0:00:00 - (Linda Habak): Welcome back to Build Beautiful. In a family of doctors, lawyers and engineers, Silvana Azzy Harris was the black sheep. But the kind that glimmers in the light. Born in Lebanon and raised in Australia from the age of two, Silvana's story begins in migration, memory and myth. She grew up sketching dresses with her mother, a dressmaker, while the world around her leaned towards the rational and the safe.

0:00:25 - (Linda Habak): But her path, like her patterns, would be anything but linear. From working on the iconic films of Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, Moulin Rouge, the Great Gatsby and Australia, to founding her own textile studio, House of Harris, Silvana has spent her life stitching emotion into form. Her designs are maximalist, yet restrained. Cinematic yet deeply personal, full of flora, folklore and feeling. In this conversation, we trace the silk thread that runs through it all.

0:00:57 - (Linda Habak): From war torn beginnings to the quiet courage of following her instincts. We talk about family, legacy, designing for the Faina Hotel in the US and the emotional memory that lives inside every motif she creates. Silvana reminds us that to build something beautiful is not to follow a script, it's to write your own. And sometimes the black sheep doesn't stray from the family. She expands its story. Welcome, Silvana.

0:01:25 - (Silvana Heras): I love that. That was beautiful. Or as Baz says, dance your own steps.

0:01:30 - (Linda Habak): Dance your own steps.

0:01:31 - (Silvana Heras): Famous line from Strictly Ballroom.

0:01:34 - (Linda Habak): I love that. Did you work on Strictly Ballroom?

0:01:36 - (Silvana Heras): No, no.

0:01:37 - (Linda Habak): Before your time.

0:01:38 - (Silvana Heras): Actually, I worked on Strictly Ballroom. The musical. Yeah.

0:01:40 - (Linda Habak): Amazing.

0:01:41 - (Silvana Heras): That was great.

0:01:41 - (Linda Habak): So that leads me to my first question. How on earth does a girl that was born, born in war torn Lebanon, come to Australia at the age of two and end up working on Baz Luhrmann's movies? I mean, this is an amazing story, but maybe before we get to that, let's a take. Start at the beginning. Take me back to what life was like when you first came to Australia. I know you were very little and you probably don't remember, you know, the coming here, but what was life like for a migrant child?

0:02:11 - (Silvana Heras): We left Lebanon in 1976. Of course I don't remember, but I do remember my early years at school having to go to ELs classes.

0:02:20 - (Linda Habak): ELs? The English classes?

0:02:22 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah, yeah, yeah.

0:02:23 - (Linda Habak): English learning support.

0:02:24 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah, yeah. And I used to say jello instead of yellow, so it's like a little wog girl trying to fit in. But I just have the best memories growing up in Australia. I don't really remember Lebanon. I did go back when I was 35 and that was so emotional. It was just an incredible experience and just their resilience to rebuild and live like nothing's happening around them is incredible. And it really made me understand my parents more and our family and all my cousins and relos. And we were lucky to get out, but we still are attached to Lebanon in so many ways.

0:03:04 - (Linda Habak): I feel that too. My parents came and left Lebanon. In fact, Mum and Dad were on the last flight out in 1975 before they closed the airport. I mean, it's amazing, the resilience. And it really, I think, helps us learn and define who we are. Where that resilience, that fortitude comes from. It's in our DNA.

0:03:24 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah, it's so true. And you have to come get these stories out of your parents. Cause they don't really want to talk about it. It's the dark day. They were really dark days for them. But they do call Australia the lucky country. And we are all very lucky to be here.

0:03:41 - (Linda Habak): Absolutely. So you're the youngest of five kids. Tell me what that was like growing up.

0:03:47 - (Silvana Heras): I was the spoiled brat. Of course you were. I got away with murder. Yeah. I just had the best time. Like, my brother took me to my first nightclub, you know, when I was underage. As you did back in the day. As you do back in the day. Just. My brothers and sister were so inspiring. My parents always believed that education was the most important thing. And so they just pushed us. They're just ridiculous. If you could see what my family do. Like, we have two doctors.

0:04:19 - (Silvana Heras): One's a doctor of Philosophy in law and the other one is a. A skin cancer surgeon. So there's Tony, who's the doctor in Newcastle. There's John, who has his PhD and is a senior lecturer at Western Sydney University. There's Odette, who's the optometrist. There's Ronnie, who's a civil engineer. And then there's me.

0:04:40 - (Linda Habak): And then there's you.

0:04:42 - (Silvana Heras): I feel like I should have been the dentist. And then my parents could have opened up a medical centre and been really happy with themselves.

0:04:50 - (Linda Habak): That's amazing.

0:04:51 - (Silvana Heras): Instead, I chose the creative route. So.

0:04:53 - (Linda Habak): So talk me through that creative route. What was life like? Because that's a lot, not pressure, but I imagine that's a little bit of pressure having these people who are older than you, your siblings, who you look up to doing these incredible things, but you have this music inside of you. Theoretically, you know, how do you balance that? How do you straddle this feeling that I need to go down a more traditional route versus this incredibly creative pathway?

