IN HER GREENWICH VILLAGE APARTMENT, FASHION DESIGNER ANNA SUI HAS CREATED A HOME THAT IS DEEPLY AND AUTHENTICALLY HER OWN.
WHEN THE AMERICAN FASHION DESIGNER ANNA SUI moved into her turn-of-the-century Greenwich Village building almost two decades ago, she found a close friend and, eventually, a second apartment. Her next-door neighbor was Murray Lerner, an Oscar-winning documentarian known for his films on Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, and Itzhak Perlman. The two bonded over their shared love of rock music, and Sui even used her neighbor’s wrought-iron balcony as an alternate entrance to her apartment whenever she forgot her keys. (“He was always up late,” she says.)
Sui always told her neighbor that she wanted his place if he ever left. Sure enough, when Lerner moved out a few years ago, she took over his space and embarked on a three-year renovation to create a home out of two distinct spaces. Connecting the two apartments was a challenge since they are technically part of two different buildings that share a facade. Sui’s solution was to insert two hidden doors on either side of the library that allows her to move from one apartment to the other. The inconvenience is outweighed by the benefits: Sui gained a dining room, a living room, a master bedroom, two bathrooms, and, perhaps most crucially, considerable closet space.
Building your dream home is an enterprise of patience and tenacity—both qualities Sui has possessed since she was little. Born and raised in Detroit, she is the daughter of two Chinese parents who met while studying in Paris. When Sui was a young child, she attended a wedding in New York and returned to Michigan declaring, “I’m going to be a fashion designer.” In the 1970s, she moved to New York to attend the Parsons School of Design; she started her eponymous line in 1981 with a five-piece capsule collection of space-agey Lycra separates she sold to Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s.
Denne historien er fra September 2019-utgaven av Elle Decor.
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Denne historien er fra September 2019-utgaven av Elle Decor.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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MORE, PLEASE
Eric Hughes joins forces with Standard Architecture to transform two neighboring homes into a sprawling family compound.
SIZED TO FIT
Designer Nannette Brown reimagines a new-build apartment with unexpected depth, character, and texture.
Play It Cool
In balmy Texas, Ashe Leandro brings urbane style and a chill vibe to a home in a historic district.
Mic Drop
For former talk radio star Tom Joyner, Studio Roda creates an oceanfront pleasure pad with out-of-sight views and disco-era glamour.
EYE IN THE SKY
How do you cozy up a Manhattan high-rise? Call designers Hendricks Churchill.
THE JOY OF KØKKEN
In Brooklyn, a writer transforms her kitchen into a space of warmth and connection, blending personal memories with Scandinavian design.
CURTAIN RAISER
ELLE DECOR partners with designers Christine and John Gachot to refresh an iconic lounge at a New York institution, the Metropolitan Opera House.
The Empire Strikes Back - A 19th-century gem in Cambridge, Massachusetts, gets a tour-de-force restoration thanks to Frances Merrill of Reath Design.
Is it possible to simultaneously go back in time and leap forward? This was the challenge a couple set for themselves upon purchasing a salmon-pink 1869 house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, not far from Longfellow House, the National Historic Site that served as George Washington's headquarters during the revolution. We loved all the beautiful old details of this house, the homeowner says.
Just Like That, But Cheaper. -One writer tried to replicate a classic ELLE DECOR interior in his apartment. Could he do it for $500?
It was all about the green curtains. In 2008, to my great surprise, I was offered a ninemonth fellowship based in New York City. I had lived there twice before, both times unsuccessfully, meaning I had failed to create any kind of significant social life, and so this was a chance not only to do research for my new novel, but also an opportunity to get things right. I swore I wouldn't let the city break me a third time.
And How! - Decorator Nick Olsen transforms a Sag Harbor home into a Hamptons retreat with an irreverent humor.
If you must go to the Hamptons, however-because it is devilishly good fun, after all-you may notice an apparently modest, low-slung cottage on Sag Harbor's Main Street and think, with a comfortable sort of feeling, Now that is how a house should look. Nestled amid the Botox bars, helipads, and club-staurants, it could almost set the sordid world aright both a rebuke and a solution to the chaos that surrounds it. A real home.
