That Stellar Interior? Alyssa Kapito Probably Designed It.

HUR CONVERSATIONS

Dec 19

Alyssa Kapito

That Stellar Interior? Alyssa Kapito Probably Designed It.

By Bonnie Langedijk

Since founding her eponymous firm in 2012, American designer Alyssa Kapito has taken the $45.1 billion interior industry by storm. Her unique ability to blend the old and the new has made her one of the most exciting names working in design today. Kapito’s minimalist classicism leads to neutral, serene interiors, pairing luxurious textures with elegant design and art pieces. Creating the kind of space that instantly feels like home. In a visual first culture, where Instagram has become the center for both inspiration and copy-paste-culture, Kapito has created a business that’s built upon bespoke interiors that are free from trends and hype. And that approach has landed her projects from coast to coast, from a West Village townhouse to a family home in Beverly Hills as well as a loyal following of global tastemakers.

Now, Kapito is applying her unique, curated perspective to her latest project, a gallery of her own. Having worked in the art world previously, the American designer saw a gap in the market for a gallery that bridges art and design, creating a space for creatives to learn, explore and shop. Galerie Alyssa Kapito combines a collection of historical pieces, including a Jean Royère chair and Jean-Boris Lacroix lamp with bespoke designs made in collaboration with contemporary makers under the name AKI Editions. The first collaboration with Venetian glassware company Laguna~B, features a selection of vases inspired by Carlos Scarpa’s ‘Bollicine’.

In an interior market that’s continuously evolving, Kapito’s distinct sensibility leads where the industry goes next.

*Upper East Side mansion designed by Alyssa Kapito Interiors.*

Bonnie: You have built a career creating beautifully bespoke interiors for other people, and have just launched a gallery of your own. What has it been like to define your own aesthetic without the guardrails you get when working with a client?

Alyssa: A lot of my interiors are very neutral and they're a great base for interesting furniture and makers. I have a tremendous respect and admiration for these pieces. It makes a space feel bespoke. The conversation around putting these pieces together in the different periods and places that they come from, is my favorite part about what I do. And also introducing people to these makers and artists and getting them passionate about it. A client who started knowing nothing, realizes that they have a tremendous love of furniture and collecting. I had wanted to start a gallery for a really long time, but I wanted it to be highly collectible. I was kind of modeling it off of the Parisian galleries.

“If you're learning about ART, which is where I came from, you can go to a museum and see the art, you just go to see a Rothko exhibit. It's very approachable, even though the items are incredibly expensive and important. I wanted to make a gallery that was really substantial in what we were selling, but anybody can come see it.”

Those spaces can be quite intimidating.

Alyssa: I wanted to do something that had the same quality of items, but felt more approachable. If you're learning about art, which is where I came from, you can go to a museum and see the art, you just go to see a Rothko exhibit. It's very approachable, even though the items are incredibly expensive and important. I wanted to make a gallery that was really substantial in what we were selling, but anybody can come see it. I wanted the gallery to be a place that doesn’t get stagnant. I didn't wanna have the same piece of furniture for 40 years. So we added these AKI Editions – Alyssa Kapito Interiors Editions – where we match up with what I view as important contemporary artists and create small batch editions that are really beautiful.

It also reflects your overall style – mixing old and new, celebrating contemporary artists alongside these iconic historic pieces.

Alyssa: I look at furniture all the time. I'm specifically in love with the 1930s, 1940s Decos slash Pre- and Post-War French Modernism. A lot of the work leans there just because I love it. It's the things that I want and I won't be happy with the collection unless I want it. I'm doing my apartment right now and I want these two big vases in my entrance foyer, that became the first idea for the collection. I connected with Marcantonio Brandolini d'Adda who is the CEO and artistic director of Laguna~B, which was founded by his mother. I don't know if you're familiar with Laguna~B, but they make this amazing glass.

No, I haven't heard of them before.

Alyssa: The murano glass makers that he works with have been in Venice forever. They know everybody. I designed this collection that was based off of Carlos Scarpa who did this bubble glass called Bollicine. We brought it back in these contemporary forms that are very simple, but have an element of a handmade quality to them. My favorite piece is this big urn in beige colored glass and each fin is different. Carlos Scarpa was very, very good with simplicity, while keeping his designs very interesting. One of the most important things for me was this opaqueness to the glass. That's really hard to do because the glass has to be really thick. They’re my vase babies.

*AKI Editions vases, created in collaboration with Venentian glassware company Laguna~B. Courtesy of Alyssa Kapito Interiors.*

*Jean Royère Ruban Coffee Table, part of the curated collection of vintage pieces at Kapito's gallery.*

Through social media, so many are catching on to these iconic design pieces for the first time and placing them within their own contexts. But it seems the business side of it all still remains quite elitist, where there’s still a gap between interacting with and being inspired by the imagery and actually buying those pieces.

