Smock London Meets Domenica Marland

Introducing our latest Smock Sister, Domenica Marland. Curator, designer, art lover and founder of her eponymous interiors brand, Domenica has an eye for playful, characterful pieces that bring a little joy to everyday life. We met up at her gorgeous mews home in London to shoot and style our Domenica Marland x Smock London collaboration together, surrounded by art, colour, beautiful objects and plenty of pink and green.

Let’s set the scene: please introduce yourself

I'm Domenica, a curator and designer, and the founder of Domenica Marland. I started it in 2018 as a affordable online art gallery, and it's grown into a curation of playful, characterful pieces for the home, some designed by me and some in collaboration by independent makers I love. I believe that the things we collect and live with should feel special, tell a story and bring you a little joy every day.
 

If you were to choose one female icon, dead or alive, who would you choose and why?

 
A true hero of mine is Peggy Guggenheim. She was a she was an art collector within 20th Century, had friendships and romances with avant-garde groups such as Surrealists, Dadaists and many of the great artists of that time. She also decorated and designed her homes so uniquely, merging design and art in unusual places. One of my first jobs was working in the Peggy Guggenheim collection in Venice and I was heavily influenced by her passion in collecting and curating.
 

What’s your favourite colour in your wardrobe?

It has to be pink or green. I’m instantly drawn to a bright pink or a soft green in artworks, homeware items or clothing when shopping. When designing our Smock collaboration, it emerged early on these were the two colours we would work with. They also adorn my website and branding.

 
What passion drives you?

I’m passionate about seeking and supporting small artisans, makers or artists. The initial focus of Domenica Marland was curating a platform to showcases these talented makers, and showing that beautiful homeware objects or artworks don’t have to break the bank. You can buy equally well made and thoughtful pieces on a budget that isn’t buying from the high street or mass produced.
 

If you could invite any 3 women  - dead or alive - to drinks who would you invite? What are you drinking?

Simonetta Vespucci, Botticelli’s muse for most of his paintings, who I studied for my masters, I’ve always wanted to know how she died and who she really loved.
Grace Kelly, a huge fashion icon of mine, she embodied elegance.
Yayoi Kusama, sadly she passed away only recently, but she will always be one of my favourite artists of all time.
We’d be drinking porn star martini’s! 

 
What’s your guilty pleasure?

Reality TV, namely all the Real Housewives. I’m addicted to those women.