While on the subject of attainable fashion guru Jenna Lyons at J.Crew, I was reminded of some other style makers of our generation.
These are the people who, I think, are making us re-think design trends as well as inspire us. These are the girls I check up on every now and then when I need a trend injection.
(I think I'll do one per post as they are all so interesting in different ways...)
1. Ilse Crawford is the former editor of Elle Decoration in the UK who now runs a design consultancy that tackles all kinds of interesting projects, including many hotels, restaurants, commercial spaces and offices from rural England to Hong Kong, Stockholm and New York.
What I like about Ilse is that she has brought our perceptions of what is "designer" back from the brink of cold and stark minimalism to something that is all about addressing human needs - what she calls "emotional design".
Ilse's approach to designing a space is intellectual but that is far from uptight and boring. She seems to set out to weave a cocoon of emotional cues that invoke memories and history and tease the senses with texture, pattern and colour.
Looking at these random examples above, what I love is the confidence of mixing different styles of furniture and the irreverent way she has taken 'personal touches' to a whole new level -note the 2nd top picture (Soho House, NYC) with the collage board, glossed french bedhead and glossy modern chair.
What is really great though is that these are all public spaces. She has given the hotel room and restaurant genre the personality of someone's private boudoir, like you are staying in some stylish New Yorker friend's Soho loft while they are away.
And... there's not a practical mushroom tub chair in sight!
They don't look very comfortable and inviting, too strong but they are on the artsy side. I do like the gray room and I am not a gray person. It has a softness to it that is inviting.
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