The Clementes
Back in the early ’80s, when Alba Clemente, a costume and set designer, arrived in New York from Rome with her two little girls in tow, she was met with a loft in lower Manhattan that was bare save for a mynah bird. Her husband, the artist Francesco Clemente, had figured it would distract them from not having any furniture. “It shit everywhere,” recalls Alba, laughing. Nonetheless, the young parents ended up creating a magical home, full of art and friends who would drop in unannounced for Alba’s famous home cooking. “I think I’m a basic Italian cook,” she says. “But if you read Warhol’s diaries, I pass for a great chef!” Julian Schnabel made their dining table, Kenny Scharf and Keith Haring helped with the Halloween decorations,…