Wilbert Das’ enchanting hotel in Brazil

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City USA
April/May 2009

Diesel Creative Director Wilbert Das’ enchanting hotel in Brazil shows that his design aesthetic goes beyond clothing / By Ken Miller

A few great minds have invented their own magic kingdoms. C.S. Lewis had Narnia. Lewis Carroll had Wonderland. And Gabriel Garcia Marquez has Macondo. So perhaps the most remarkable thing about Wilber Das’ personal paradise is that he didn’t make it up – it’s right there in a lovely colonial town in northeastern Brazil. Lucky for us, Das hasn’t kept this spot secret. Quite the opposite, he’s invited all of us to go there and soak up the creative inspiration.

It took more than 20 years for Das to discover his own version of Eden. His busy schedule as creative director for Diesel has always meant that opportunities for vacations have been few and far between. In fact, it took more than 15 years for Das to follow up his initial visit to Brazil; upon returning, he stumbled upon the small coastal town of Trancoso, located in the country’s vibrant Bahia province. Trancoso had already developed something of a reputation among the Brazilian elite, drawn by the town’s unique mix of a laid-back beach vibe, bohemian artist culture, and charming colonial architecture. A friend recommended the town to Das by saying simply “It feels like your house,” Das recalls. “I didn’t really know what he meant, but I was curious enough to visit.” He was immediately enchanted, not just with the town’s sylvan setting but with the rich tradition of handicrafts he encountered among the local carpenters and fisherman.

Not surprisingly for a designer such as Das, these craftsmen were an immediate source of inspiration. He spent days sitting outside – either on the beach or in the lovely town square – sketching and thinking of ideas for what he would do if he were to purchase a second home in the town. A greater ambition quickly took hold: why not share this remarkable setting, which he found so inspiring, with his kindred spirits seeking a break from their busy globetrotting schedules? Twenty years after he first deplaned in Brazil, the idea for UXUA Casa Hotel was born.

To Das, the hotel could serve as “a home away from home – with the service of a hotel, but also with the possibility of doing work there.” The idea was to create a unique environment geared towards successful creatives who were seeking a respite from their hectic daily routines and who needed a place to relax and recharge for a few days, not just a place that would serve as an overnight pit stop on their over-packed vacation. Much in the same vein, overseeing every aspect of the hotel’s design and construction wouldn’t be possible for Das.. Even if he wanted to devote most of his time to the project, Trancoso was half a world away from Diesel’s Milan headquarters. Fortunately, the same community of local craftsmen that had attracted him to the town would now become not just a source of inspiration, but also an invaluable resource.

“We wanted to reflect the aesthetics of Bahia,” Das says. “A lot of the people working with wood and metal there were very inspiring. We’d give them an idea and they’d come up with something better.” Slowly but surely, the hotel began to take shape. Das began by remodeling several fishermen’s cottages facing the “quadrado,” or town square, which is closed to all traffic except for traditional horse-drawn carts. Then they started building out the hotel’s grounds, adding a multi-level tree house made entirely out of recycled wood. None of which escaped the attention of the town elders. As Das puts it, Trancoso has a bit of a “hippie vibe,” and locals were at first unsure to make of the high-powered fashion designer who was subtly revamping the town’s scenery. To allay their concerns, Das went out of his way to forge local ties. “Talking a lot with local environmental activists to make sure that they felt like their interests were being served and the hotel was part of the community,” he says.

With the community fully on board and engaged, Das was free to get even more ambitious with the hotel’s design, incorporating Indian elements to match his personal taste, using a sleekly modern palette to smooth them into the local aesthetic. Most dramatically, he added a swimming pool constructed out of aventurine quartz, a material believed by some to have holistic healing powers. An abandoned fisherman’s boat also became a sudden object of inspiration, and Das transformed the relic into a beachfront bar serving the hotel’s guests.

For Das, the hardest part of it all has been finding the time to spend at UXUA Casa Hotel. In many ways, he is his own perfect customer, though he admits that he needed some time to relax and stop playing nervous new owner. Carrying over habits from his daily life at Diesel, “the first two weeks we were open were quite stressful – I’m quite driven by attention to detail.” Now that his jitters have subsided, Das finally finds himself with a second home, a business and a creative muse, all together in one lovingly constructed package. “After spending time with advertising and clothing design, it’s a very nice switch from my normal job. I get to sit and chat with the guests over a bottle of wine.” “It’s almost relaxing!”

With two and three bedroom bungalows nestled along Trancoso’s somnambulant town square or tucked among the area’s lush forests of cocoa and jackfruit trees, it surely won’t be long before more of Das’ contemporaries beat a hasty retreat to his tropical hideaway. There may not be a yellow brick road, but this just might be Oz on earth.