Innehållsförteckning för September 2023 från Architectural Digest

“Every house we’ve ever had reflects the moment we were in in our lives, like chapters in a book.”—Chrissy Teigen As AD’s September Style issue went to press, cover stars John Legend and Chrissy Teigen joyfully revealed the birth of their new child. While their son Wren arrived a few weeks after the family photo shoot, I can imagine he brings even more happiness to their home. Both the proud parents and Jake Arnold, their AD100 designer, relate the design of the new LA house to the growing brood in a way that is touching. “We were attracted to this place because of its lightness and airiness,” says Legend. “We wanted to create something magical, especially for the kids.” Arnold calls the children’s bedrooms “little dreamworlds” and emphasizes that “no…

The Louis Vuitton trunk is where it all started,” says Marc Newson. “Every piece of functional luggage can trace its roots back to this object.” The Australian industrial-design star knows his history. In the 1850s, when traveling for pleasure was still a new fad, Vuitton’s stackable, waterproof canvas-clad carrying case was revolutionary, introducing a sturdy solution for transporting one’s wardrobe. Newson—who has conceived contemporary suitcases for the luxury brand for more than a decade—has now reimagined this icon as a limited-edition display case of sorts, titled Cabinet of Curiosities. Filled with 19 leather-wrapped compartments and available in natural leather, yellow, or a combination of red, green, and blue, his rendition can be configured in more than 1,000 ways, a portable showcase for collections of any variety. “The trunks were first…

When Victoire de Castellane thinks of flowers, they’re always in full bloom. “Personally, I find it very sad that flowers fade after three days, so I like to freeze them in jewelry,” says the creative director of Dior Fine Jewelry. Blossoms have been her aesthetic leitmotif for more than 20 years, echoing the very first dresses that Christian Dior unveiled in 1947, the voluminous skirts transforming wearers into femmes-fleurs. De Castellane’s latest cultivation is Les Jardins de la Couture, 170 sparkling ornaments—including three watches—calculated to be the largest high jewelry collection ever introduced by the division. One of the most entrancing suites in the new range is the Galon Fleuri (Floral Braid) pink-sapphire set: a polychrome embodiment of eternal spring that comprises a necklace, a timepiece, earrings, and a ring.…

The story of Ralph Lauren Home has always been a story of fabrics. Launched 40 years ago this fall, the brand’s debut collections foregrounded bed linens in a range of men’s suiting patterns, upending contemporary conventions of cloth. (Chambray sheets quickly became the talk of the town.) Ahead of its ruby anniversary, Ralph Lauren is now celebrating the long-standing role that textiles have played in its inimitable universe, digging into its archives to celebrate past hits. During Milan Design Week, the brand transformed the façade of its Via della Spiga store into a patchwork of heritage motifs, among them smart stripes, painterly florals, and bursts of stars—each in a signature all-American palette of faded reds, creams, and blues. Meanwhile, The Bar at Ralph Lauren was reimagined into a trip down…

Oftentimes, when star stylist Colin King arrives on set, the first thing he does is take everything out of a room. Bookshelves? Empty. Coffee table? Clear. Walls? Bare. “It’s my way of seeing things with fresh eyes,” notes the creative multihyphenate, who then layers objects through-out the space in an intuitive and often fast-paced dance, sparking new conversations among familiar pieces. Even he, however, can find himself at a loss for that missing link. “There are certain objects I always reach for, objects which are somehow hard to find.” No longer, thanks to King’s elegant new line with West Elm. Conceived with versatility in mind, the collection comprises an array of everyday staples—designs that, rather than pushing any one specific world, prescribe nimble solutions for homes of all styles. Simple…

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend have grown accustomed to moving homes. “We’re used to it by now. We’re always open to a new house, or to changing the house we’re in,” says Teigen, the effervescent model, television personality, and home-cooking guru. “When she says we, she means she,” interjects Legend, her megastar musician husband, who lists no less than 12 Grammy Awards and an Oscar for best original song on his stellar résumé (as well as an Emmy and a Tony to round out the set). “But it’s true. We’re not afraid of switching things up,” he adds. The couple’s propensity for serial home buying is not simply a matter of caprice. “Every house we’ve ever had reflects the moment we were in in our lives, like chapters in a…

As the world’s first model with vitiligo, Winnie Harlow has grown accustomed to breaking barriers. She first came onto the scene in 2014, and in the nine years since, she has appeared on runways and in ads for dozens of brands, served as a judge on Making the Cut, launched her own beauty line, Cay Skin, and collaborated with Puma on a collection of sportswear. A few years ago, after a lifetime in rented apartments, Harlow was ready to find a more permanent place to call home. Having relocated to Los Angeles for more space during the pandemic, and with her lease in New York City about to end, she thought, Why not just stay? “Me being a Caribbean girl, I wanted hot weather, sunshine, and a really beautiful pool,”…

