NYLON - January 2008 - (Page 82) THE AERIE UP THERE SOCIETY FOR RATIONAL DRESS DESIGNER CORINNE GRASSINI HAS MODELED HER LOS FELIZ HILLS HIDEAWAY ON A TREE HOUSE. AMANDA FORTINI TAKES REFUGE. PHOTOGRAPHED BY JENNIFER ROCHOLL The Society for Rational Dress, a group of 19th-century reformers for which Corinne Grassini’s L.A.-based label is named, believed that women should throw off the frippery of corsetry and crinolines in favor of simple, functional clothing. Grassini subscribes to a similar less-is-more philosophy, not only when creating her delicate, exquisitely draped pieces, but also when decorating her unfussy home. The 30-year old designer, who lives with her documentary film editor boyfriend, Shane Willis, and their two cats, Bam and Boo, in the hills of Los Angeles’ Los Feliz neighborhood, explains that her “soft, drape-y” clothing is designed “to go to sleep or wake up or travel around the world in.” And she strives for the same sort of ease with her home’s late ’60s boho décor: “It’s all part of one world for me,” she says, sitting at her kitchen table dressed in a vintage crochet Isaac Mizrahi sweater and faded Lee jeans. “I’m all for a space where you can be completely comfortable.” The cozy, laid-back vibe of her own residence—one in a cluster of four houses designed by architect Stephen Siskind—derives as much from what is absent as what is present. For starters, there are no bright colors or crazy prints. As in her line, Grassini has employed a muted palette of neutrals and browns inflected by occasional “deep fall” hues: a burnt-red kilim rug from Northern Afghanistan adorns the floor of the living room; a Japanese shawl in rich shades of purple, red, and green has been tossed over the back of the vintage brown leather Benjamin Lafer couch. The house’s sole graphic can be found in the master bedroom, on a hand-dyed silk charmeuse duvet—one half in forest green, the other in a spidery pattern also used in Grassini’s line this season. Even more remarkably, the white walls remain bare of paintings and photographs. “I’ve never been one to hang much on the walls,” notes Grassini, who, with Willis, purchased the house a year ago. “I feel more comfortable spending money on things that inspire me but that also have a function.” Further evidence of her practical spirit is Grassini’s preference for all things secondhand. Nearly every piece in her home has been purchased on eBay (the Lafer couch, three burnished metal “brutal cut” Paul Evans chandeliers), at a swap meet (the kilim rug, a collection of pewter coyote stirrup cups), or at “those tiny little shops on Sunset, where Silver Lake meets Echo Park” (a clockwise from top left: Grassini and one of her cats, the house’s stone and wood exterior, glass and wood-panel living room, the stairwell, a view of the kitchen. nesting
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