0:05:20 - (Silvana Heras): So I've always been creative and I did three unit art at school. And I was, you know, drawing and designing when I was, even before school. Like, it was just something that was in me. And when I finished high school, I think my brothers and sister kind of pushed me into more of a scientific, like do science or do something that will kind of. You'd have better options when you finish. Of course. I always wanted to do art or design.

0:05:49 - (Silvana Heras): I kind of just pushed it to the side. I did a Bachelor of Welfare studies and in the end I thought, oh, I could work with young people and help, you know, the youth and still incorporate some of my kind of creativity and art and love of design. But it just got too much and I thought, I'm going to go back to uni and do another degree. And so I did. I went back and did a Bachelor of Design. But the best thing about the first degree was it was where I met my husband.

0:06:17 - (Linda Habak): Aw, that's so beautiful.

0:06:20 - (Silvana Heras): So I always think, oh, I'm so glad I did that. So you just don't know. And I always. I do believe things happen for a reason. So, yeah, that was meant to be.

0:06:29 - (Linda Habak): Oh, I love that. I've got goosebumps. That's so beautiful.

0:06:32 - (Silvana Heras): And doing a Bachelor of Design as a mature age student, I thought that was incredible. Like, I really got so much out of it.

0:06:40 - (Linda Habak): Do you think you got more out of it because you had a deeper appreciation for it as opposed to going into it straight off the back of high school?

0:06:47 - (Silvana Heras): Most definitely. Yeah. I was more mature. I really, like, I just had more life experiences and I wanted to bring that to the degree.

0:06:55 - (Linda Habak): Yeah, that's.

0:06:55 - (Silvana Heras): And I did. Yeah.

0:06:56 - (Linda Habak): What was your intention? So you've done, you're doing this degree. What did you imagine for yourself as far as what could a career look like in design? Did you have any ideas of what you wanted it to be?

0:07:07 - (Silvana Heras): I actually thought, I want to work at Vogue. Cause I love fashion.

0:07:12 - (Linda Habak): I remember that feeling. I also wanted to work at Vogue.

0:07:15 - (Silvana Heras): I want to work at Vogue. And you know what? I did work at Vogue.

0:07:18 - (Linda Habak): Did you?

0:07:19 - (Silvana Heras): As an intern.

0:07:20 - (Linda Habak): Okay.

0:07:20 - (Silvana Heras): So I had a close friend that was working there. He was their graphic designer, Marcus Hay, who has just come back to Australia from New York. So we've just reconnected again. And I love him, but I'll always be grateful for him allowing me to be in that amazing space. And I got to Vogue and I was like, wow. But like, there's so many people doing different things. It's not just one person doing one thing.

0:07:44 - (Silvana Heras): So that was a great Experience. And then it was just the call that I got from my university lecturer that kind of changed everything.

0:07:52 - (Linda Habak): Okay, we got it. We have to unpack the call. I need to know every detail. So take me back to that moment. What was life like just before you got the call? Firstly, okay, set the scene for that and then tell me, because life changed dramatically after that call.

0:08:07 - (Silvana Heras): It was my final year at university. I was working at David Jones in the men's shoe department and I was just living my best life, going out, having a great social life. I had my job at David Jones, which kind of was bringing in a little bit of money. And then I was studying my final year at uni and kind of just loving everything that was happening in my life at the time. Katherine Martin, Baz Luhrmann's wife, had called my lecturer, who she was close friends with and had asked for their top student to come and help them for the weekend.

0:08:45 - (Silvana Heras): And at the time I didn't know who Katherine Martin was or who Baz Luhrmann was. And Catherine Moline, my lecturer, gave Kathryn Martin two names and one of them was Simon Dennett. So again, he was also a mature age student, but he, at the time, no one had mobile, so he wasn't home. So I just happened to be home when the call came through.

0:09:10 - (Linda Habak): I was destined.

0:09:11 - (Silvana Heras): And then next minute, my D carrying my apple, my small apple, you know, desktop computer to Iona in Darlinghurst. And I'm there, sitting in this massive house, this beautiful kind of Victorian.

0:09:24 - (Linda Habak): Gorgeous. I've seen the photos.

0:09:26 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah, incredible. CM is telling me about her partner being in LA with Leo on the press tour for Romeo and Juliet. And I'm like, oh, yeah, okay. And we were working on Something For Everybody, which is an album that combined all the songs from what they'd done so far. So it was La Boheme, Strictly Ballroom, Romeo and Juliet and.

0:09:49 - (Linda Habak): And were you doing graphic design at this point?

0:09:51 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah, so I did specialize in graphic design, but I did photography, screen printing. There are so many elements to that design degree that I just, I was loving everything about it and I really. Yeah, yeah, I should have done that as my first degree. But I'm happy in the way things turned out. And I too wanted to do interior design. So I remember at school writing down Sylvana Azzy, Bachelor of Interior Design.

0:10:20 - (Silvana Heras): Gosh, I didn't get in.

0:10:22 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:10:22 - (Silvana Heras): But I did apply to UTs and I didn't get in. But things happen for a reason and that wasn't my path.

0:10:29 - (Linda Habak): So you're with Katherine Martin you're working on this album. What happens next?

0:10:34 - (Silvana Heras): And then I go home and I find out who they are and I'm freaking out.

