Diane Von Furstenberg Home Fabrics

ELLE DECOR: How would you characterize great design?

DIANE VON FURSTENBERG: There’s design and there’s art. Good design is total harmony. There’s no better designer than nature—if you look at a branch or a leaf, it’s perfect. It’s all function. Art is different. It’s about emotion. It’s about suffering and beauty—but mostly suffering!

ED: Do you think the current economic climate is good or bad for design?

DVF: A challenging economy is always good for design. It unites necessity and functionality. You are forced to be creative with poor materials.

ED: You created the wrap dress, one of the great problem-solving designs of the 20th century, during the early 1970s, another period of economic turmoil.

DVF: It’s more amazing to me now than it was then. It’s crazy that something has survived so long and continues to appeal to so many different young women. It’s still 15 percent of my business. It’s functional, extremely flattering, and very reliable. It’s definitely a good design. Anything that has survived that long is not hype.

ED: What is the difference between how men and women design clothes?

DVF: Christian Lacroix once told me that women designers make clothes and men designers make costumes. I think that’s true.

ED: There’s plenty of design on runways that’s not very functional. When you see those clothes, what do you think?

DVF: It’s their problem, not mine.

ED: Where is the most exciting design happening?

DVF: I’d have to say Africa. They use and recycle everything there. The way they put things together—things that really have to work and perform a function—that to me is great design.

ED: Have you bought anything lately that you love?

DVF: The iPad! What is better designed than that? I read magazines on it, I play Scrabble. I use it for everything. Read more.

Photos Of Ralph Lauren Fifth Avenue Duplex

Ralph Lauren's interview with Elle Decor.

Minimalism is not a term often associated with Ralph Lauren, whose densely propped flagship store in Manhattan’s Rhinelander mansion has inspired legions. But when he first commissioned the late decorator Angelo Donghia to design the Fifth Avenue duplex where he and his wife, Ricky, raised their family, Lauren said he was motivated by the “simple, almost primitive desire for clean, open space.”

Now, more than 30 years later, he’s finished a renovation that has made the place even more clean and open. Three bedrooms that belonged to his now-grown children have been repurposed; spatial variety was added by incorporating steps to create different levels, making the space seem even larger. “The changes were subtle, but important,” he says. “They really modernize the apartment.” They also involved gutting it and starting over. “There was more than one moment when I asked, Oh, God, what did I do?” he says, laughing. But this wasn’t the first time. During the initial renovation, things got so fraught, he says, he “ended up going to the hospital for a day of rest.” Read more.

Photos of Anna Wintour's Long Island Townhouse

A few photos of Anna Wintour's 1834 Long Island townhouse appears in this month's World of Interiors. Photos by Eric Boman.

Designer Trina Turk California Home

Trina Turk Q&A With Elle Decor.

Have you always been color obsessed?

It might have been ingrained in me from growing up in California in the 1960s and ’70s. My husband and I did a Big Sur trip recently, and we stopped by places I went as a kid. There was a lot of color, like these yellow and orange and pink and purple flowers growing on cliffs that go down to the ocean. I didn’t set out to have a colorful lifestyle brand. All I wanted was to do a women’s clothing collection, and it just took on a life of its own. Designing the textiles and working with color is pretty much my favorite part of my job.

You frequently entertain at your two Southern California homes—a midcentury-modern house in Los Angeles, and the iconic “Ship of the Desert” in Palm Springs. How do the locations shape your entertaining styles?

We go out to Palm Springs on the weekends as much as we can—October is my favorite month in the desert. There, you can call people up on the spur of the moment, and the attitude is relaxed—more like hanging around by the pool and grilling. In L.A., advance planning is required, so the invitation process is a little more complicated.

When you have friends over, how do you and your husband divvy up the host duties?

My husband loves to cook—he would have a dinner party every week if I let him. So he’s in charge of the menu and the food, and I’m in charge of the music and the setup and the table: Are we eating indoors or outdoors? What’s the table going to look like? Are we going to have flowers? I usually finish first, so then I’m the prep cook and do whatever is assigned to me.

How do you devise your menus?

This year we actually ripped up part of our lawn and turned it over to a vegetable garden, so whatever is ready in the garden inspires the menu. It’s pretty amazing when you go out there and pick the lettuce and eat it five minutes later.

What do you serve for drinks?

We’re on a mission to bring back the white-wine spritzer, but so far we have not had many takers. I know they went out with the ’80s, but I don’t understand why they're so despised! Other than that, if you have citrus trees in your yard—we have quite a few in the desert—it's great to pick oranges or lemons or limes and make cocktails using the juice. One of my favorite things is Campari and fresh-squeezed grapefruit. The color is amazing: The pink-orange grapefruit juice with the Campari creates a red-to-orange ombré effect that’s so gorgeous.

Do you have any favorite sources for vintage finds?

I am always on the lookout. Vintage shopping is my big hobby and luckily somewhat related to what I do for a living. In L.A., I go regularly to flea markets and vintage-clothing sales. In Palm Springs, there are a lot of vintage modern furniture stores and even thrift shops that I love. My favorite is Bon Vivant, which has mainly decorative accessories for the home—glassware, pottery, artwork, metal, a little bit of jewelry. Another is Hedge, in Cathedral City. Same thing: It’s like going into the house of somebody who has amazing taste and an amazing collection of whatever it is they’re into. For dishware, eBay has been a good source. If there’s a dish you like, you can just keep collecting it until you have enough to actually use.

Photos: Tamara Mellon New York City Apartment And Interview With Harper's Bazaar

Tamara's Interview
This is Mellon's new New York life, and this is her new New York pad. Choosing the idyllic neighborhood in which she lives was a deliberate move, both geographically and emotionally. Put delicately, Mellon's past few years have not been a walk in Central Park; put bluntly, after her father's death, a very public divorce, and most recently a trip to court to sue her own mother (Mellon admits that she is estranged from her family), she was ready for a change of pace.

Last year was the best and worst year of my life, a breakthrough year for me," Mellon explains. "I've moved here and managed to clear up a lot of the wreckage. I feel like I've arrived in New York with a clean slate, and I have a whole new set of challenges ahead of me. And I find that invigorating."

"I've actually been told, when someone sits and spends time with me, that I'm not the person they thought I would be," she says. She adds that there is still a stigma to a woman who is successful in business. "If a woman gets tough in negotiations, she's difficult, whereas a man would be considered a brilliant businessman. Of course, there have been moments in my career when I've had to be tough and I've had to step up to the plate — but usually that's because a man has underestimated me." She smiles and lets out that belly laugh. "But other than that, I wouldn't say I'm a tough person." Read More.

Anthropologie's Lead Buyer Keith Johnson Gets His Own TV Show & Featured In Elle Decor

wAs head buyer for Anthropologie, Keith Johnson travels the world buying beautiful objects to stock and furnish at retailer Anthropologie. For the past few months these expeditions to Scotland, Syria, Thailand, and Africa have been recorded. Keith now has a show that will be airing Wednesdays at 10 P.M. on the Sundance Channel. 


Keith Johnson is also featured in the August Issue Of Elle Decor.

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J Crew President & Creative Director Jenna Lyons's Home