OF CLOTHES & CURIOSITIES

A closet is a personal archive. It can house your newly expanded work-from-home yoga pants collection. Or pay ongoing homage to your world-beater suit-and-tie days. Even Western artifacts can hang out comfortably beside the jeans of an urban cowboy.

Antlers? In your closet? Absolutely, if that is your heart’s desire. The brass buck in John Rankin’s manly closet reflects his love of all things Western, and holds a place of honor. In closets as in life, to each their own.

Every closet in the following pages is as unique as its owner, as distinctive as a handprint. Some are enviably large—big enough to qualify as actual rooms—whereas others are more modest. But it’s not square footage alone that defines them. What makes them special is how they celebrate the singular spirit of their owners—their tastes, their passions, their priorities.

The hallway closet at the home of Antoni Porowski, food expert on Queer Eye does clever double duty as a place to store his many kitchen appliances and a space for his clothes. High-end real estate agent Ryan Serhant is more of a maximalist, with a dandy’s wardrobe; slick slide-in, slide-out tie racks display his vast array of ties—arranged by color, of course. TV host Nev Schulman transformed an unusually large bathroom into a spacious showcase for his shoes.

Each choice is elegant in its own way, each a reflection of its owner. Whether it’s a beloved collection of vintage handbags to rival a costume institute or a playful piece of modern art or even a small arboretum, your closet can be your own museum of clothes and curiosities. You need only think inside the box. —J.A.