CCSS: Trend Forecasters & Master Stylists

November 13th, 2019.

CCSS was established a few years ago through passion and simple demand. Owners, Clare and Sonam, acquired their phenomenal three storey rented warehouse and, with an abundance of space to fill with furniture, began what would prove to be a serendipitous journey to fit out their own home. What followed was the development of a love for sourcing vintage furniture, and an unlikely realisation that they were naturally very good at unearthing some truly beautiful pieces. And so CCSS was borne to offer similar scope to others in the same predicament who were very keen to outsource help in finding the diamonds amongst the mountains of coal that tend to overwhelm the world of vintage furniture. 

Today, Sonam and Clare sum up what they do in two words. They are “trend forecasters” with an elusive knack for recognising beauty, potential and sometimes an obscure harmony that can be found between signature pieces of furniture from a score of era’s. Aside from the sourcing, the pair also share an affinity for styling. The word “eclectic” goes part way to describing the aesthetic that their work realises yet doesn’t quite sit right as it doesn’t even begin to allude to the beautiful consideration and restraint that they innately instil upon spaces they work on.   

The effortless aesthetic that Clare and Sonam’s spaces are rendered with possibly comes from a very healthy disregard for conventional aesthetics. They don’t necessarily create collections of pieces from the same era, nor do they attempt to reproduce a look that can only be truly successful when an interior has been subjected to additional pieces over many many years. Rather, their work is informed by a confidence in their own abilities to innately know that a Roman bust just may look really great sitting beside a retro couch with an art deco mirror behind. Yep, not something just anyone can manage but manage they do. 

CCSS recently styled an apartment in NEOMETRO’s Jewell Station precinct. The result was a metamorphosis of the space that was made entirely alluring thanks to the unlikely marriage of the ornate alongside the contemporary. The clean lines of the apartment and its industrial materiality (track lighting, exposed concrete ceilings and dark kitchen palette) came alive against shaggy rugs, curved brass, glass and marble.

The fussy context of musky pinks, and the sumptuous leathery invitation of the couch choice introduces a brand new concept to apartment styling and this is where CCSS excel. They have managed to rise above the beautiful but commonplace to give birth to a world of possibility. They play with a clashing of cultures, where the old anchors the new, resulting in the most incredible aesthetic outcomes, and they are masters of realising that the unexpected in interior design terms is both exciting and covetously liveable. 

Words by Tiffany Jade.

Images of Jewell Station, Brunswick by NEOMETRO™ with furniture provided by CCSS & styling by NP.CO

Images by Derek Swalwell.