June 16, 2024Perhaps best known for delivering dramatic sartorial moments on the red carpet and pioneering inclusivity in fashion, designer Christian Siriano is now getting recognized for his newest creative pursuits: his furniture line and his booming interior design practice. Having introduced his inaugural collection in 2021, Siriano is back with his second, which launched exclusively on 1stDibs. Building on the aesthetic of his first collection, his new pieces incorporate elements of Art Deco, Memphis Group design and postmodernism, among other styles.
We sat down with Siriano to hear about his new pieces, his new projects and, well, his love of 1stDibs.
You’ve said that this furniture collection was influenced by a mid-century modern aesthetic. How so?
Just as I reference things in my fashion design studio, I reference things when working on interiors. For example, we might look at a beautiful silhouette from the eighteenth century or something that’s from the Art Deco period or whatever it may be.
In our clothing design work, we were focusing on things that were from the forties and the fifties with really beautiful silhouettes. Pieces that have a bit more curve, almost like the body of a human. I guess I treated it like that: If you were sitting in this chair, how would you mold to its shape? Or if this were the stool, are the curves the right curves?
I really love the nineteen fifties and sixties, which were more about structure and volume. It wasn’t loose and flowy and free. I love that in fashion, and I love it in furniture design.
How has this collection evolved from your previous work?
Now that our interiors business has grown and we’re taking on hotels and bigger residential projects, I felt like the furniture needed to be a bit more robust. I wanted bigger, more substantial pieces. For example, cabinetry that we didn’t have before, case goods, things like that.
Also, I kept buying furniture for our clients, and I thought maybe we needed to make it for them. That’s really who I am as a designer, because I started in the business of making things for people. So, I felt like it was the right time for that.
You use textiles that range from mohair to bouclé. How did you come to use such a variety of fabrics in your furniture?
I think that’s kind of where I have a little bit of a leg up on some other interior designers. I’ve been making fabrics with mills all around the world for almost sixteen years, from wools to gabardines to taffetas. I’ve made custom fabrics with the most amazing Italian mills ever. So, I felt like I wanted the fabrics on the furniture to be as interesting or substantial or beautiful or powerful as the ones we use for clothing.
What are some of your favorite pieces from this collection?
I love the Layton sofa, which we’ve just introduced. I really wanted it because everyone was asking me for a sofa, specifically an apartment kind of sofa. We’re designing so many New York City spaces, and I felt like we needed a sofa that was substantial and had shape but wasn’t too overpowering.
I also love our Lea Silhouette cabinet. It’s whimsical and fun and playful and is such a statement piece. It reminded me of the cabinet in Beauty and the Beast that came to life and was so powerful.
Who are some of the interior designers who inspired you along the way?
I’ve been friendly with Kelly Wearstler for years, and I think her work is so incredible. I also just love her as a person. Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent are my good friends. They’re both so talented. Jeremiah brings their daughter to my fashion shows every year, which is so cute.
In New York, the worlds of fashion and interiors overlap a lot. This is a new community for me, and it’s so nice to meet all these new people.
You manufacture your pieces in Connecticut. Why is that?
Keeping production in the United States is important to me. We actually make all our clothes in the United States, too. I found this amazing upholstery company, Kostas Upholstery, and I became really good friends with the owner. When I started seeing the work they were doing, I realized he really isn’t just an upholsterer. What they can do is incredible. I literally give them a sketch — like a hand sketch, because I’m old school that way — and he makes it. So, it’s pretty great. It’s nice to see people who are so talented actually get to use their talents.
Aside from their skills, they can also do production. At first, we were really nervous. We thought, “Oh my gosh, what if we get a thousand big orders?” And they’ve been able to do it.
Any current or future projects that you’re excited about?
We’re doing our first big hotel, which is amazing. It’s a new hotel, called the Delamar Westport, in Westport, Connecticut. It’s so different from the residential projects we’re doing. And it’s nice because the suites will be almost like mini homes. One of them is three thousand square feet. They’re places that people can stay in long-term. It’s exciting because they’re called the Siriano Suites, and they’ll be really romantic and beautiful.
If you could choose any person from the past, whose house would you want to design?
Can you imagine designing for Audrey Hepburn or Katharine Hepburn? Katharine Hepburn was kind of masculine and feminine, so she would be cool to design for.
I’ve designed for a lot of First Ladies, and I’ve designed for the vice president. So, doing interiors for someone in that world would also be exciting to me.
If you could design a current celebrity’s home, whose would it be?
It would be kind of fun to do Lady Gaga’s New York apartment. I’ve been dressing her for so long, and I think what’s great about Gaga is she actually loves the forties and fifties. She loves that era, but she’s also kind of wild and quirky and crazy. It would be so fun to do her home because who knows what it could be? It could be anything! I think Gaga would be the dream client.
You’ve described your own home as very Zen. Has that influenced the way you design your furniture?
I think so. To a certain degree, home is about escape, a place to relax. At least, that’s what I think is important in a home. Even though I like things that are exciting and I like art that’s kind of more exuberant, I do think the majority of pieces in a home should create a calming space.
I don’t use a ton of big, bold color in interiors, even though I love that in my fashion world — I’m obsessed with that! But I actually have a very hard time with a lot of color in my home. I respect those designers who do that, but it just isn’t what I feel comfortable in.
In addition to being a seller on the site, do you shop on 1stDibs?
Oh, my gosh, that’s all I do! For me, just starting out in the business, learning a lot about furniture in general or art or architecture, the vast vintage inventory is just incredible! I’ve bought things from the eighteen hundreds, the nineteen twenties, the thirties — I’ve bought every era. I don’t think there’s any other place in the world that has that. You can’t even go to the flea market in Paris and find some of the things that you can find on 1stDibs. That’s why I thought 1stDibs was the best place for our furniture to be.
What do you like to search for on 1stDibs?
I look up everything on it! French nineteen-sixties cabinet. ART DECO. Italian tapestry. Everything! I “like” everything — my cart would probably be over ten million dollars!