Alyssa: That was where I wanted to bridge that gap, so people can learn about it, appreciate it and see it. There's nothing like seeing one of these pieces in person.

I couldn’t agree more. You have a loyal following on Instagram too. How has social media affected the interior market? I would say it has definitely changed the way some consumers look at classic design pieces – almost making them it-products and mirroring the trend cycle of fashion brands.

Alyssa: A hundred percent. It's almost like what logos used to be. Even if it doesn't say Gucci, essentially, it's the same psychology behind it. Instagram creates a logo for things that didn't have logos. The Jeanneret chair has become a logo because we’re continuously seeing it. What's most interesting for me is how do you use it in a way that it doesn't feel like one? The Jeanneret chair is a great chair. It has a tremendous amount of history. With a lot of these French makers, you want to make sure to respect them. I also have a real problem with the knockoff industry, because it dilutes some of these brilliant pieces. That said, it's accessible so there's that give and take. I do love the fact that somebody who can't afford a Jeanneret chair can still have the same feeling.

Talking about developing tastes or being inspired, do you remember the first room or space that left an impression on you?

Alyssa: I’m not sure it’s a singular thing. My mom always loved design. She's not an interior designer, she’s a lawyer. She used to take me antiquing – I guess because I was the only kid who really liked it – in Connecticut on Sundays. I think there were a lot of pieces that I saw and I fell in love with. Appreciating the certain type of wood that was on a cabinet and nerdy stuff like that. Later in life, as my involvement in the interior design community grew, I learned about the galleries in Paris and visited some of them. I had always appreciated contemporary art, but I hadn't ever seen furniture like that. I remember going to L'Arc en Seine and I couldn't breathe. And then I think there was a little bit of time of just seeing apartments that were very, very well designed. Taking mental pictures of the things I loved.

Since then, you’ve developed a distinct style of your own. But when you design private residences, there’s your client's point of view to keep in mind too. How do you find the balance between the two?

Alyssa: It's the limiting factor you need as an interior designer. It's not just the client that has a direction that they gravitate to. The actual space wants to be something. Whenever I see a space for the first time, I have the most clarity. It sounds dorky, but I always think, I know what you want to be. At this point in my career, the clients come to me for my aesthetic. I'm pushing them more and asking them what they want. While they usually ask me what I want. And I want what the apartment wants. If they chose the apartment, they want it to be that too. If somebody chooses a Pre-War townhouse different things resonate with them than somebody who chooses a Mid-Century California home. There's a different personality to begin with.

*Central Park West interior, designed by Alyssa Kapito Interiors.*

That makes a lot of sense. To me, a good space is very much about the objects in it being collected over time. Living in an era where everything is being photographed, the focus lies on creating this instant perfect space.

Alyssa: Collecting is one of my favorite parts of my own space. It’s a luxury that clients don’t have. No client suggests working on a project for over 15 years.

Maybe one day.

Alyssa: Exactly. But right now, the normal arc with clients spans two to three years. That's a nice amount of time to collect. A few clients have stayed on as collectors. Basically once we finish the project, we're selling the items that we purchased and we're swapping them out for other pieces or we're just adding to our collection.

Definitely. How would you describe the culture of the industry overall?

Alyssa: I'm part of a ‘design share’ with 20 designers, and everyone is very forthcoming in sharing their sources and experiences. We used to meet much more often, but now we ask each other questions or give each other a heads up on horrible contractors. And I mean, we live in New York, there's enough to go around. I have really supportive friends in the industry. The one thing I would say is that it's not as heavily a female field.

That’s true, actually. What you're excited about for the future?

Alyssa: I'm excited about the gallery and growing it. We're finding a permanent space in 2024. And the collaborations we're going to continue doing, I'm really excited about that. We also have a book coming out in April and I just joined the board of Yale for the School of Architecture.

Congratulations. Is education something you’ve always been interested in?

Alyssa: I'm really excited about exploring the education level of interior design and who is coming into the community. I've always found that there's much more for students to learn than what they're learning in school. They're spending a lot of money on an education and they come into the workforce not as ready as you would hope. I love this idea of incorporating some sort of education aspect into what I do.

What about the wider design community?

Alyssa: When we started working on a building called Charlotte [Of The Upper West Side], which was the most sustainable new residential building in New York, I became so passionate about sustainability. Sustainability has a really bad reputation in interior design for being very contemporary, rather ugly, and with lots of plants everywhere. With The Charlotte we wanted to break the mold of what sustainable design looks like. Vintage is very sustainable, and there are all sorts of things that fabric houses are doing right now where they're selling remnant fabrics as opposed to trashing everything. There's interesting things you can do with those pieces. And recycling of materials that don't look like recycled materials. Sustainability that feels beautiful as opposed to sustainable in its aesthetic.

I love that. The same counts for fashion.

Alyssa: Exactly. The best type of sustainability is where you're not buying it because it's sustainable. You're buying it because you really want it.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.