REAL ESTATE
So when did it all stop being a hobby and start being something else entirely. “I think that was the first time I was in a magazine,” he says. “And probably when I hit about 5,000 followers on Instagram. I was like, ‘God, this is a part-time job.’ And I just kept going.” However, he doesn’t sell what he makes. He describes it as his creative outlet, his therapy … and it’s just as expensive. “People are so specific about what they want in their house. So I don’t sell anything. It’s all for me.” He adds: “Talking to others who have made it their full-time jobs, it’s really hard. You have to be sort of a triple thread. You have to write a book, start a fabric collection, you have to teach all over the world, you have to live somewhere that isn’t New York City …” And for now at least, New York City is home. He moved here four years ago with Hell’s Kitchen firmly in his sights. “I had two brokers and looked at, probably, about 30 apartments. I kept saying, ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ to my first broker and she was like, ‘No, you can’t afford to live there, the East Village is where it’s at.’ “It was about the name, and the fact that
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Above: Fabrics and examples of his work fill the studio.
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