David Netto is lying on the couch, hands tucked behind his head, a pained look across his face while I, feeling just a tad like Sigmund Freud, scribble down notes in my pad. But the cause of David’s anguish is no deep-seated childhood trauma. Rather, a dodgy samosa from a snack bar in Olympia seems to be the culprit. “I can’t believe I got sick, and on a trip as well,” moans David in dismay. “I’ve never had food poisoning in my life.”
Crisply dressed in a light blue shirt with slightly dishevelled hair, David Netto cuts a boyish 41-year-old. The New York-born, LA-based designer is in London for the Baby Show trade fair, where he hopes to win new takers for his collection of pristine white nursery furniture. Having launched the NettoCollection in 2003, David is no longer going solo, as he has just sold his company to Maclaren. The collection has been renamed Maclaren Nursery and David has been appointed Designer-In-Chief. “It was always my plan to sell it,” he says. “I’m better at the iconoclastic, turning-over conditions, making-an-entrance kind of moment. I’m a designer, not a businessman. Being in charge of the business was the wildest, scariest thing.”
The term iconoclastic may seem a little melodramatic when talking about cribs and changing tables, but when David launched his chic, minimalist collection, he was flying in the face of the status quo. In a world of kitsch teddy-bear designs and pastel shades, here was a cool, contemporary design with clear aesthetic appeal. The catalyst for this one-man design revolution came in 2001, with the birth of his first daughter Kate, whose mother is Hollywood actress Ione Skye. “Shopping for nursery furniture was a real eye-opener,” says David. “There was nothing to get excited about design-wise. I ended up buying a crib for $800 and it was a hunk o’ junk. When you’re a new parent, you want the best for your child; you want to get excited about doing things for the nursery that are really beautiful. There were no options for parents who were into design.”
An interior decorator with a keen eye for style, David decided he could do better himself. His first range, the Moderne, was inspired by Thirties’ French style, and comprises a sleek white lacquered crib with dark ebonized ash bars and matching changing table. Then followed a further three ranges: the Cabine, the Louis and the Cub. “Our furniture is designed to supersede that impulse to make giant purple Barneys the main contents of the nursery room,” says David. “I always show my designs to my daughter Kate and she’s often disappointed by how serene and dignified everything is. Children will always go for Easter-egg colours and goofy razzle dazzle, but the nursery needs to be an environment adults are pleased to be in too. It’s where you’ll be at four o’clock in the morning when you’re breastfeeding and can’t go back to sleep.”
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