“I used to go to school on a sleigh! I’m surprised I’ve become so urban,” says the London-based designer Tatjana von Stein. Despite the dramatic shift in scenery, her resolutely European upbringing—moving between Germany, the Austrian Alps and Paris before settling in the British capital in her teens—is evident throughout her practice. Since founding her namesake firm in 2016, von Stein has completed hotels, restaurants, members’ clubs and private residences—as well as design collectibles—that nod to the continent’s design heritage, whether that’s the Vienna Secession or Eurodisco. 

Annick Weber: European flair aside, how would you define your style? 

Tatjana von Stein: I can’t put an actual word to it, but there’s a feeling of nostalgia running through everything we do. Certain projects are sexier than others, but they are always quite indulgent in that they create little worlds that envelop people. And my work is very intuitive; maybe it goes back to the fact that I never actually studied design. If I look at the bar I designed for our Mise en Scène furniture collection, for example, it’s 90% true to the first sketch I ever did of it. 

AW: Can you give an example of the worlds that your designs aim to evoke?