Meeting with Kenia Raphael

I studied interior architecture, and I quickly realized that what I was proposing in these projects was more akin to scenography than architecture per se. My first experiences in theater enabled me to get inside the head of a director, inside the body of actors, and to translate their desires onto this magical space that is the stage, to explore all the possibilities and realize that in theater, everything is possible and every idea is exploitable. In the end, what awakened me was the fact that I drew my inspiration from people, whether actors or the sound manager. It's a great collaboration of minds that will always be essential to my creative process.I've been interested in these subjects ever since I was a student! My first dissertation, written ten years ago, was on the representation of women in TV series and their impact on viewers, and my second on the evolution of black characters in television and film. During my twenties, I consumed culture in every sense of the word: music, cinema, TV series... For me, it's the age when everyone builds up their tastes, when they become clearer and more precise, a moment in our lives when we understand the impact they have on us. My job and this cultural consumption led me naturally to this essay.

I wanted to make it a personal and journalistic essay that starts from a truly grounded experience, while backing it up with concrete facts. I drew a lot of inspiration from Anglo-Saxon essays. In France, even though this is happening more and more, I still see women authors who find it hard to talk about themselves. For me, you have to be able to tell your own story without making it autobiographical. The aim wasn't to tell the whole story of my personal life, but to see how pop culture is both a personal and a global experience.

As a set designer or AD, you constantly have to adapt to the customer's wishes, and the real challenge is to succeed in making our world felt, whatever the project. I'm still on the road to experimentation, to be honest, but I'm constantly trying to get closer to a slightly fantastic, dramatic universe, which may be seen at first glance as pleasant, but which aims to create doubt, unease, a dark dream, a colorful nightmare.

Yes, I have my flat in Brussels, which is the city I was born in and have always lived in. It's my home, my family, my friends, my studio and therefore my main source of inspiration. The streets, smells and colors of Brussels allow me to create an empty land in my head where everything is to be built and I feel safe enough to create whatever comes to mind. Paris calls me almost every week for professional projects, whether in set design or modeling. It inspires me in the sense that I have to surpass myself every time, and when I leave there having completed a project, I'm proud of it. It's such a special energy, sometimes very gentle, like something out of a fairy tale, and sometimes very violent.

Clothes have always been a means of expression for me. Ever since I was a little girl, I've been wearing rather particular patterns and cuts, which speak to me, but not to many people (laughs). What's special is that since I became a set designer, I've worn 2 pairs of jeans, 4 T-shirts max and always the same coat, because I have to prioritize comfort over style. I think I really like this approach, because I don't spend any more and on the rare occasions when I can really pull out some nice pieces I feel really good, I'm putting some value back on clothes I'd forgotten about, and that's really nice. Modeling is a recent thing for me, and girls who are size 38 or bigger have only recently been accepted in this world, and I'm proud to be able to be part of it.

I loved the red Willy jacketI think it's the piece I could wear all the time, whether to the workshop or out for a drink!

I'm working on my first furniture collection, stay tuned!

To know how to put my energy in the right place, to take care of my body and finally, to do better than last year!

Thanks to Kenia Raphaël for answering our questions!

To follow Kenia's work
visit her Instagram account @kenia.raphael !