Darryl Carter
STYLE Antiques as sculpture
COLLABS Lighting for the Urban Electric Co.
Based in Washington, D.C., Darryl Carter, a former lawyer, turns out cool, calm, and collected spaces that are distinctive in their masculine rigor. They are full of smart neutral fabrics, dark wooden furniture, and strong silhouettes. His furniture designs are spare without being austere.
Instagram: @darrylcarterdesign
David Kleinberg Design Associates
STYLE Timeless tranquillity
PROJECTS Upper East Side apartments, superyachts
David Kleinberg is committed to uncluttered rooms furnished with a Francophile’s mélange of antiques. His body of work is wide-ranging in type, yet always modern in sensibility. In 2011, he published Traditional Now: Interiors by David Kleinberg.
Instagram: @dkda
David Netto
STYLE Edgy erudite
CLIENTS Rockefellers and Hollywood honchos
PROJECTS A villa in the Bahamas
Toggling between his home in Los Angeles and his hometown of New York, David Netto is a Harvard architecture school dropout who revels in the unexpected, making traditionalism feel hip, and modernism like a warm and textured cocoon.
Instagram: @davidnettosays
De la Torre Design Studio
STYLE Sky’s the limit
PROJECTS An installation he created with artist James Turrell for a house in California
Having started his design career working with ELLE Decor Grand Master Peter Marino, it’s no wonder that Ernest de la Torre’s own design firm, which he founded in 2001, boasts an impressive portfolio, including Tuxedo Park mansions, Manhattan penthouses, jets, and yachts.
Instagram: @delatorredesign
Dimorestudio
STYLE Supreme sprezzatura
CLIENTS Fashionistas and luxury brands
COLLABS Home accessories for Dior
Emiliano Salci and Britt Moran make up the Milan-based super duo. Founded in 2003, the avant-garde firm is known for its furniture designs and fashion collaborations with the likes of Fendi and Hermès. Their forward-looking interiors are rich with pattern and color-blocked walls.
Instagram: @dimoremilano
Drake/Anderson
STYLE Evolution of gilt
COLLABS Hardware with SA Baxter, furniture with Theodore Alexander
Jamie Drake is primarily a modernist, yet he’s known for his fearless approach to color and his fashion-conscious sensibility. He combined forces with designer Caleb Anderson to form the Drake/Anderson design partnership. Projects have included sophisticated interiors in many of Manhattan’s trendiest residential towers, as well as cutting-edge medical facilities and nonprofit headquarters.
Instagram: @drake__anderson
Emma Jane Pilkington
STYLE Uptown panache
NEWS Working on a shibori-inspired fabric line with her sister, artist Amy Pilkington
Emma Jane Pilkington, a native of Australia who was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, planned to be a fashion designer until she accidentally found her true calling: interior design. Her projects feature a restrained elegance and meticulously crafted interiors. She is influenced by her love of European culture and has created spaces for clients such as Ivanka Trump and Cristina Cuomo.
Instagram: @emmajanepilkington
Eric Hughes
STYLE Movie mogul
CLIENTS Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick
Clients of New York– and Los Angeles–based designer Eric Hughes have included Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, Andy Cohen, Katie Couric, Hank Azaria, and Lauren Graham. Cohen’s Manhattan home by Hughes—who likes to create “relaxed, eclectic, elegant residences”—is pictured here.
Instagram: @erichughesdesign
Fox-Nahem Associates
STYLE Straight-up drama
PROJECTS Designed Robert Downey, Jr.’s windmill house in the Hamptons
Born and raised in New York City, Joe Nahem and his late business partner, Tom Fox, started Fox Nahem Design in their early 20s. Nahem’s designs have changed accordingly with the times; he curates rare vintage pieces and works with craftspeople around the world. His projects have ranged from residences in Aspen to New York City’s West Village and Martha’s Vineyard.
Instagram: @foxnahem
Frank de Biasi
STYLE Art and surprises
NEWS Has a home in Tangier, Morocco
A New York designer through and through, Frank de Biasi began his career at Christie’s New York, where he spent six years in the estates and appraisals department. He calls his style “curated design that’s family-friendly” and creates homes to be lived in, not just photographed.
Instagram: @frankdebiasi
Gachot Studios
STYLE Modern vintage
CLIENTS Charlotte Ronson, Marc Jacobs, and Nate Ruess
COLLABS Waterworks bath collection, the Shinola Hotel in Detroit
The husband-and-wife team of John and Christine Gachot met at Studio Sofield in New York, then established their own design studio with a mix of residential and high-profile hospitality projects (Glossier’s New York headquarters). They bring a cultivated stance to a downtown aesthetic with a respectful and witty eye.
Instagram: @gachotstudios
Haynes-Roberts
STYLE Artistic triumph
PROJECTS Fifth Avenue apartments, Hamptons houses
Timothy Haynes and Kevin Roberts are the founding partners of Haynes-Roberts, a New York–based interior design firm that focuses on high-end residential projects. The resulting work is a modern distillation of classic design that is spare, elegant, and inviting. Their projects attain a level of sophistication that develops from the juxtaposition of a well-edited contemporary art and furniture collection with an eclectic combination of antiques.
Instagram: @haynesrobertsinc
Huniford Design Studio
STYLE Rustic refinement
PROJECTS Founded fundraiser Design on a Dime
NEWS James Huniford at Home is out fall 2020
In his projects, James Huniford blends new and old, uniting found objects with refined materials in distinctive combinations and vignettes. One-of-a-kind objects inspire all of Huniford’s designs. His signature use of calming wall colors highlights the importance of objects, art, and furniture.
Instagram: @fordhuniford
India Mahdavi
STYLE Sensual cosmopolitan
NEWS A new showroom on rue de Bellechasse in Paris
India Mahdavi has a lot in common with Henri Matisse. Like a Fauvist, the Paris-based designer and architect uses rich complementary colors in both her commercial and residential projects to elicit a layered—mostly giddy—response from visitors. Recently, she created collections for Pierre Frey and Bisazza and opened the much-feted Ladurée salon de thé in Tokyo.
Instagram: @indiamahdavi
Ishka Designs
STYLE Caribbean cool
PROJECTS Anishka Clarke and Niya Bascom design everything from Brooklyn brownstones to Jamaican beach houses
Ishka Designs, helmed by Anishka Clarke and Niya Bascom, is a Brooklyn-based interior design firm. Specializing in vacation properties, restaurants, and residences (think everything from beachfront estates to multiuse retail spaces), the firm is known for their clean, minimalist aesthetic.
Instagram: @ishkadesigns
(according to the website elledecor.com)