KBAC Flooring’s Lesley Fidrmuc, for the past 28 years the “Face of Interface” to dozens of Gauteng designers, is retiring from the bustle of the city to slowly make her way to the peace of the French countryside.
Lesley has represented Interface – the world’s largest modular flooring supplier – in South Africa since 1990: initially directly for the global producer and since 2012 for KBAC Flooring, which is now the sole SA distributor for Interface.
She is passionate about Interface and its quest for total sustainability. “I was in Maui in 1996 when the late Ray Anderson, founder of Interface, announced Interface’s Mission Zero – the company’s vision of zero carbon emissions in production as well as the life cycle of its products. That memorable week instilled the passion I have for Interface flooring so it has been easy to convey that beautiful flooring can also offer all the sustainable factors today’s ‘green designers’ are seeking,” Lesley recalls.
She believes SA interior design can hold its own globally and has a simple credo when it comes to dealing with designers: Earn their respect through professionalism – and show that you’d go more than just one extra mile to help them match client expectations.
“I have been totally at home at KBAC, a company staffed by people who, at all times, matched my obsession for perfection. I feel as if I am leaving family behind,” Lesley adds.
When in France in due course, she will no doubt continue the addiction to first casting an eye on flooring before anything else. “I even look at the flooring first when watching TV,” she confesses. Should she visit The Louvre in her new home country, chances are even the Mona Lisa will have to wait for a secondary upward glance.
