Hit the Floor Designer Ariel Ashe and architect Reinaldo Leandro have a thing for Tuareg rugs. Now the pair, who run celeb-approved N.Y. interior design and architecture firm Ashe + Leandro, have launched a handwoven sisal and suede rug capsule collection with Massachusetts-based textile and rug producer Merida, inspired by the nomadic rugs native to the Saharan desert. The five styles, translated from traditional symbols and motifs, blend global texture and clean, modern lines. Woven in Brazil, Ashe loves them for a West Coast interior. “They’re very California,” she says. “Airy and natural, they evoke beachy, palm tree scenes.” Harbinger, 752 N. La Cienega Blvd., W.H., 310-858-6884; harbingerla.com; asheleandro.com.
ASHE + LEANDRO Touro-style rug in Black Pearl, $65/square foot, handwoven to order.
WELLSCRIPTED “The California dream relies first and foremost on a willingness to be seduced by the place itself,” says Anthony Iannacci introducing his latest design tome, Hollywood Interiors: Style and Design in Los Angeles (The Monacelli Press, $75). The book, with a title meant to evoke a sense of the individual expression inherent in Hollywood rather than geographical boundaries, features the work of rising stars and iconic designers from Andrew Benson to Rose Tarlow.
C 62 MAY 2016
Design (turn)
OAKLAND
Paper DOLLS There’s nothing like a short stint in New York finance to inspire a more creative calling. “The art collections at the big banks on Wall Street had a greater impact on me than stocks and bonds,” says wallpaper designer Amy Mills, who moved to Oakland in 2011, drawn by the natural beauty of the West Coast. Her studio, Paper Mills, recently launched the California Collection, featuring bold interpretations of the state’s classic colors and landscapes: SurfWise, for instance, conjures ocean waves with gold and emerald chevron motifs, while Vales is a hand-painted, freckled-eggshell-inspired print that comes in earthy hues. papermills.net.
JANE HALLWORTH Andromeda chandelier sconce, $30,400, and Iris table lamp, $13,680.
LOS ANGELES
Age of Enlightenment Jane Hallworth infuses her designs with the same mix of “futurism, nostalgia and imagination” she lends to her interiors (clients include Michelle Williams, and Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi). Hallworth’s new lighting pieces, made in Los Angeles, were inspired by the nature around her Santa Ynez ranch. “Constellations, in the absence of city lights, are endlessly revealed and I am transported to a different world in the same dusty boots,” she says. The ethereal results of that interstellar input span a ceiling light adorned with bronzed dragonflies to a striking brass floor lamp influenced by Oscar Niemeyer Brazilian architecture and the Bond film Moonraker. Blackman Cruz, 836 N. Highland Ave., L.A., 323-466-8600; blackmancruz.com.
WRITTEN BY KERSTIN CZARRA, LEILANI MARIE LABONG AND ANDREA STANFORD. RUG AND HOME INTERIOR: FRAN PARENTE PHOTOGRAPHY. WALLPAPER: JASON ANDRESCAVAGE. LIGHTING (2): COURTESY OF BLACKMAN CRUZ
DESIGN