0:10:39 - (Linda Habak): So actually you had.

0:10:41 - (Silvana Heras): I had no idea who Baz was.

0:10:43 - (Linda Habak): Okay. I have to say, I love the naivety of that. There's something so beautiful in that innocence and that naivety. There's something so special because you're not going in with any expectation. You're just going in for the love of the work.

0:10:57 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah, for sure. It's really pure. Exactly. And so straight after that, CM kept on calling me back into work and I'm like, okay, no problem. And she's like, well, what are they paying you at David Jones? Like, can you just leave that job and come and work for us?

0:11:13 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:11:13 - (Silvana Heras): And I'm like, yes, I can. So that happened quickly. And then the first movie I got to work on was Moulin Rouge.

0:11:21 - (Linda Habak): Wow.

0:11:21 - (Silvana Heras): So that was incredible.

0:11:22 - (Linda Habak): What is that like? Like, can you just. For anyone listening to this for me actually.

0:11:27 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah.

0:11:29 - (Linda Habak): What is that like? Because I can only dream of what working on a movie. The intensity I imagine, the creative output that's required. Like, what did life look like in a day to day sense?

0:11:40 - (Silvana Heras): Okay. So Baz and CM are very much into all the research that goes into all their movies. That's why it takes them five years to make a movie. So we researched Moulin Rouge, like I think for a year before it started filming. I didn't know this, but movie budgets are ridiculous compared to TV or kind of advertising. It's just a different level. So they're able to spend money where others can't. And it's just the attention to detail, the level that they'd go to. Like Baz and the writer Craig Pearce would go to Paris and kind of sit there and.

0:12:25 - (Silvana Heras): Right. While they're across the road from the Moulin Rouge, or they'd go and visit the Moulin Rouge, they'd walk the streets at night, they'd drink absinthe.

0:12:33 - (Linda Habak): You know, they really kind of embrace the characters they're trying to.

0:12:37 - (Silvana Heras): They immerse themselves into the life. And then they started writing the script. And it's just. It's the only way I know how to make movies, the way Baz and Siem make movies.

0:12:48 - (Linda Habak): And what was your role in that research process? What were you doing?

0:12:53 - (Silvana Heras): So I was researching all the graphic design. I think I was also researching costumes. So costumes, sets and graphic design. My role on that movie was the assistant graphic designer. That's how I started. So I worked on the titles. Anything that Needed a, you know, graphic, a design element. I was there. So all the wine bottles, the big posters in the garden, the menus, the Moulin Rouge menus.

0:13:21 - (Linda Habak): So really, really sort of intricate detail.

0:13:24 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah. Then that led on to the post production where I worked on all the posters for the campaign, which was incredible. And then I just think as the movies went on, my role kind of broadened and I became the head designer at Bazmark. So all the projects I'd work on, we kind of developed this style together because I think. And that was exciting.

0:13:49 - (Linda Habak): There is a really definitive style that comes with.

0:13:52 - (Silvana Heras): They do have.

0:13:53 - (Linda Habak): Yeah. That's amazing, that opulence.

0:13:55 - (Silvana Heras): Yes. More is more.

0:13:57 - (Linda Habak): More is more maximalist. Yeah. And would you say that's your. Because we'll get onto this a little bit later. Because you also have now established your own studio. Do you think that's very much your style, sort of injected?

0:14:13 - (Silvana Heras): I feel like I have been influenced by them.

0:14:16 - (Linda Habak): Yes. Yeah.

0:14:18 - (Silvana Heras): But I feel like now I'm able to take kind of my own direction, your own inspiration and go with it.

0:14:25 - (Linda Habak): Yeah. So you work on movies for a number of years because you roll from sort of Moulin Rouge. Then what was the next movie after that that you worked on?

0:14:34 - (Silvana Heras): After Moulin Rouge, we all moved to New York and worked on La Boheme on Broadway, which was an opera, and that was incredible. So that was. I guess I moved into kind of just assisting cm. So it would be sets and costumes, so we worked on the backdrops that were all done in Photoshop and printed on massive canvases. The cost. And then always. There was always the graphic design. So there was always the marketing campaigns, everything that came out, the posters, the CDs, the DVDs.

0:15:05 - (Silvana Heras): And.

0:15:06 - (Linda Habak): So how long were you in New York for?

0:15:08 - (Silvana Heras): I want to say nine months. So we've lived in New York four times.

0:15:13 - (Linda Habak): So every time there's a project, you just pick up and move for it.

0:15:17 - (Silvana Heras): And it was always with Bazmark that I'd lived in New York.

0:15:20 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:15:20 - (Silvana Heras): So it was Loveaway, Mum, Broadway. And then we went back and researched the Great Gatsby.

0:15:27 - (Linda Habak): Oh, yes, yes, of course, the Great Gatsby.

0:15:29 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah, yeah, yeah.

0:15:30 - (Linda Habak): Huge movie.

0:15:31 - (Silvana Heras): They decided to move there, so then we all moved there.

0:15:34 - (Linda Habak): Okay. Is it a large team that go over?

0:15:37 - (Silvana Heras): No, it's tiny. Really tiny.

