When it comes to interior design, Ralph Lauren would be hard-pressed to pinpoint any one passion. "I have never followed architectural rules or chosen one decorative theme," he admits. "I love contemporary. I love American Country, the Southwest, Bauhaus." Over the course of his legendary career, that polyglot sensibility has informed every aspect of his work and life, from his runway shows to his own residences and collections. "I don't care if a thing is English, French, antique, or modern. It's whatever appeals to my eye." Put simply, he adds, "I'm a romantic."
Those words, among many other intimate musings, resonate powerfully in the style icon's new book, Ralph Lauren: A Way of Living (Rizzoli). Published on the 40th anniversary of Ralph Lauren Home, the volume both surveys the designer's own abodes and chronicles the evolution of his trailblazing lifestyle brand launched in 1983 as a furnishings extension to his fashion empire. "Our homes are a canvas for living," he writes. "Whether we live in the city, the country, on a farm, at the beach, in a penthouse or cabin, each is home and tells our story."
This story is from the October 2023 edition of Architectural Digest US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the October 2023 edition of Architectural Digest US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Vibe Shift- With confident vision, designer and activist Aurora James takes an ever-evolving approach to making a vintage LA house her very own
Aurora James has a strong sense of intuition, and it often pays off. In July 2020, James-who counts footwear designer, activist, and investor among her myriad of titles-was gearing up to make an offer on the first house she ever toured in Los Angeles. After scouting the listing on Zillow, she scheduled a viewing and hopped on a plane from New York. It was hard to resist the sweet Laurel Canyon cottage with a towering redwood out front, tucked away off a winding wooded road. For James, it was immediately a yes, though the friend she had brought along begged her not to pull the trigger so quickly, even calling the place a "tragic disaster." But James, as usual, trusted her instinct and bought it. "I think I always see potential in things," she explains. "I just saw that there were some easy tweaks that could make it better, and I felt at home."
Pride of Place - Lucía Echavarría puts age-old Colombian craft to bold use
Echavarría explains over Zoom from her Bogotá studio as she holds up a striped werregue bowl, its fibers entwined so tightly the vessel could carry water. Her varied work (now realized with the help of more than 80 artisans) puts a contemporary spin on that and other timeless techniques while preserving the traditional colors, motifs, and construction methods. At Milan's Alcova fair, this past April, Echavarría filled the living room at Villa Borsani with slipper chairs upholstered in hammock fabrics, tables topped with eye-popping beadwork, and svelte side chairs sheathed in woven estera. Her solo exhibition, on view at London's Lamb gallery through November, showcases 12 methods practiced across 10 regions.
Root Source
Dating back hundreds or thousands of years, old-growth trees are more than just specimens of majesty and mystery.
PASSION PROJECT
At her home in Mumbai, Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor composes an ode to the decorative arts of India
DREAM TEAM
For one lucky family, design stars Jeremiah Brent and Athena Calderone paired up to craft a chic beach retreat in Rhode Island
NARRATIVE VOICE
At England's historic Houghton Hall, a major commission marks an artistic departure for Dame Magdalene Odundo
happy place
With help from her friend landscape designer Miranda Brooks, novelist Plum Sykes creates a flower-filled oasis in the Cotswolds
DRAMA QUEEN
Studio Shamshiri conjures an unapologetically lavish, multifunctional Greenwich Village town house for a theatrical producer and patron of the arts
Calm, Cool, Collected
Designer Julie Hillman transforms her workspace in a Manhattan brownstone into a creative crucible
Driving Force
Channeling the beauty of cars, Ralph Lauren unveils furnishings for the fast lane
