News You Can (or can't) Use

 Bloggers are blogging, Twitterers are tweeting, these a lot going on in the shelter magazine/ Interior Design world.  Try to keep up, this gets confusing.

The First Issue of Architectural Digest under the tutelage of Margaret Russell is on the stands come March.  The pink copy is a sign of a more optimistic outlook for the magazine, while the cover photo of an interior by Michael S. Smith is a nod to the iconic magazine's look under previous editor, Paige Rense Noland.

I have no doubt Margaret will WOW us with her fresh ideas and garner a younger, hipper audience. 

Replacing Margaret at Elle Decor is Michael Boodro.  He was the executive editor and the staff remains in place, so no doubt the magazine will remain the savvy, eclectic leader in the field.

Stephen Drucker replaced Pamela Fiori at Town and Country, for about 6 months, now he's out too and is being replaced by Jay Fielden.  Jay comes from the defunct Men's Vogue and The New Yorker.  I understand Town and Country will try to bring more design related material into the magazine and shed a little bit of its "older, affluent image".

Stephen Drucker had previously been at House Beautiful.  Newell Turner, the creative director, took the top spot.  Newell is experienced in publishing and a designer so I am looking forward to the magazine flourishing with his duel perspective.

Dana Caponigro from the, oh so popular, now shuttered, Domino magazine replaced Lisa Newsome, the  editor for 20 years.  Lisa will stay on as Editor at Large and work on other projects as well.

On line magazines are giving these stalwarts a run for their money.  Some you may have heard of, others perhaps not.  They are all really well done and worth a look.

LONNY

RUE

HIGH GLOSS

TRAD HOME will be published semiannually by the crew from Lonny, again, in an effort to garner a younger audience.

The recession rocked the design industry.  We have seen the loss of many manufacturers, retailers, magazines and related businesses.   As we move forward, everyone is looking for ways to streamline their business models and use as many tools as are available to continue to do business in a profitable, creative way.

On that note - take note, the accomplished, creative Kelly Wearstler started a blog;  My Vibe, My Life.  Sign up for emails andexperience the design process thru Kelly's colorful eyes.

Trendspotting ~ Of Talons and Turbans

Taking flight this season is the resurrection of the turban.  It never really went away per say, it's just been laying low and (this is the one I don't get), bird-like outfits are the way to go for some who are looking to attract pray, I mean attention.

Most designers sent some kind of a turban or head wrap down the runway for their Spring shows.

And apparently, Anna Dello Russo, the Editor-at-Large for Vogue Japan keeps showing up at events in these bird like outfits.  It takes a confident woman to make these bold fashion choices.

In either case, you better own the look or don't bother.

For some, combining the turban and the bird is not out of the question.  Yes, that was an actually pheasant at one time.

If you're choosing Alexander McQueen, you're no wallflower; you're rockin' it!  Never one to shy away from the fashionably absurd, he created art to wear.  These shoes are fierce and angelic simultaneously!

But this?  Not so much!

Inspired Impressions~The Interiors of Jeremiah Goodman

Claude Guidi, interior decorator, Buenos Aires

Jeremiah Goodman, now 88, a treasure in the design community, made a career out of painting gouache portraits of some of the finest interiors over the last many decades.  Stylish names in fashion, politics, publishing, as well as celebrities and royalty have commissioned Mr. Goodman to capture their beloved interiors in his signature etherial style.

Jeremiah works everyday in a corner studio space he created in his Upper East side apartment.  There was a wonderful retrospective of his work at the New York School of Interior Design this past fall and I am sure it will not be the last.  Jeremiah's popularity is really growing.  I just friended him on facebook.

Elsa Schiaparelli, fashion designer

Reed Krakoff, designer, Hamptons

Ronald & Nancy Reagan's sitting room, Bel Aire 

Silver Room @ Nymphenburg Palace

Thru the discerning eye of an artist, Mr. Goodman captures light and shadow. He manipulates scale and creates a mood.  He infuses static rooms with warmth and personality bringing them vitality and life.

Cecil Beaton

Dransfield & Ross, home furnishing designers

Betsy Bloomingdale's  living room

Carolina Herrera

"It takes a really fine artist to give us the sense of being in the room, of being able to move about the space, touch, react, get beyond the facts to the reasoning behind them"  Edward Albee

David Hicks, drawing room

Leonard Stanley

Elsa Peretti, jewelry designer, Italy

The Duchess of Windsor

Below is Jeremiah's favorite painting, he said; it expresses the romantic glamour and mystery of the past

Carlos de Bestegui, dining room, 1960 Paris

For the first time, Jeremiah has released giclee prints of some of his interiors.  They are being offered by London based art dealer  Dean Rhys Morgan.  I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of the picture I was able to purchase, the artist proof, of one of my favorite rooms (the first picture in this story) which will proudly hang in my office.

To learn more about Jeremiah, he has a stunning book out, now it its second printing

credits: Martha Stewart, Apt. Therapy, CLI, Dean Rhys Morgan, NY Times