For as long as he can remember, Andre Mellone has been drawing. Growing up in São Paulo, he would spend afternoons doodling endless iterations of the same scene: a house, a tree, a dog, and a bird. Later, while living in Italy as an architecture student, he immersed himself in classical orders through pencil and ink, rendering Roman ruins and Palladian villas in dynamic detail. “Sketching turns something on spiritually,” Mellone reflects during a visit to his new Manhattan apartment, where examples of those early works can be seen framed on the walls. “In order for a project to be successful, I need to draw. It gives a room soul.” Today, that daily artistic practice forms the foundation of his own AD100 design firm, Studio Mellone. Brainstorming begins on sheets…

It was the lackluster mise-en-scène of a Wagner opera that ignited Mariano Fortuny’s interest in lighting. The painter, fashion designer, and innovator couldn’t understand why in 1893, despite the recent invention of the light bulb, outdated sets were still being lit with gas lamps. In his attic studio in Venice’s Palazzo Martinengo, Fortuny tin-kered, discovering that when light reflected off a piece of paper, it could illuminate an entire room; use a colored surface and you could bathe the sets in a hue. Voilà: indirect lighting. “It is not the quantity, but the quality of light that makes things visible,” mused Fortuny, who would soon take his findings offstage and into the home. In 1907, using those same scenographic principles, he created a fixture that, among other things, evenly lit…

“I’ve gotten better at articulating exactly what I want. I think you should love every aspect of your home.”—Chrissy Teigen “We tried to underscore the connection to nature and the outdoors.—Jake Arnold”…

This year, Rebecca Hessel Cohen celebrates 10 years since she launched her ultrafeminine super-maximalist clothing and lifestyle business, LoveShackFancy. Frilly and floral, the hugely popular brand is a wildly unabashed ode to romanticism in a current design environment that so often equates elegance with minimalism and great taste with 50 shades of wan. It should come as no surprise, then, that when she and her husband, Todd Cohen (also her business partner), took on a West Village town house renovation for their family over five years ago, their adventure was nothing short of an epic love story filled with passion, indulgence, and obsession. One need only consider the home’s 154 antique decorative light fixtures to understand the monumental scope of it all. The couple, both native New Yorkers from the…

The Pucci woman knows how to live, she knows how to enjoy,” says Camille Miceli, the Italian fashion brand’s artistic director since 2021. It’s a rainy April day in Milan and she’s perched on her living room sofa, sipping fresh ginger tea. Despite the inclement weather, her outfit delivers a jolt of sunshine: leggings, a billowy top, and hiking boots all embellished with an exuberant Pucci print. Miceli, half French and half Italian, is the perfect poster girl for the label—long beloved for its psychedelic patterns and jet-set vibe. “Last night I was hanging out here, naked, blasting show tunes,” she says nonchalantly. “Tonight I’ll go to my house on the southwest coast of France.” Prior to moving to Milan, Miceli had thrived on the high-octane energy of the Paris…

When Olivier Garcé and Clio Dimofski first saw their Lisbon apartment, it was the architecture that sold them. Rendered in elaborate Pombaline style, the original 19th-century details (ceiling ornaments, picture-frame moldings) remained untouched, if perhaps a tad forlorn. “It needed a lot of work,” recalls Dimofski, explaining that fixer-uppers are common in the old but newly buzzy neighborhood of Anjos. “We wanted to keep and restore as much as we could,” adds Garcé. “It’s part of our philosophy.” Attracted by Portugal’s famous work-life balance and artisanal heritage, the French couple moved to the country in 2021 with their daughter, Zoë, and dog, Lewitt—as in Sol. They had recently discovered a new professional calling in New York, when they used their one-bedroom apartment to host an impromptu weeklong exhibition while working…

french actress Gaby Deslys was one of the Belle Époque’s greatest luminaries. A celebrated beauty and accomplished dancer, she played the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway with Al Jolson, starred in silent pictures, and was courted by some of the wealthiest men of the era, most notably Manuel II, the last king of Portugal. With her fortune, she bought herself a charming five-story brick town house in Paris’s 16th arrondissement—a decidedly bold move for a woman at that time. After her death, at 38, following an infection contracted during the Spanish-flu pandemic, the home was sold and divided into seven apartments. And so it carried on, until last year, when the French interior designer Laura Gonzalez purchased the entire building and transformed it into her company’s new headquarters. In restoring…