You’re Invited! Dining with Cultural Inspirations: Shida Salehi, Founder and Creative Director of Customs Bureau
Imagine hosting a dinner party where every detail – from the enchanting venue to the eclectic guest list – reflects the passions and inspirations that have shaped your creative life and work. In this joyful feature, we step into the mind of Shida Salehi, Founder and Creative Director of Customs Bureau, to explore her ultimate dinner party with the people who have influenced her as a creative.
Party setup
Venue
The gardens of Golestan Palace, where architecture and landscape create a quiet sense of ceremony. In Persian culture, the host is responsible for the emotional temperature of the room, and this setting feels intuitively aligned with that ritual.
Menu
The evening begins with a mint and orange blossom refreshment, setting a tone of care. The table unfolds through Persian dishes like fesenjan and tahchin, ending with tea and a chocolate mousse that feels personal.
Entertainment
Music would centre around Shaolin Soul, a four-volume compilation of samples used by the Wu-Tang Clan, which carries a sense of nostalgia and texture. Film shapes my design thinking more than interiors, so sound would quietly guide the evening’s mood.
Guests
Cy Twombly’s work makes me feel unexpectedly emotional. The first time I encountered it in person at the Museum Brandhorst, I had a visceral reaction that stayed with me. It was the first time I experienced that kind of emotional response to painting within the controlled setting of a modern gallery. His work feels instinctive yet deeply layered, something I continue to return to in my own thinking.
Fran Lebowitz would bring a completely different energy to the table. She’s brash, observant, and unapologetically critical, which I find refreshing. I would be just as interested in observing her as speaking with her. I imagine she would disrupt any sense of politeness, and likely be slightly annoyed, which would make for far more interesting conversations and even better stories the next day.
Anthony Bourdain represents a kind of curiosity and openness that I find deeply compelling. His approach to food was never just about taste, but about people, culture, and shared experience. I’m drawn to the way he moved through the world with both humour and honesty. He would bring warmth to the table, grounding the evening in something real and unpretentious.
Miuccia Prada has a way of making you question what you thought you liked. Her work constantly shifts between restraint and disruption, which I’m drawn to. I’d also want to ask her about her mime phase as it feels like it explains more than it should about how she thinks about expression.
Pedro Almodóvar offers a sense of warmth, humour, and emotional openness that I’m drawn to. His work embraces intensity but never loses playfulness, often using colour, character, and dialogue in a way that feels both bold and deeply human. I imagine he would bring generosity to the table, someone who invites conversation rather than controls it.
Shirin Neshat’s work explores identity, gender, and cultural tension with a strong visual language. I’m drawn to how she balances poetry and politics without losing nuance. Including her feels personal to my heritage as she brings a contemporary Iranian perspective that sits in dialogue with Kiarostami, but through a different lens.
Bonus guest! (As I need to lighten the room a bit more)
Amy Winehouse
Beyond loving her music, I think Amy Winehouse would shift the mood entirely. There was an ease, glamour, and unpredictability to her that I found irresistible. I imagine she would lighten the room at just the right moment, and almost certainly be at the centre of the stories everyone is still talking about the next morning over coffee.
Shida Salehi is the Founder and Creative Director of Customs Bureau, a London-based interior design studio working across luxury hospitality and cultural destinations. Her approach is shaped less by traditional interiors and more by film, art, and cultural memory, with a focus on atmosphere and emotional experience. Drawing from her Iranian heritage where hosting is rooted in care and generosity, her work explores how spaces can shape connection, mood, and the rituals of gathering.