0:15:39 - (Linda Habak): Because you expect from the outside looking in that it's this huge sort of production.

0:15:45 - (Silvana Heras): When we're in production for a movie, I imagine it's massive. It's like three. Over 300 people are working on this movie, but the core team, it's really small. So there was maybe four of us that moved over with Baz and Siem.

0:15:59 - (Linda Habak): It's a family.

0:16:00 - (Silvana Heras): It is a family.

0:16:01 - (Linda Habak): Really intimate.

0:16:02 - (Silvana Heras): It most definitely is a family. And they're always so generous. So we always kind of have dinner together. Like, the hours we work are crazy. You could imagine.

0:16:12 - (Linda Habak): Obviously, this is like. I mean, it's every creative's dream is to be able to work on these incredible productions and movies. What point did you break away from that and then, you know, start a family and settle down and then. Because I want to move on to your own studio design, but I'm trying to understand the timeline.

0:16:32 - (Silvana Heras): Okay, so with the Great Gatsby, we lived in New York. We came back, we filmed it in Australia. And then the last day of filming, my water broke.

0:16:44 - (Linda Habak): You were pregnant?

0:16:45 - (Silvana Heras): I was pregnant with Inez. That's why she's called the Gatsby baby. So my water broke. I thought I had a month to go. So I was really excited. I'm like, timing's perfect. We wrap and then I've got a month and I'm gonna have my baby, blah, blah. And then she came early. So she was a premier baby. So I had my first child. She's now 14. While we were in New York, living in New York, working on Baz's Netflix series, the Get Down, I got pregnant with Raphael.

0:17:16 - (Silvana Heras): So then I came back and I realised I really need to be near my family, especially my mum. I've got two kids. I did stay working for them for a bit and then I. Yeah, I think both of us realized we've gotta separate. And I think cm let me go. Spread your wings. Do your thing.

0:17:36 - (Linda Habak): Must be hard though, because, you know, you have this incredible career working as part of this amazing sort of international brand, really. I imagine it's hard for both of you because you're working so intimately together. So for you to kind of go off and do what you have to do as a mother and as a creative yourself, but also, I imagine, hard for CM and Baz as well.

0:18:00 - (Silvana Heras): We were always together, like, and working crazy hours. So we kind of did everything together. So it was hard to separate. It's just you have different needs. You know, you've got these babies phases

0:18:13 - (Linda Habak): of life, isn't it?

0:18:14 - (Silvana Heras): These babies that need you and you can't work 50 hours, like, whatever. You were working, you know, 10 hours a day for five days. And we were doing all nighters as well. Like, I can't do that with kids. So it just changed and it was a natural. Like the natural progression.

0:18:32 - (Linda Habak): Yeah. That's beautiful. But I guess that also then opened up the door for you to explore what you, as an individual creative could do and be.

0:18:42 - (Silvana Heras): It really made me think, what do I want to do? What do I love doing? So what I love most is designing. So just kind of getting a brief designing. I'm not so much into the manufacturer, even though I do some of that for House of Harris, but I much prefer just designing and having all these different options and different colourways and.

0:19:04 - (Linda Habak): Yeah, and you're amazing at it. I actually saw something on your Instagram a couple of days ago where you were painting. Oh, you were painting that beautiful floral motif.

0:19:13 - (Silvana Heras): I just started going back to, like, kind of watercolor and painting and.

0:19:18 - (Linda Habak): But I just thought the hand. Like, that handcraft is. So it was beautiful to watch.

0:19:23 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah.

0:19:24 - (Linda Habak): Please post more of that. Because I was. I think I watched it three times. I. I have such a respect and admiration for real, like, artistry. It's artistry. It's true in motion, and it's beautiful. And I think we need to share more of that. Share more of ourselves in that way.

0:19:42 - (Silvana Heras): So normally I would get someone to paint or. I really believe in specialists doing their thing.

0:19:49 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:19:49 - (Silvana Heras): But I'm like, I can do this. It's just.

0:19:52 - (Linda Habak): Of course you can.

0:19:53 - (Silvana Heras): Natural for me to do it. So I started doing it and I was like, I shouldn't be embarrassed. This is my hand. It's my style. And that's what it's always been like.

0:20:02 - (Linda Habak): Isn't it interesting that we have. We still. After all these years with experience, we still have these voices of imposter and doubt. I'm really working hard on just quietening that voice and just saying, okay, thank you. But I'm just gonna shift you to the left because I'll never do any.

0:20:21 - (Silvana Heras): Just do it.

0:20:22 - (Linda Habak): Just do it.

0:20:22 - (Silvana Heras): Just do it. That's my husband always says to me, just start. Yeah, if you start, you will do it.

0:20:27 - (Linda Habak): Yeah, absolutely.

0:20:28 - (Silvana Heras): So just start.

0:20:29 - (Linda Habak): So let's talk about Studio Harris, or House of Harris, rather. What were you feeling or missing at the time that you wanted to feel by building this business and this brand, what fueled that?

0:20:43 - (Silvana Heras): So I was just thinking of what was missing in the world. Just like people were being really safe with carpet designs or rug designs or wallpaper designs. You know, I wanted to blow up the scale. I wanted to use crazy colors, and symmetry's always been my thing, so I'm always kind of whatever balances my eye.

