Design Happens

How does a luxurious interior design sensation like Miles Redd create a brand of “cozy glamour” and step into the world of design? It all started at age five.

“When I was a boy growing up in Atlanta, Ga., my mother had a copy of Cecil Beaton‘s book The Royal Portraits that I used to flip through for hours on end. The photographs are heavy stuff: Princess Elizabeth in ermine coronation robes, holding scepters; Princess Margaret in an immense tulle ball gown splayed across a red damask banquette. After that, there wasn’t a prayer for me; my five-year-old eyes had seen what appeared to be the height of chic, and there was no turning back, at least not until I had my own tufted red madness. It was my first glimpse of the great big glittering world to which I wanted to belong.” — Miles Redd, The Big Book of Chic

Miles was inspired by chic, elegant decor at a young age and remains drawn to the same style of living to this day. I truly believe you can learn the most about a person by looking at their photographs, and interior designers often convey their personality through their designs. Miles’ newest book, The Big Book of Chic (Assouline, 2012), does just that. It’s 300 pages long with 150 full-page illustrations, giving readers a glimpse into what inspires Miles and provides intimate portraits of a beautiful, sophisticated life. You know, a group gathered around a well-dressed table enjoying hors d’oeuvres and cocktails; an elegant man stepping off a private jet with his dog; and a photo of Princess Margaret in a luxurious tulle ball gown. Quotes from Marcel Proust, Virginia Woolf, Pablo Picasso, Henry James and Alexander Pope (just to name a few) are truly the icing on the cake of this beautifully-illustrated book.

Plus, readers can peek into several of Miles’ own townhouse and beach house projects in Houston, Atlanta, Millbrook and Locust Valley. What I love most about this book is that I can be staring at the details of an antique crystal chandelier on one page and turn to a picture of Miles in a tuxedo standing on a chair in a mirrored room.

Courtesy of Cameron Krone

Step inside the colorful, whimsical, inspirational, spirited and eclectic world that is Miles Redd.

© Francesco Lagnese

“There are chemists who spend their whole lives trying to find out what’s in a lump of sugar. I want to know one thing. What is color?” — Pablo Picasso, featured in The Big Book of Chic

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