Stephanie D’heygere swaps fashion for design with surreal, pop architecture-inspired Antwerp office

The designer Stephanie D’heygere is known for dreaming up surreal yet wearable jewellery and accessories for her eponymous Paris-based brand. D’heygere’s A/W 2024 collection includes pieces like a metal pendant made to look like a Metro ticket, nylon tights tied into bow hair clips, baby pink earrings resembling used chewing gum, and studs with removable ribbons and dangling locks of black, brunette or auburn hair.

For D’heygere’s latest project, she applies this subversive sensibility to the design of a co-working office in Antwerp. The designer was invited by Silversquare – a chain of shared workspaces in Belgium – to oversee the interiors of its first opening in Antwerp. It marks a first for D’heygere too: having studied fashion design before pivoting to jewellery and accessories for brands like Maison Margiela and Dior, then establishing her own label, she has never worked in furniture or interiors. ‘It was always in the back of my mind and now I'm a bit more hungry for it – I really really enjoyed it,’ she explains over the phone from Paris. ‘With the accessories I design for my brand, I’ve always considered them more as objects than fashion ornaments, so it was not too difficult to make that step.’

Stephanie D’heygere’s ‘Officeland’ in Antwerp

Set over three floors, the space was entirely D’heygere’s to design. 'I really had carte blanche. I was a bit worried they would say it was too crazy, but they completely understood where I wanted to go.’ That turned out to be a place playfully dubbed ‘Officeland’, owing to D’heygere’s love of amusement parks and the workplaces of the 1980s and 90s where she found inspiration. ‘The name is a wink to Disneyland, and it’s partly inspired by the idea that every time you turn a corner, you’re in a space that feels different. I wanted it to be full of surprises, not at all boring.’ The result is an expansive space with nods to the corporate kitsch of decades past, but whose slick, unexpected features give it a timeless feel.

One noticeable signature throughout is office objects, supersized. The ‘coffee corner’ is fashioned to resemble a giant Bialetti percolator, with the top of the pot even continuing through the ceiling to be visible on the floor above. In the same kitchen area, small tables are shaped and textured like an enlarged sugar cube, with 'dark brown seats around, so it almost looks like you're in a huge coffee stain'. On the roof terrace, a hip-height cigarette acts as an ashtray and stands next to a telescope. Elsewhere there are ginormous desk lamps, tall enough to fill the airy room, with bases swapped out for comfy-looking sofas. ‘A lot of the inspiration for my brand comes from jewellery making itself, so I did the same for the office space, looking at classic office elements,’ D’heygere explains. ‘Then on my moodboard I also had lots of images of Claes Oldenburg works, and Californian pop architecture.’

While there are abundant amusements throughout the office – like the baguette lights hanging over red gingham-patterned furniture in the canteen – D’heygere was careful to strike the right balance of fun and functional. ‘I thought if we were having these crazy elements, the materials should be a little calmer, more classic – it's still an environment where you have to work and concentrate,’ she says. ‘There’s lots of metals, wood, some velvet, carpets. I cannot stand super colourful offices that almost look like children’s nurseries – this is playful, but not childish.’

D’heygere has a knack for taking everyday objects and fashioning them anew, subverting their function so they can be seen in a different light. It’s a clear thread running through her brand, and so too in this co-working space; her genius is that the resulting pieces are free of gimmicks, cool and covetable. This new venture has sparked something for the designer: ‘I feel like I’ve hit something new that I want to continue to expand,’ she says. ‘I’m always up for a new challenge – so let’s see what happens.’

dheygere.com