Definition of dream assignment: interview The Crown's production designer Martin Childs and set decorator Alison Harvey about how they do what they do, both generally and specifically for Season 3 (their work on the Aberfan landslide episode was nominated for and won an Emmy). Too much to say in a few sentences - go here to read the entire piece. I promise it's not boring....
Nina Magon of Houston's Contour Interior Design created living and dining areas for a couple with two children and a very modern house in the Memorial Villages area of Houston, Texas. Total cost: About $534,000. See the breakdown here....
Wilbert Das, former creative director of Diesel and co-founder of Uxua Casa hotel and spa in Trancoso, Brazil, has launched a line of furniture based on his designs for clients like Anderson Cooper and Richard Gere (who Das is working with on a resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico). You can see it all at uxuadas.com and read the full piece on T. ...
Chicago designer Kara Mann (whose clients include Virgil Abloh) has created a collection for CB2, inspired by the '80s. You can see it all here....
This weekend marks the opening of “Haptic Narrative – The Aspen Edition,” an exhibition that’s the result of a unique collaboration between Lehmann Maupin, R & Company, and House of Today, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting emerging Lebanese designers. Had the events in Beirut this past week never happened, most would herald the show at the Aspen Art Museum (AAM) as enterprising, mingling fine art with important vintage and contemporary design. But given the widespread devastation of the so-called Paris of the Middle East, and the fact that the Lebanese designers whose works are shown have lost their homes,...
Michael Episcope started noticing things around his Lincoln Park home that needed fixing. But despite (ostensibly) having the means to delegate these projects to the pros, he tackled them himself. This included building a Murphy bed for his teenage son (complete with a basketball hoop on the underside) and replacing French doors with a picture window (a contractor quoted him $60k, he did it with the help of a friend for about $5k). Read all about it here. ...
The now 1-bedroom 1.5 bath (post renovation) on the 25th floor of the Renaissance Hotel building in central Bangkok is owned by partners Edward Ng and Terence Ngan of AB Concept, an architecture and design firm. What I love most about this story is that the couple have no kitchen, just a small sink, a (chic) hot plate and a small refrigerator. Oh, and that view from their bathroom. You can read it here (paywall)....
One of my favorite recent stories, because it's a bit of a departure for me, is this one, an interview with Brian and Toby Froud, the father and son team behind the costumes for the Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. What's interesting is that this series features "creatures" that are all puppets -- almost 200 of them-- and Brian and Toby were tasked with designing/creating both the creatures and the costumes - hair, make-up, jewelry, all of it, for puppets ranging from 2 to over 6 feet. It's actually really fascinating, and you can read the entire piece here....
My last shoot before we went into lockdown was for JCK, where I am jewelry market editor, and was our cover story focusing on new fashion jewelry. It's always a fun one mixing costume and fine. Photo of model Anais Pouliot by Jason Kim, Styling by Daniel Edley, market work by moi. See the whole story here....
For this service-y piece I spoke with hotel designers Charles Zana, Andre Fu, Alexandra Champalimaud, Simon Rawlings from David Collins Studio and Will Meyer and GrayDavis of Meyer/Davis about what they learned from designing hotel rooms and what specific tips can be gleaned for residential use as well. Shown here, the Crescent Pavillion at the Berkeley, London, by Andre Fu. You can read the entire issue here; this story starts on page 50....