KISHANI PERERA

Interview by Holli Thomas Photographs by Coleen Rider, Jean Randazzo, & Troy House

Kishani Perrara is a jewel. She infuses her sparkling personality into rooms you want to be in. Her talent and international flair have garnered her many repeat clients and fans. When we met Kishani at her office, we fell in love with her Chinese deco rugs, her box of vintage chains and metal fragments, and her elegant exotic style.

HT: Do you find that you use the internet a lot for sourcing?

KP: Oh my God, I want to say more than anything else. I mean it's amazing. It's a time saver. You get to view inventory from all around the world. It's changed everything. I used to spend 95% of my life shopping. And then you don't have time to be creative and come up with concepts. But now I can come up with the concepts and then execute them.

HT: And how often are you disappointed in online purchases?

KP: Very rarely. I guess I've gotten good at shopping online. I guess because I shop online so much, I've gotten good at spotting potential problems. I'm pretty much a Craigslist and eBay master.

HT: Do you just ask the questions about condition and the sellers are pretty honest about it?

KP: You see a lamp, it's in good condition, you can tell. I'm going to doctor it up with a cool shade, anyway. I'm often doing something to it, anyway. So if it has a chip in it, I'm not heartbroken, because I was gonna refinish it. It's rare, it's very rare that something will show up that is not what was advertised. But I think people are so dependent on e-commerce now that they're gonna be honest. The world is opened up to you now. I can buy stuff from Morocco for not that much more than buying things here. You just have to pay shipping, but your options are then unlimited almost. I find the coolest things from anywhere.

HT: And it's not going be in somebody else's house.

KP: Yes. I think that's good because, you know, it can be disappointing if you have this find and you think it's so special for the project. And then all of a sudden it starts popping up everywhere.

HT: One of those things that sticks out in my mind that I'm sure you've seen, Muriel Brandolini used that ship chandelier.

KP: Yes, now it's everywhere.

HT: Now it's everywhere. But when I first saw that I was like, oh that's so spectacular. I've never seen anything like it.

KP: I guess it's fortunate and then unfortunate as well. It's great because then it brings things to people who can't afford a $50,000 chandelier. They can buy it at West Elm, or wherever. So then it brings design to more people. It does open the design world up to people that probably wouldn't have, you know, known about it.

HT: Yes, that's true.

KP: That's the way I try to look at it. Because there are things that I've done where I'm like, did they copy me? Or did somebody else-did somebody else do this and then I didn't realize it, you know what I mean.

HT: Well I guess you put your stamp on something and it's not something that you want to be trendy.

KP: Yes, I'm not a big trendy person. I like things to be-I've done things that are trendy just because clients see it and then they want it.

HT: Right.

KP: I'm just not excited about it as much. I always tell them, I know you've seen it like in a couple magazines now, but in a year, you're gonna be so sick of seeing this.

HT: Yes.

KP: They say no, no, no, and then in a year they're like, yeah I'm sick of seeing it. So I try not to do trendy.

HT: Yeah. Sometimes that kills my love for it.

KP: No, me too. I'm that way about music even. I'm like, oh this band is undiscovered and they're awesome. Now they're everywhere and I don't want to listen anymore. Just because then you get sick of hearing them. It's not as special anymore. Oh well.

HT: I know what you mean about the fabric wallpaper. Even colors.

KP: Yes.

HT: But you have to stretch to find something a little different.

KP: Totally. Every client is different.

HT: I noticed you use a lot of interesting rugs in your work. Do you prefer buying a vintage rug versus a new rug?

KP: I do. They have more heart or something. But it's hard to find the exact or the right one sometimes.

HT: So if you see something killer when you're out and about, do you buy it even though you don't have a client for it?

KP: Sometimes. That's why I have a very expensive bill at Public Storage. Because you know the thing about storage, I use it to keep like an inventory of things, whether it's for me or for clients. And I can sell things to them or sometimes even if I'm doing a photo shoot I'll go in and put some of these things in and it's instantly different. Sometimes they say, "Oh that does look good, maybe I will buy that from you." When they see it and love it.

HT: Well that's good.

KP: If I see something I like then I have to have it.

HT: It's always nice to have an ace in your pocket, too.

KP: Absolutely. Because I know if I don't, I'll be thinking about it for the next five years. I did that once. Five years ago I'm shopping with a client, and I saw this vintage disco ball and I'm like, oooh! I love it! And I couldn't say, "Hold on for a second, I'm gonna go buy this." So then I dropped her off and said "I'm going back there and buying that thing." Went back maybe an hour or two hours later. They just sold it. Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen came in and bought it. I was like, "No!!" Five years I looked for that thing. If you love it, buy it and you won't regret it.

HT: You gotta have the things that haunt you.

KP: I know. I've had a few. The elephant console. The disco ball. I have these hooded cane canopy chairs, same thing.

HT: You get to a certain point and you're like, mmm, this isn't gonna come around again.

KP: No, and that's why now even if I know there's nowhere to put it, I'm just gonna get it.

HT: Yes. When you learn what's out there -

KP: Yes.

HT: The pickins' have become slimmer.

KP: And then there's eBay! You could be like, I find something awesome and nobody knows that I got this for five dollars. Like nobody out there knows that it was something amazing. Now everybody knows. I'm bidding against designers on La Cienega, shop owners. Like those chairs. A couple years ago, I could've got them for maybe $100. I paid $800 on eBay, which to me is a lot for eBay. Because literally I found out I was bidding against a designer I know. I still had to refinish them. My clients are online too.

HT: Is there anything that you collect?

KP: I like to collect, I collect old hands. Whether it's like a Victorian-like brass hand knocker, or old marionette puppet hands, or mannequin hands. I collect hands. It's kind of creepy but I like them.

HT: Three dimensional hands.

KP: Yes. I collect things with peacocks; I have tons of peacock things. I guess it's the Sri Lankan girl in me, I don't know. Yeah, I like weird things.

HT: Well it's a symbol of beauty.

KP: Yes.

HT: Hands are very interesting. When you look at someone's hands you're kind of also finding out about them.

KP: Mm-hmm.

HT: And I always look at hands in paintings. If you see a good hand in a painting, you figure this person is a decent artist.

KP: They're so hard.

HT: They are very hard to do.

HT: Thank you so much Kishani.

KP: You're welcome.

HT: This was fun.

KISHANI PERERA
310.843.9908
p.o. box 11513
Beverly Hills, CA 10023
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