0:21:06 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:21:07 - (Silvana Heras): I'M into. It was just what was missing in the world or what we didn't have enough of.

0:21:12 - (Linda Habak): Yes.

0:21:13 - (Silvana Heras): So, yes, I wanted to create that.

0:21:15 - (Linda Habak): I can see. Exactly. Because I was at the launch of your rug collection with designer rugs and that's where actually I felt I had seen. But we met that night and I'd seen your. Like, I kind of. I don't know, you were just a person that I knew, maybe on socials and we have a mutual friend and so you were always kind of around. But then I went there that night and it was. Your work was mind blowing. It was beautiful. And then you got up and said that beautiful speech about your family and your mum was there and I'm like, oh, this is. I just related so much to that.

0:21:49 - (Linda Habak): But I could see this incredible creative ability and I think exactly what you say when I look back at that collection and the things you're doing, you're really feeling or bringing more to the forefront. That maximalist but still very refined gap in the market. We don't see a lot of that in Australia. I think in Australia we're pretty. Well, I'm a safe designer.

0:22:11 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah.

0:22:12 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:22:12 - (Silvana Heras): But I think there's also a fine line with it being kind of timeless and then current.

0:22:19 - (Linda Habak): So how does that work for you? What does that mean for you specifically?

0:22:22 - (Silvana Heras): I kind of think, will this design still be. Still work in 10 years?

0:22:27 - (Linda Habak): Yeah. That's the question I ask myself on every decision I make creatively. So tell me, in practice, like when you're working through designs, do you have a brief for yourself or do you just work on a design and then how do you balance that? Is this current or is this timeless?

0:22:44 - (Silvana Heras): So a lot of my designs are kind of informed by my travels and my surroundings. So the first collection was Australiana. And then I can't help but because I'm surrounded by incredible, like flowers and trees everywhere that are so different to anywhere else in the world. I'm always putting in those elements into all my designs. Travel kind of informs my collections. And then fashion. Yeah, it's trends, but I don't want it to be a trend. I want it to be classic design.

0:23:18 - (Linda Habak): So would you say that you're sort of inspired by colorways? That might come up?

0:23:23 - (Silvana Heras): Most definitely.

0:23:24 - (Linda Habak): Yeah, absolutely. You still have to be relevant. Right. Like that's the, the whole balance of how do I make sure it's timeless and that in five to 10 years it's still works.

0:23:34 - (Silvana Heras): That's right. And I've. I'm. I don't Know, it must be. Cause it was the decade I was born in. I'm always drawn to the 70s. So.

0:23:41 - (Linda Habak): Yes.

0:23:41 - (Silvana Heras): That loves my thing. Everything about the 70s.

0:23:44 - (Linda Habak): I want to talk about Feiner Hotel. And the reason I want to ask you, because there's. It's an amazing sort of connection, actually. So I was in London and I interviewed with Peter Mickich. Peter Mickich designed the New York Faina Hotel. Correct. And so it's interesting, when I was doing research for season two, I'm like, oh, my God, I've got to have Sylva, because she worked on the Miami Faina Hotel. Is that right? Was it Miami or. And New York.

0:24:10 - (Linda Habak): New York and New York both. Okay, right.

0:24:12 - (Silvana Heras): That's right.

0:24:12 - (Linda Habak): That's right. I remember that now. That's right. Cause I asked him about, and he goes, yes. You know, so how did that opportunity. I mean, you're here. How did that come about?

0:24:21 - (Silvana Heras): Faena Miami came about through Bazmark. So that was with Baz and cm. So they don't only do films, they do opera theatre, musicals, hotels, restaurants. You know, they always fingers in many pies. Always. That's why it was so much fun working with them. You were never bored.

0:24:40 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:24:40 - (Silvana Heras): And it was always the best projects in the best locations. So we got to travel the world and just meet the most incredible people. The Faena Miami, I worked on that with CM and Baz, and there was a team of us. But I think what happened with Faena New York was Ximena, who was their creative director at the time, came to me and said, can you help me with this one rug for Fayen in New York? So it started off with one rug.

0:25:11 - (Linda Habak): All right.

0:25:12 - (Silvana Heras): And then it ended up being like 200 rugs. So I designed all the rugs for.

0:25:16 - (Linda Habak): And all the Fayen Hundred, like, different motifs.

0:25:19 - (Silvana Heras): No, no, no, no. The rooms.

0:25:21 - (Linda Habak): Okay, Right.

0:25:22 - (Silvana Heras): So all the rooms are designed by House of Harris and then some of the public areas.

0:25:27 - (Linda Habak): That's amazing. What an incredible opportunity.

0:25:30 - (Silvana Heras): And of course, working with Peter Mickich, who's a fellow Australian.

0:25:33 - (Linda Habak): I know.

0:25:34 - (Silvana Heras): So that was really nice to meet him.

0:25:36 - (Linda Habak): Him.

0:25:36 - (Silvana Heras): I've been to his office in London. Yeah.

0:25:39 - (Linda Habak): Isn't he just divine?

0:25:40 - (Silvana Heras): The most talented man.

