Gaux Girls: Carolina Irving & Daughters—A Special Mother's Day Edition

For Carolina Irving and her two daughters, Olympia and Ariadne, life is art, and art is life.

As a longstanding magazine editor, Carolina spent years cultivating her eye before turning to the textile and tabletop trade, where her Parisian education (she studied Art History and Archaeology at the École du Louvre) and Venezuelan roots gave her a unique perspective in the world of decorative arts. In 2006, she launched her eponymous textile atelier, which today is a robust shop featuring everything from beautiful floral prints and patterns in bright hand-blocked prints from India to hand-painted dinnerware from Portugal. And while Carolina and her then-husband, the art dealer Ian Irving, were happy to let their two daughters, Olympia and Ariadne, forge their own paths, it came as no surprise to anyone when, in 2018, they launched Carolina Irving & Daughters. Since then, mother and daughters have happily worked alongside together, always on the lookout for new decorative objects and homeware to introduce to their loyal customers, as well as designing new collections together. "It happened organically as we were sitting around chatting away," Carolina explains below. "We realized how much we loved entertaining, setting beautiful tables, and so on."

In honor of (American) Mother's Day, we visited the Irvings in their London home and chatted with them about what it's like working together, and how they celebrate the holiday together. Fittingly, they say, their "day always begins with flowers."

Olympia and Ariadne, what was your household like growing up with a textile designer and an art dealer?

Olympia: It was like living in a cabinet of curiosities. Transported to another country with one of my mother’s fabrics or back in time with something my dad had bought. It was amazing.

Is there a way that being family helps your work? Does it make some things easier? Do you find that you're each suited to different elements of running a business?

Ariadne: Working with family brings a sense of honesty and total transparency, which is very important especially when we are designing our new collections. We’ve all fallen naturally into what our strengths are within the business which is great and means that no one is stepping on the others toes! 

Do you do anything to celebrate Mother's Day? Any special family traditions?

Olympia: If we are in the same place we spend the day together and then will prepare either a special lunch or dinner. The day always begins with flowers whether we are together or not.

Carolina, How did motherhood change you? Did you ever imagine that you'd one day be working with your daughters? 

Carolina: Motherhood changed me radically in the deepest sense of the word. Looking back, I can't imagine my life without them. But the cherry on the top is working together. It happened organically as we were sitting around chatting away. We realized how much we loved entertaining, setting beautiful tables, and so on. Before we knew it, we had started Carolina Irving & Daughters.

And tell us about how you started your original textile company in 2006. What did you first sell? How has the business grown and evolved since then?

Carolina: I was working as an editor at House and Garden (US) and in charge of a column called "Fabric Obsession." So I had to make it happen. I knew exactly what I liked but had no business plan or anything of the kind. I went in blind and started with a small collection. My big break was when World of Interiors photographed our New York City apartment and put us on the cover. That was the power of magazines then. John Rosselli in New York gave me my first chance and agreed to take my collection, so did my friend Peter Dunham in Los Angeles. The rest was history. I owe them both big time.

What was it like when you first began your work as a textile designer? What were people looking for? Has that changed at all? I'm sort of curious if some textiles come in and out of fashion and if some remain timeless?

Carolina: I try not to follow trends as far as my fabrics are concerned. I have my own obsessions that I stick to. The one time I tried to produce something more modern it never sold! So my advice is always stick to your guns. When we started our company we thought there was a real void in what we were seeing in tabletop. It was either traditional porcelain or very contemporary pottery. We wanted to revive faïence and, most of all, work with artisans.

What's an average day like for everyone?

Ariadne: Every day usually starts with a long walk to Victoria Park with our dog Pepito. We will then usually come down to the dining room and go over emails, etc. and get all boring administrative stuff out of the way. The rest of the day really consists of doing research and looking at old books or online archives that will inspire us in creating new designs. Excursions to museums are also fun ways for us to get inspiration as well.

Tell me more about what inspires you.

Olympia: This is a difficult one as so much inspires me but I believe we find great inspiration in the past. All our new designs have always been born from an element we first saw in a museum, a book or at an antique shop during one our travels.

How often do you travel for work together?

Ariadne: Traveling is a big part of our job, we try to do it together as much as possible. We try to do one big trip a year, ideally the three of us together, but if not, then least two of us. Last year, we went to India and Mexico. (Mexico was for a wedding but any trip we take we like to try to find artisans there with whom we can collaborate on something new.)

Olympia: And we frequently go to Portugal to check on production of our plates.

Finally we ask this of everyone we profile—but what does it mean to be “on the gaux”? 

Carolina: Being on the gaux means staying curious, open minded, always looking around. You never know what you’ll end up seeing! 

Shop The MX Sandal, here.

Shop The MX 35 Sandal, here.