in a 17th-century historic building in the heart of Montenapoleone and designed by Peter Marino, Giorgio Armani's Milanese home covers 2,000 square metres, including three floors and a terrace. Its décor is a mix of influences ranging from the 1930s and 1940s style to oriental art. Unlike the previous houses, which possess more cohesive and unitary inspirations, Armani's is a white, minimalist house, with wide-open spaces, which serves as a "frame" for the individual pieces of furniture – each linked in some way to the life of the designer, who once said: "At the base, there is the will to bring together the various objects, even without value, if not the sentimental one. , which represent special moments and places in my life."

Rick Owens' Brutalist Loft 

Rick Owens bought the former headquarters of the socialist party French in 2004, in Place du Palais Bourbon – a palace that apparently no one wanted to buy. "We just ripped everything away," the designer said, commenting on the restoration work, "but we left the concrete floors and everything in between – the bare bones of the house." Not many, in fact, if they had Owens' budget would leave the plaster in pieces and exposed bricks, but the contrasting effect that is created with the fine leathers of the furniture, all designed by Owens himself, with his usual mix of alien shapes and luxury materials. The result is dark minimalism with a raw look – a perfect match of his designer's clothes.