0:25:42 - (Linda Habak): Yeah. And so humble.

0:25:43 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah.

0:25:44 - (Linda Habak): Like you just. Yeah. So humble. But I find most creatives that there's a humility around all of these beautiful creatives that I get to talk to.

0:25:52 - (Silvana Heras): It's true. I feel like there's this quiet confidence.

0:25:56 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:25:57 - (Silvana Heras): And they just. Well, I just kind of want to be left alone.

0:26:00 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:26:01 - (Silvana Heras): Just let me do my thing.

0:26:02 - (Linda Habak): Exactly. Absolutely. What is, what is the future for House of Harris? What's your vision for it at the moment?

0:26:11 - (Silvana Heras): It's interesting because we have started going more into interiors so it's more commercial spaces, restaurants, pubs.

0:26:19 - (Linda Habak): So are you working with like the creative directors of the different companies who are working on the interiors or are you doing the full interior?

0:26:28 - (Silvana Heras): Well, there's a restaurant we're working on at the moment that we're working with the architects or I may be being the creative director in another project. So it's just very different. Yeah.

0:26:42 - (Linda Habak): Do you have a preference for the type of work that you do? Like, is there one thing you love more than anything?

0:26:48 - (Silvana Heras): Not really. I just love designing. So whatever it is. A space.

0:26:52 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:26:53 - (Silvana Heras): A kimono, a wallpaper, a rug, a carpet. I've got a new Axminster range coming out with designer rugs next year.

0:27:02 - (Linda Habak): That's amazing. And how did that collaboration come about with designer rugs?

0:27:06 - (Silvana Heras): So I'd known Yossi through cm, so that was again a Bazmar connection. Yeah.

0:27:13 - (Linda Habak): That's amazing.

0:27:14 - (Silvana Heras): And it was just. He took the risk of taking me on with the first collection and.

0:27:19 - (Linda Habak): Oh, it's beautiful.

0:27:20 - (Silvana Heras): The launch has been a great partnership.

0:27:22 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:27:22 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah.

0:27:23 - (Linda Habak): That's so good. It's nice to be in safe hands with a good supplier.

0:27:27 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah, we knew him and it was just a nice kind of thing to happen. I've also got a wallpaper collection. I've got another one coming out with Milton and King and then I also design for CB2 in America and that's.

0:27:43 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:27:44 - (Silvana Heras): Unfortunately they're not here. But they don't even ship to Australia. I know, so that's fun. But that's seasonal. So every season they'll come up and give me a brief and then I've got a design to that brief. So I've just designed all their Christmas this year and Christmas next year and then there's bits and pieces that are coming out. Rugs and plates and glassware and that's fantastic.

0:28:07 - (Linda Habak): How do you stay self motivated as a creative? Because I imagine you have to have that sort of inner self motivation to keep going.

0:28:16 - (Silvana Heras): The kids go to school and I go up to my studio space.

0:28:20 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:28:20 - (Silvana Heras): And that's how it works.

0:28:22 - (Linda Habak): Yeah. And you're just in there creating anything.

0:28:24 - (Silvana Heras): Like some days I'm painting. You have to have. Yeah. I'm in different minds. I'm not creative every day, but most days I am. And when I'm not, I think the best thing to do is leave your desk and go out and do something.

0:28:37 - (Linda Habak): Yeah, yeah. And how do you keep inspired? Do you ever get bogged down or stuck creatively, or do you just find that it just comes so naturally all the time?

0:28:49 - (Silvana Heras): I feel like I've got backup.

0:28:51 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:28:51 - (Silvana Heras): You know, it's just what comes to the forefront of my mind. I go with. But I've got so much in there that I've absorbed that. I love this. I love that I want to do this. I want to do that.

0:29:01 - (Linda Habak): Well, even when you walk down the stairs today and the camellias are in bloom, I can see that you take in your environment beautifully because you're looking around and you're absorbing it all and it's beautiful.

0:29:13 - (Silvana Heras): The sky at night. I'm always like, look, kids, look at that sunset quick.

0:29:17 - (Linda Habak): Yeah, Absolutely appreciate all those details.

0:29:20 - (Silvana Heras): Yes, I do.

0:29:21 - (Linda Habak): Do you think that is just innate in you or is it part of your DNA? Like, is there someone else in your family that looks at the world the same way you do, or are you just the special black sheep?

0:29:34 - (Silvana Heras): No, I think I've gotten a lot of it from my mum. Yeah, she's really stylish and I don't know what it is. She's always loved colour as well, so of course I'm obsessed with colour and just also, my dad's a gardener, so he's always. Maybe the love of nature is from him and colour and styles from Mum.

0:29:55 - (Linda Habak): You see all the creative elements from both sides of the family.

0:29:58 - (Silvana Heras): My parents.

0:29:59 - (Linda Habak): I love it. How do you know when a design feels right? Like, how do you know when to stop? Yeah, to stop. Because I think about that. I've got a friend who's really. One of my really close friends is an artist.

0:30:10 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah.

0:30:11 - (Linda Habak): And we constantly talk about that and she goes, it's just not quite finished. Like it'll be finished in my eyes, but what do I know? And then she goes, no, no, it needs just one more. And she just will work on it continuously. So what's your practice like?

