Yakuza-Inspired Interior by Claire Leina

Wallpaper has always been intended to imbue a room with a mood or feel without capturing the eye and drawing too much undue attention. The interior design of the Koi Restaurant in Aix-En-Provence as designed by Vincent Coste and applied by Claire Leina breaks that rule of thumb in the best way possible.

Originally inspired by the tattoos that engulf the bodies of high-up Yakuza gang members, this menacing but beautiful design straddles the line between illustration and pattern, covering the interior of the restaurant’s rooms much like the tattoos cover the entire bodies of gang members. In other sections of the restaurant the images of a dragon fighting a koi fish sneak out more subtly, like a tattoo revealing itself from underneath a hiked-up shirt-sleeve. This stark black and white design contrast wonderfully with the wood, metallic red, and yellow lighting throughout the space.