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"Considering the dizzying whirl through European history evoked by his Paris apartment, it&amp;#039;s hard to believe that clothing designer Andrew Gn was once a fool for modernism. But, until eight years ago, Gn, a virtuoso of intricate embroidery and luxurious fabrics, whose clients include international royals and many of the ladies who lunch in capitals throughout the world, decorated his home with pieces by early- and mid-20th-century masters. He lounged on a daybed by Josef Hoffmann; lamps by Serge Mouille and Jacques Adnet illuminated the history and design books he reads as inspiration for his 100-percent-made-in-France fashions. The fabrics were horsehair and satin, and the colors were neutral: black and white, brown and beige. &amp;quot;I was actually fairly minimal,&amp;quot; he says. As the years passed, however, Gn, who began his career as an assistant to Emanuel Ungaro, found himself yearning for a warmer, more timeless environment. The pressure of producing so many collections a year made him hunger for permanence, he says.  Click here to see the gallery for &amp;quot;Parisian Romance.&amp;quot;   Today, his 2,000-square-foot flat in a 1795 building is a virtual trip through the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. A voracious student of art and decoration throughout the ages, Gn, who grew up in Singapore, has constructed a rococo warren of rooms soaked in color and adorned with ceramics, china, portraiture, and antique fabrics. &amp;quot;I want each space to have its own life,&amp;quot; he says, &amp;quot;its own history.&amp;quot; Like his grand, by-appointment-only atelier in the Marais\u2014where the Murano chandelier in the entryway is so large it had to be split in two to get it through the door\u2014Gn&amp;#039;s apartment is a reflection of his outsize sense of glamour and respect for the past. &amp;quot;My parents were collectors who accumulated a great many objects, and I developed a passion for beautiful things very early on,&amp;quot; he says. Augustus, the king of Poland at the turn of the 18th century, amassed more than 24,000 pieces of china. Gn says he suffers from the same maladie de porcelaine. He bought his first piece at age 16 and has never looked back. The obsession, which he feeds at auctions, is evident in virtually every room of his home. The walls and furnishings serve as a backdrop to his collection (only a fraction is on display\u2014he has thousands more pieces in storage). &amp;quot;I love the depth they give a room, and the story they bring.&amp;quot; Gn, who designed the apartment without the help of a decorator, also prefers his rugs draped over tables instead of on the floors, in a manner inspired by the palaces of St. Petersburg during their 19th-century heyday. It is a choice that was likely made easier in view of the apartment&amp;#039;s exquisite herringbone floors. In a classic czarist palette of royal blue, vermilion, and Veronese green, the rugs, with their hand-knotted lushness, contrast with the smooth surface of the porcelains. &amp;quot;You feel totally surrounded by this, and you want the people who visit to have the same experience,&amp;quot; he says. Gn rarely opens his home to large parties, preferring to entertain in groups of eight or ten. &amp;quot;I want the experience to be deep. And when you have a lot of porcelain, big groups are not really very practical.&amp;quot; Click here to see the gallery for &amp;quot;Parisian Romance.&amp;quot;   Portraiture from the 18th and 19th centuries is also central to Gn&amp;#039;s vision. As a designer, he is fascinated by the clothing of the sitters, as well as by the lives conveyed by their expressions. The flatness of the canvases, as well as their rectangular shapes, bring to life the soft roundness of the porcelains, he says. &amp;quot;Your eye must never be bored.&amp;quot;  Boredom would be unlikely in his generously proportioned drawing room, with its rich-green walls, silk lampas Louis XV armchairs, and collection of Chinese porcelain urns. His &amp;quot;porcelain room&amp;quot; is lined with shelves of blue-and-white chinoiserie and faience. An intimate breakfast nook in the small kitchen overlooks a courtyard; the walls are hung with plates in shades of the palest lilac, shell-pink, and cream. The dining room provides a moment of Zenlike calm\u2014or at least Gn&amp;#039;s version of it\u2014with its relatively bare walls and airy floor-to-ceiling windows. &amp;quot;You want your guests to be able to concentrate on the food,&amp;quot; he says. The over-the-top ethos returns in his bedroom, which pays homage to the late-19th-century Aesthetic Movement, &amp;quot;where modern sophistication really began,&amp;quot; he says. It is the only room with carpets on the floor as well as over tables. There are examples of classic orientalism galore, as well as a riot of floral prints, from 19th-century needlepoints and William Morris brocades on the walls to Chinese and Japanese silk panels. Not a surface is bare. Gn says he is deeply satisfied in his lushly feathered nest amid his vast array of treasures. Nevertheless, he has made no move to sell his modern pieces, which remain in storage. &amp;quot;I may one day return to that style,&amp;quot; he says in a tantalizing aside. &amp;quot;Whether it&amp;#039;s minimal or maximal is not important. What counts is that it is well done, with feeling. And that it makes you feel wonderful.&amp;quot; Click here to see the gallery for &amp;quot;Parisian Romance.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/house-interiors/a4070/andrew-gns-paris-apartment-a-70950/>