0:30:24 - (Silvana Heras): Okay, either I draw by or draw in Illustrator or both. So start hand, take it into the computer and draw over the top in Illustrator and then I take it into Photoshop. But my whole thing is pre. Visualization. That is so important to me and I previs everything.

0:30:43 - (Linda Habak): What does that.

0:30:44 - (Silvana Heras): So that is from my movie days because we. The entire set of Moulin Rouge for every set, we did a Photoshop mock up. So it's mocking up the space in Photoshop.

0:30:56 - (Linda Habak): Photoshop.

0:30:57 - (Silvana Heras): Seeing the scale, the colours in that space with that chair or, you know, just different Options.

0:31:03 - (Linda Habak): Okay.

0:31:04 - (Silvana Heras): So with a design, I feel like I'm almost there. And then I'm like, oh, no, there's that weird gap. So it's the squint of the eye, it's knowing that the composition's right. Are those colours really working? And then I take it into a space and I mock it up on a wall.

0:31:19 - (Linda Habak): Okay.

0:31:20 - (Silvana Heras): Wallpaper on the wall, carpet, rugs on the floor. And I mock them up in a space that I love. So I just find a space online, anywhere that I love. And I take it in and I see it and I'm like, no, that scale needs to be bigger. Those colours aren't working. And then I see what colours are needed in the world. Like, what does the world need to see? Like, what colourways haven't been done? I kind of like to break, even though I look at what's in.

0:31:46 - (Silvana Heras): I don't like to follow trends as much as breaking them.

0:31:50 - (Linda Habak): I love that.

0:31:51 - (Silvana Heras): I love that.

0:31:52 - (Linda Habak): It's like a quotable. If you look back now at the years that you worked on all the movies and all these incredible projects, like, what's the one thing that you think was the biggest lesson for you?

0:32:07 - (Silvana Heras): You can't. Yeah. You can't work on something too much, if that makes any sense. It's just keep at it, keep doing it, even though it's hard and you're there and you're like, I just really need sleep. You've got to keep going till you get to where you need to be. So it's endurance, it's attention to detail. If you can see it, everyone else can. So don't ever think that, oh, no one's going to see that.

0:32:35 - (Silvana Heras): Everyone can see that line is not touching that line correctly, or that curve is incorrect, or that color's not going with that color. Like, attention to detail is very much there. Baz will look at everything and kind of. You can't get away with anything. So actually, no shortcuts.

0:32:55 - (Linda Habak): No shortcuts.

0:32:56 - (Silvana Heras): No shortcuts.

0:32:57 - (Linda Habak): No shortcuts.

0:32:58 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah.

0:32:59 - (Linda Habak): In practice, in daily life, like, do you feel like you've taken that learning and do you implement that in daily life now, like, in your business? Is it practical to be able to. To be that much of a perfectionist?

0:33:13 - (Silvana Heras): It is.

0:33:14 - (Linda Habak): And you have to be.

0:33:15 - (Silvana Heras): And I have to. Like, I just have to.

0:33:17 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:33:17 - (Silvana Heras): But I don't say that it's in my daily life as being a mother. Like, I'm not a perfectionist or, like, running the house.

0:33:26 - (Linda Habak): No.

0:33:27 - (Silvana Heras): Like, something has to suffer.

0:33:28 - (Linda Habak): Yeah. Something has to give Right, Yeah.

0:33:30 - (Silvana Heras): Something's gotta give.

0:33:31 - (Linda Habak): I've decided I'm a recovering perfectionist. That's what I've called myself, a recovering perfectionist. I cannot do perfection anymore.

0:33:39 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah, but. But yeah, I think your idea of perfection changes with age. You're right.

0:33:45 - (Linda Habak): Absolutely.

0:33:45 - (Silvana Heras): You're not settling, but you're like, this is actually really good. Just don't be so hard on yourself.

0:33:50 - (Linda Habak): Yeah, that's right. But also, I think you can't have everything perfect all at the same time. So it depends what the priorities are at that time. But creatively, I think what I'm hearing is that always creatively, there are no shortcuts. You are seeking perfection. You're looking for greatness in your work.

0:34:09 - (Silvana Heras): I am.

0:34:10 - (Linda Habak): And I can see it in the work. It's amazing.

0:34:13 - (Silvana Heras): I am.

0:34:13 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:34:14 - (Silvana Heras): But it's hard to know when to stop. You're right.

0:34:16 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:34:16 - (Silvana Heras): So.

0:34:17 - (Linda Habak): So is there ever, like, have you ever had a moment where you've gone, I just.

0:34:21 - (Silvana Heras): I.

0:34:21 - (Linda Habak): That's it. I'm not going to touch this anymore. I can't.

0:34:24 - (Silvana Heras): You step away and come back a week later and look at it with fresh eyes.

0:34:27 - (Linda Habak): Yeah. What makes you know that it's done? What is it? Is it a feeling?

0:34:32 - (Silvana Heras): It's a feeling. It's most definitely a feeling. Where you go, okay, this is great. Like, what was I thinking leaving it for that long? I've got to get it out in the world and for it to be appreciated.

