Meet Olympe in Marseille

“Olympe is someone you remember,” says John, Olympe’s friend and collaborator. Like the sun, Olympe Zographos brightens every street corner and room she enters. With her unique gift of listening and embracing others exactly as they are, her natural enthusiasm and “joie de vivre”, she has transformed Marseille and its surroundings into a playground for creating, enhancing and beautifying. She is the creative mind behind the brand new Vanessa Bruno boutique in Marseille, rue Francis Davso.

Olympe was born in Guadeloupe and moved to Marseille when she was just 6 months old. Her “Provençal grandmother” is the one who raised her and inspired her to achieve her dreams. A bit of a tomboy, a boardsports enthousiast, and mother of two boys, Olympe excels in men's circles, takes on everything life throws at her with passion, from the conceptual to the world of construction sites.

I have always been creative. I loved drawing as a child. I was raised by my grandmother Denise in Marseille and we both shared very creative moments, which have always inspired me. However, I started my studies in a completely different field. I enrolled in a psychology course in Canada, that focused on clinical art and the sociology of luxury. The social aspect of things is what interested me. One day, my roommate who was in design school introduced me to the director of her school and all of a sudden, it seemed obvious to me, my calling was to create. My grandmother strongly encouraged me to follow this passion and I joined the design course at the University of Quebec in Montreal. Even though I was starting from scratch, I immediately felt like it was where I belonged, I loved it.

When I came back to France, it was a little more complicated because design studies abroad are not necessarily recognized here. The logic is different in France: architecture and art are two separate things. I managed to catch up with the skill requirements and worked in an architectural agency for ten years, focusing on real estate development. I learned to manage large scale projects, with the pressure, the issues, the deadlines that come with it. I started to work on smaller projects on the side and eventually set up my own structure. It’s all about the right encounters and the right time. What started as commercial design gradually evolved into residential design, which both work very differently from a timing and ideation perspective.
 

When I met Vanessa, I was moved by her elegance, her simplicity, her profound beauty. I felt inspired by her energy, her power. She is very caring, always looks out for others and at the same time she knows how to move forward with things and make dreams come true. 

I used lots of different materials to design the space of the boutique: mineral coating, travertine, smoked oak, poured concrete, seagrass, washed linen, white powder-coated steel, and loopback fabric. The idea was to build a space around volumes and materials that would reflect the spirit of the brand: timeless elegance, mixed with softness and lightness. 

One of my favorite spots in the boutique is the bench with plants around. Vanessa wanted to create an intimate and immersive moment in which customers would feel comfortable while trying on their new wardrobe. This seating has an integrated planter and is attached to the cabin area. It invites you to take a moment for yourself where you can wander around like you're in your own dressing room.

As an interior designer, my work is to translate the soul of brands and organizations into their own space with their own identity, using the best resources and materials available. I thrive for excellence in everything I do. Regardless of whether it’s a small business in Marseille or a larger hotel and spa project in Corsica the real challenge is to translate the spirit of a place into a space, with honesty and beauty. Recently, I have been working on more exclusive projects that have challenged my creativity even more. There is our signature project that I’m also developing and this one is very close to my heart. It is an opportunity for me to shine light on others and to express myself in a more experimental way while avoiding doing the same thing over and over again and repeating myself. I truly feel like there is no limit to what I can create. I am super free in that way. I get really excited to embark on any kind of project, big or small, as long as I see the truth in them.

The most difficult thing is to manage to be yourself and to be aligned with who you are. As a black, independent woman, evolving in a world of men, in the south of France - it’s a lot (she laughs). I’ve always had to connect to this sense of freedom.
Instead of approaching it in a “fight mode”, I try to see it as an opportunity to elevate myself, first in my posture and also spiritually and in the way I envision things.
That’s what I teach to my children: how to be yourself, to be grounded and to be open minded. To be open minded, to think and express yourself, outside of the box, it’s so important. That is often where the real problem lies, when you see yourself in a box. Our brain needs to organize and put things into boxes, that's how we function to apprehend the world and understand it. But sometimes it’s important to go beyond that box so you can welcome any differences in others and yourself and appreciate how those differences indeed enrich your life. My grandmother and all other powerful women in my family taught me this at a very early age and it has stayed with me ever since.
Even when you feel judged, overwhelmed, this freedom is to me like a vital energy, a dynamic posture that helps you move forward, push your limits and elevate yourself. You eventually become a model. Anything becomes a playground, an opportunity for experimentation, beyond any codes.

Behind any success, there is a lot of work, sacrifice, effort, constraint. Only when you challenge yourself can you expand on your skills and grow professionally and personally. You get to what makes you unique, your vital energy. The most important is for you to walk on a path you feel aligned to. It’s all about the simple things, things you learn and you share. What I ultimately look for in creating a space is to be of service to a person and to create joy, simply.

When you do any creative work, you’re looking for a sense of pleasure at the end, for yourself and the people receiving it. You’re like a child, looking for wonder. Anything I create is like a child I give birth to and that I see evolve and fly on its own.
 

The most difficult thing is to manage to be yourself and to be aligned with who you are. As a black, independent woman, evolving in a world of men, in the south of France - it’s a lot (she laughs). I’ve always had to connect to this sense of freedom.
Instead of approaching it in a “fight mode”, I try to see it as an opportunity to elevate myself, first in my posture and also spiritually and in the way I envision things.
That’s what I teach to my children: how to be yourself, to be grounded and to be open minded. To be open minded, to think and express yourself, outside of the box, it’s so important. That is often where the real problem lies, when you see yourself in a box. Our brain needs to organize and put things into boxes, that's how we function to apprehend the world and understand it. But sometimes it’s important to go beyond that box so you can welcome any differences in others and yourself and appreciate how those differences indeed enrich your life. My grandmother and all other powerful women in my family taught me this at a very early age and it has stayed with me ever since.
Even when you feel judged, overwhelmed, this freedom is to me like a vital energy, a dynamic posture that helps you move forward, push your limits and elevate yourself. You eventually become a model. Anything becomes a playground, an opportunity for experimentation, beyond any codes.

Behind any success, there is a lot of work, sacrifice, effort, constraint. Only when you challenge yourself can you expand on your skills and grow professionally and personally. You get to what makes you unique, your vital energy. The most important is for you to walk on a path you feel aligned to. It’s all about the simple things, things you learn and you share. What I ultimately look for in creating a space is to be of service to a person and to create joy, simply.

When you do any creative work, you’re looking for a sense of pleasure at the end, for yourself and the people receiving it. You’re like a child, looking for wonder. Anything I create is like a child I give birth to and that I see evolve and fly on its own.

Moments of true intimacy, with close friends for example, when you’re fully present (without being on your phone!) are what nourishes me profoundly. Those moments are usually very simple yet so precious. I also love to disconnect in between two meetings and indulge in a facial with the wonderful Eva Choukri.

The Grandes Halles du Vieux Port, inspired by the cooking of my grandmother Denise.
30A Cours Honoré d’Estienne d’Orves-13001 Marseille

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Eva Chakri (biological research)
My ultimate wellness place
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