In bed with Thom Browne

“I always like to do things that are part of my life, and I use Frette at home,” says Thom Browne. The New York-based designer is collaborating with the Italian heritage brand on a collection of bed and bath accessories, which will launch this month at Milan Design Week. From bedding cut from white cotton sateen (from €1,200) and blankets (€2,800) to a pure cashmere bathrobe (€2,500) inspired by his belted trench coat, Browne has stuck to a very classic sensibility, defined by his signature four bars and a grey and white palette. “I find true confidence in the idea of uniformity,” he says. “The world today is so fast and everyone wants things to change, but I like the exact opposite.”

Browne, known for his theatrical flair (his recent AW24 show in New York was a fantasy inspired by Poe’s “The Raven”), is relishing the opportunity to present his vision to “a new audience” at Salone. Time To Sleep, at the Palazzina Appiani, will feature six neatly dressed beds and six models performing a mirrored routine in a typically surrealist way. “I love playing with the idea of repetition,” says Browne. “To make people really sit, watch and appreciate something for an extended period of time.”

Frette has been a pioneer of luxury linens and decorative homeware since 1860. “They are the best at what they do,” says Browne. This collaboration marks an extension of his homeware offering, after candles, crystal barware and his 2018 Classic Suit Sleeping Bag, featuring a trompe-l’oeil grey suit embroidered onto the front. “The journey has been truly inspiring,” says Filippo Arnaboldi, Frette’s CEO, of the merging of Browne’s “innovative design aesthetic with Frette’s rich legacy of Italian craftsmanship”. Says the designer: “I wasn’t trying to reinvent homeware or conceptualise it in any way. It’s functional, utilitarian and true to what I do.”