Home Fashion Forecast - Spring 2008 - (Page 14) top tastemakers go for baroque Miles Redd, Creative Director for Oscar de la Renta Home, has an eclectic streak that’s a mile wide, yet veers toward Baroque whenever possible. New York designer Miles Redd has an uncanny ability to mix design periods and styles with a finesse that belies his youth. The surprising depth and breadth of Redd’s design knowledge, as well as his unique asMiles Redd semblages of objects and color, caught the eye of the design world from the start. Redd moved from Atlanta to New York to study film at New York University. After graduation, he worked alongside famed antiques dealer John Rosselli, who provided a hands-on education in furniture and the decorative arts. Redd was later hired by decorator Bunny Williams as a design assistant, combing the 26th Street flea market and frequenting antique shops for beautiful finds. And in 2003, Oscar de la Renta hired Redd as Creative Director for the soon-to-be-launched Oscar de la Renta Home Collection after a visit to the designer’s just-completed apartment. Redd’s East Village pied de terre is a “laboratory for his brand of cozy glamour.” He has mixed a pink color scheme, mirrored walls and emerald green harlequin patterns, as well as his own figure drawings. It is such playful combinations that define Redd’s eclectic style. “Eclecticism is really the stronghold of 21st Century design because you choose any period, from Paleolithic to 18th Century,” Redd explained. “It’s the mix of a French Louis XVI chair with a gnarled root table that is so exciting today. There are so many ways of putting objects together, and I’m always fascinated with the things one mixes. With all the history that has come before us, there are just endless combinations.” Redd is equally experimental in his handling of color—a talent that keeps his work on the edge. “For me, it’s always instinctual,” he said. “I see certain combinations, and I have a reaction to them. I have enough confidence in my vision to take those risks. Actually, it doesn’t feel like a risk but the obvious choice. Right now, everyone is in love with sort of an emerald green, but I feel that too will change.” Redd has been asked to do far more edited interiors for people who have a much more minimal sensibility than his own. Even so, he doesn’t shy away from the process, which requires tapping into a different line of thought. “It’s a fun process,” he said. “You ask yourself, ‘If I was going to do a minimal interior, how would I do it? Am I allowed to have one Baroque moment?’” Chances are that even in the most minimalist interior, Redd will manage at least one. Miles Redd created this vignette for Century Furniture’s Oscar de la Renta Home Collection. “I am his eyes, ears and a springboard because Mr. de la Renta is such a busy person,” Redd said. “He is wonderful to work with and has taught me so much.” 14 HOME fashion forecast
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.