Dorothy Draper is absolutely one of the most influential American designers. She is also the muse for many of our current design celebrities. Philippe Stark has riffed off of her Neo-Baroque touches and Kelly Werstler is heavily influenced by her style. We have also paid homage to this great lady and her genius use of stripes with our aptly named Draper Stripe – I have always loved her use of regular stripes as décor.

My favorite Draper space is the floor of the Chrystal Room corridor from the Greenbrier Hotel – a Draper masterpiece.

Love the graphic paint and pops of Kelly Green and Fuchsia here.

Adore the grand lobby of the Quitandinha in Brazil.

Dorothy was modern before all of us. She reinterpreted the classics with bold scale and color. Her interiors were dramatic, cool and not at all what you would expect from a lady who favored a hat with a veil.

All images via Caleton Varney's wonderful book: In the Pink - Dorothy Draper ]]> Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:41:01 +0000 http://www.dwellstudio.com/blog/style-icon-azzedine-alaia/ I love getting a glimpse of Alaia's world. I love how sparse and spare his home interiors are. Not a thing out of place, nothing extra and everything is such great quality. From the Mouille lights to the crisp white bedding, there is nothing superfluous.

I imagine that Alaia needs this kind of clean interior to decompress from his creative life. His clothing shares the clean architectural lines of the European Mid-Century but combined with the most beautiful details.

It is my hope that we can infuse this philosophy into our work this year.... perfect lines combined with perfect details.

Azzedine Alaia - you are my Style Icon as this year closes!

(images via the New York Times)

Diana Vreeland was the ultimate style icon.  Her extensive career as a tastemaker started off with a long career at Harpers Bazaar and ended at Vogue as the editor in chief.  And it all started when the editor of Bazaar spotted a chic housewife at the St. Regis hotel.  She helped launch the careers of many photographers and actors including Richard Avedon, Lauren Bacall and Edie Sedgewick.

Here are some of her memorandums from while she was at Vogue.  This one is my favorite, I love that the cover sitatution is a “drastic” emergency.

 
She also translated her great fashion sense into interiors and worked closely with Billy Baldwin.  She famously told him that her living room at 550 Park Avenue should be inspired by a garden...but “in Hell”.  How amazing is this room in all red?  This would be gutsy today, nevermind in the late 50s!

Also loving her bedroom with the matching drapery and wallpaper.  Supposedly the silk scarf on top of the bed is where she would arrange her accessories for the day. 

*images via Flickr, The Runway Room, Letters of Note 

The whole casual and cool thing extends into the store décor too. Billy has something going on that feels very right on, quintessentially American and not trying too hard. I love and salute that.  

Billy Reid – you are my style icon.  I want to wear your clothes and hang out in your world. 

Left: Portrait of the designer in one of his interiors. Right: This plaster table is one of the most Dickinson’s most iconic designs.

In the 80s he even designed an entire line of furniture for Macys.  We’ve started to see his name and work pop up again in the last few years and his work still looks fresh.  He loved to experiment and twist things around – one of his most famous pieces is a white plaster table with legs and feet.  It definitely has an African tribal look to it and yet because it’s done in white plaster instead of rustic wood it feels completely different!

This Pine Trestle Table was designed in the 70s but is still relevant today.

Left: A typical Dickinson interior – layered and mixed. Right: This plaster twig lamp may seem ubiquitous today, but that’s because it was ahead of it’s time since it was designed more than 30 years ago.

Kate, you put the Mmmm in mom.

4 Key Kate Pieces:

No 1: Hat. Preferably a fedora. Genius because it hides messy hair beautifully.

No 2: Hip and big scarf. Genius because it distracts from a ho-hum outfit beautifully.

No 3: High boots. Genius because it hides half your legs...a good thing in my case, not necessarily in Kate's.

No 4: Short shorts worn with everything. Not so genius for me, but amazing on Kate.

And because we love a good fashion vs furnishings debate around here, how about a little Runway-to-Room inspiration brought to you by Undecorate and Mr de la Renta? 

Which do you prefer- a killer beach outfit or a stylish beach house? A red leather handbag or a red leather chair? 

*images via Style.com and Undecorate