0:34:43 - (Linda Habak): Oh, that's, yeah.

0:34:44 - (Silvana Heras): Incredible.

0:34:46 - (Linda Habak): What grounds you today in terms of work, in terms of motherhood, in terms of yourself? Like, what are you now at the age that you're at, with the experience that you've had, how do you feel about yourself, your future? What keeps you grounded?

0:35:01 - (Silvana Heras): My family, most definitely. If everyone's home and we're just sitting there watching TV after we've had a dinner together, we eat together every night, so I just love that ritual of having dinner together and just going to see my parents every Saturday night. We go see Kim's parents, my in laws, every Sunday. It's the people that surround you that keep you going. And it's having a holiday every now and then. Something to look forward to, but then come back to your family.

0:35:32 - (Silvana Heras): And I also love my dog. He's like, it's only here and I in the house during the day. So he's like my bestie.

0:35:39 - (Linda Habak): Oh, that's so cute.

0:35:40 - (Silvana Heras): But it's most definitely my family that keep me grounded and a core group of really good friends that are your family as well.

0:35:49 - (Linda Habak): Absolutely. Your chosen family. Do you ever stop and look back and go, like, do you shock yourself at how incredible your creative life has been?

0:35:58 - (Silvana Heras): No, no, I just keep going.

0:36:01 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:36:01 - (Silvana Heras): My kids are asking a lot of questions now about my movie life. Like, what was this? Like, who did you meet? Blah, blah, blah. You know, so tell us, who did you meet? Leonardo called in as a cute baby and that's her flex at school. You know, it's just.

0:36:14 - (Linda Habak): Oh, that's so adorable.

0:36:16 - (Silvana Heras): It's just these things that I did take for granted when they were happening. But now my kids, seeing them through their eyes, they're like, fascinated.

0:36:24 - (Linda Habak): Because someone on the outside looking into your life would be mesmerized by it. But I guess what you're saying is in it, you're just doing it.

0:36:32 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah, you're doing it. And you're on a train and it's just going and you can't get off. And I feel like I'm still on that train. Like, I'm not ready to stop.

0:36:42 - (Linda Habak): Oh, no.

0:36:42 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah.

0:36:43 - (Linda Habak): Not stop. Never stop. If you look back, what were some of the highlights? Like the highlights that you, you couldn't see from watching the movies. But for you being part of that, the creation of these incredible movies, what, what are some of the highlights for

0:36:59 - (Silvana Heras): you going to Cannes twice for Moulin Rouge. They opened up Moulin Rouge at the Calm Film Festival. And for the Great Gatsby, it was just like, where are we? We're walking the red carpet. It's like, it's just so incredible to be there and see that. That's the result of working, you know, for so many years on one thing.

0:37:24 - (Linda Habak): That's amazing.

0:37:24 - (Silvana Heras): And I think the other one would have to be, I've been to the Oscars twice and dressing Beyonce. Cause Baz got to direct this opening ceremony with Beyonce and Hugh Jackman. And so I was helping CM dress Beyonce. So that would have to be another highlight. Cause, you know, I'm a Beyonce fan. Oh, my meeting her and dressing her.

0:37:46 - (Linda Habak): One of my really, really good friends is obsessed with Beyonce.

0:37:50 - (Silvana Heras): Yeah, I love her.

0:37:51 - (Linda Habak): Yeah, she's. I'll have to introduce the two of you because the fact that you have met her, like, that would be enough for her. And what was. I mean, what is that like? That's what I'm saying. You're a girl that was born in war torn Lebanon and you got to have this incredible. You're having this incredible life. I mean, do you stop and reflect

0:38:10 - (Silvana Heras): and go, you've just got to go with it. Like, you can't be intimidated or say, can I have a selfie? You know, you've got to be cool and grounded and.

0:38:19 - (Linda Habak): Yeah, this is real. Yeah.

0:38:21 - (Silvana Heras): And real. Exactly. And just do the job that you're there to do. Yeah.

0:38:26 - (Linda Habak): Yeah.

0:38:26 - (Silvana Heras): And you're just lucky. I was very. I'm very grateful for the experience that I've had with Baz and cm.

0:38:32 - (Linda Habak): Yeah. But also, I think, you know, they would have loved you as a person, I imagine, because you are so real and so down to earth. And so I think there's something really lovely about that.

0:38:43 - (Silvana Heras): We've got a great relationship, and we still talk, and, you know, we catch up on the good old days. Yeah.

0:38:50 - (Linda Habak): So if you could. If you could go back to that little girl, that little migrant girl and whisper one thing to her, what would you say to her now you've lived this incredible life so far, what would you go back and whisper to her?

0:39:07 - (Silvana Heras): Take more risks, I think. Just do it. Go with your gut.

0:39:14 - (Linda Habak): I love that. And the last signature question that we ask everybody on the podcast, what does Build Beautiful mean to you? And it can mean anything.

0:39:23 - (Silvana Heras): I think Build Beautiful to me means being authentic, to create with intention and meaning.

0:39:31 - (Linda Habak): I love that. I love that. I have enjoyed this conversation so much. Thank you so much for joining me.

0:39:37 - (Silvana Heras): Thank you for having me. Thank you.