Dasha Moranova: True Luxury on Board Is Feeling Good

At the Monaco Yacht Show, DMD’s founder shares a vision of design that starts with the individual. Materials, light and technology work towards one goal: improving the quality of time spent at sea.

A yacht can impress through its size, finishes or the sophistication of its equipment. But what makes those who step on board feel truly at ease? This is the question around which Dasha Moranova builds her work. Speaking at the Monaco Yacht Show, the designer discusses balance, the senses and wellbeing, taking the conversation beyond the yacht’s appearance.

“Our design is about people. The client comes first,” she explains. A seemingly simple principle that requires many elements to be considered together: furniture proportions, colours, lighting, surfaces and how they are experienced in everyday life.

A Growing Studio
Founder and Creative Director of Amsterdam-based Dasha Moranova Designs, Moranova brings around twenty years of experience to the studio. Her career includes roles within the teams at Blue Ocean Yacht Management, Terence Disdale Design and Winch Design. In 2021, her collaboration with Lürssen on the interiors of the 98-metre Alice concept marked a milestone for the independent studio.

Today, its work spans new builds and refits. During the interview, Moranova describes a seven-person team set to expand alongside its workload: two new builds underway, a recently completed refit of approximately 50 metres and two further refits scheduled for the winter. The studio is also opening a new office in central Amsterdam.

This growth is guided by a clear vision: designing spaces that respond to the owner’s habits and the way they enjoy life at sea.

Wellbeing Begins with Balance
Asked which material she prefers, Moranova avoids choosing just one. What matters, she argues, is the relationship between different materials.

“You need a bit of everything: wood to feel connected to nature, metal for a sense of solidity, glass for reflections and good lighting.”

Fabrics, finishes and surfaces all contribute to the same composition. The result is measured by how a space makes people feel: how much it invites them to pause, makes an everyday action enjoyable or helps them relax.

“When everything is in harmony, you feel good,” she sums up.

For yacht design, this approach has a practical consequence: wellbeing becomes part of the project from the outset, shaping layouts and the experience of the spaces, as well as the dedicated amenities.

Senses: Engineering in the Service of Experience
The concept that most directly expresses this exploration is the 83-metre Senses, developed by DMD on Lateral Naval Architects’ Free From Bulkheads platform. The distinction between their roles matters: Lateral provides the engineering foundation, while Moranova explores its possibilities through the design of the spaces and the wellness experience.

The platform allows watertight bulkheads to terminate at lower-deck level, freeing the layout of that deck from the constraints of conventional compartmentation. DMD uses this freedom to envision an expansive wellness space close to the waterline, with almost 360-degree ocean views.

The connection with the sea thus becomes part of the design. The flow between spaces and their openness to the outdoors place the wellness journey within a broader experience, with the surrounding seascape accompanying time spent on board.

Moranova describes an AI-assisted gym, meditation spaces, cryotherapy and a steam shower featuring a large natural salt rock. The concept also includes a Finnish sauna, a steam room and loungers with integrated massage systems facing the sea.

Technology is discreetly integrated: control panels that appear when needed and invisible audio solutions help maintain a visually calm environment. These are tools that support the sensory experience envisioned by the designer.

Personalising the Atmosphere
Another expression of this philosophy is Aurai, an interior proposal for Oceanco’s Simply Custom programme, developed to complement the exterior design by Bozca Limitless Design.

DMD presents three interpretations of the interiors while retaining the same general arrangement and exterior structure. Changing finishes and wall panels changes the yacht’s atmosphere: an example of how personalisation can transform the perception of a space without requiring a different architectural approach each time.

From Ownership to Experience
The conversation turns to longevity, a recurring topic in yachting too. Moranova connects it with attention to nutrition, exercise, sleep and how people use their time. In her view, the pandemic heightened this awareness.

Above all, it is the meaning attached to a yacht that is changing.

“In the past, it was more about what you owned. Today, what matters is what you experience and how you spend your time,” she observes, also highlighting the value of giving back to others.

For Moranova, this evolution brings a responsibility for designers: to create places that improve the quality of the time spent within them. A yacht remains an extraordinarily complex creation. Yet its most personal value can emerge through a very simple feeling: being at ease on board.

Filippo Ceragioli

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