← Talk Shop with Ariel Okin: A Fenimore Lane Production
Talk Shop with Ariel Okin: A Fenimore Lane Production
Alessandra Branca // Expert Advice from a Prolific Interior Designer on Blending her Italian and American Roots
00:48:29
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- [00:00]
A
Editing is a huge part of design, and the better the editing, the better quality of design. It's what you take off that matters sometimes at the end, it's that whole idea that you might dress, but at the end just take that one thing off that you didn't need. And a room is the same way. You can design rooms, but it's what you didn't put in the room that sometimes defines it best.
- [00:26]
B
Welcome to Talkshop. I'm Arielle Okan, a New York based interior designer, writer and editor looking to bring a little bit of magic into our homes every day. After years as a writer and editor in the interiors world, I founded my own editorial site, Fenimore Lane, in 2020, and the TalkShop interview series was born. Each week I delve into the personal experiences of the top interior designers and tastemakers around the globe. This week, I'm honored to welcome a designer who I have admired throughout my career, Alessandra Branca. Born and raised in Rome, Alessandra Alessandra has called Chicago home for over 30 years. She acquired her love for classical beauty from her Italian upbringing, and those roots still speak to her soul today. Alessandra's designs are anchored by classical details, rich colors, patterns, textures, and antique and custom furnishings paired with modern and European art and distinctive accessories. As an art history student, Alessandra started collecting architectural and natural history prints. And after attending college and then moving to America, she opened a print business. Her shop, fashioned to look like a char charming home, led to requests from customers to decorate for them, and the rest was history. Alessandra's work has been featured in countless magazines including Architectural Digest, Town and Country, the New York Times, Veranda and Elle Decor, and has been recognized within the industry with a myriad of awards, including House Beautiful's Masterclass. Inspiration comes from all facets of Alessandra's life, including design, history, art, nature, and travel. And she is continually seeking and exploring. I was incredibly inspired by this conversation and I hope you will be too. So please join me as I welcome Alessandra Branca to the podcast. Alessandra, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I'm so excited to have you on.
- [02:15]
A
Thank you for having me. This is fun.
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B
Well, to kick off the conversation, we ask everyone who comes on if you can describe your style in three words or less.
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A
I would say classic with a twist.
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B
Oh, I love that. And I love that it's. Sometimes people will give like three individual words, but I love that you gave. It's like a full sentence.
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A
Well, it's Four. It's four words technically, but I got there.
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B
It's perfect. And for those listening, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and where you are at this point in your career right now?
- [02:48]
A
Oh, my gosh. Well, I've worked for a very long time, probably longer than most people listening will have lived. I have done this for over 35 years. I am clearly at the other end of the career in many ways, although I'm not. I'm not slowing down. I'm super busy. But you do evolve, which is the best part about life. You do find your place.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And time.
- [03:14]
B
It's amazing. And I have your book, which is one of my favorites. So I'm so excited to hear about sort of how you started your career in design. And I know you started collecting architectural and natural history prints and you opened a print shop, and then you sort of evolved into interior design full time. Can you walk us through sort of like the beginning of your career and how that started?
- [03:37]
A
Well, you're right. I've always collected antique prints and natural history prints and architecturals since I was 14 in Rome.
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B
So cool.
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A
And I came to the States, and when I quit fashion, I was redoing our apartment, and I found out how expensive stupid things like posters might be. And I thought, that's ridiculous. You can buy a 17 or 18th century print for less money. So a friend of mine saw that I had these, and I was framing them and said, you really should be doing these. You should sell these. People should be able to buy these. So that's where it started. And when I did my first gallery, I did a gallery that appeared to be a home, because I did not like the idea of a gallery where you sort of hear your footsteps walking through and where it's. So I designed it like a salon, which is very much how the space was of a very famous print dealer that I would go on Piazza Navona in Rome. He had a sofa and he had chairs, and people would hang out there in the afternoons. So that was the spirit. And then eventually a client, customer of the gallery came in and said, I'd love you to design our home. And I said, well, I'm not a designer. And they said, but we want what you have here. And I said, this was for me. And they said, why don't you find someone to help you? And we would like you to do our home. And that was our first project. And I walked away and found someone who could do the technical side of it. And I never looked back.
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B
I continued, wow, it's amazing how something so small, a random interaction like that can just totally change the course of your whole life and career. And you've had such an incredible, long spanning, beautiful career that's still going. And you have Casabranca too, so it's amazing.
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A
Well, you know, our biggest moves in life take place over a very small action.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Our biggest changes, you never know where they're coming from, where you're going. And if you just trust the universe, you'll get there. And I think that that's the part of being an old dog that sort of helps. I just think the same thing happens with the creative process. You might start in one place, but if everything aligns, you're going to end up where you belong. And creatively, some people get stuck on an idea. And I think that it's a quality in life that will serve you really well. And it certainly serves me professionally very, very well.
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B
Yeah, that's such good advice. Being flexible and also following your intuition.
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A
Yep.
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B
How do you think your childhood in Rome shaped your style? And when did you come here?
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A
I came here to finish college. I would say that everything about me is Italian, although I feel like my Italian friends say that I'm very American now. And that's good and bad, but it's very good because what this country has done is there is no called decorating, even though we had Renzo Mongiadino and we have all sorts of really wonderful big names. But in Italy, design is really part of architecture. And I started architecture, but then the anarchists in Rome blew up the structure, so I couldn't go to class anymore. So I switched over to the law school and did two years of law. And that too served me well because that's the basis of everything we do. Because if you don't have a good outline and a good contract, you don't have much.
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B
Yeah.
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A
But from there you. The Italian side is the flair. The American side is the organization, you know, the wherewithal we're born with. But we have to continue to hone. And I feel that those are the qualities. That's how I'm Italian. That's how my upbringing. My grandfather was art historian and art critic for the Vatican. And so I grew up with art history and going to many very famous structures that most people study in art history. So my sense of color, my sense of proport, my knowledge of art and history, all of that which used to be what fed my curiosity was and became the foundation for my work. I still look at, you know, Renaissance and Baroque art to think of new color combinations. But you can do the same thing by walking through a park and looking at what mother Nature does, Right?
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B
Exactly. When I see pictures of your red rooms, even if before I read the caption, I know it's you sometimes.
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A
Oh, wow. Well, red. It's so interesting that people think I do red. I don't think I've done a red room in. In a while, but some of them.
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B
Are so iconic and beautiful like that. There's one playroom that you did where you used that red trim.
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A
Red, or any other color is a. Is like a spice. And if you think of it that way, it's there to punctuate. It can either be the whole meal, which can be. You know, I've never done a room where we have ceilings that are red, walls that are red, and carpet that's red, and everything else. That might be too much of a good thing. But I do love the idea that red can be an outline, that it can be a little moment of sort of this punch in any room. And it's surprising how often red is a neutral in my world.
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B
Yeah. Well, in that playroom, I mean, the walls are white, but you've got this gorgeous graphic red, kind of bringing it all together. And it's one of my favorite spaces. It's so pretty.
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A
It's still one of my favorites.
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B
My God.
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A
Love that room.
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B
How do you think your design style evolved after moving to Chicago and the States? And how has that sort of evolved in your portfolio over time?
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A
Well, I didn't do this for a living when I was in Europe, but when I came, when I. I think that my style has evolved in that I am certainly. It's also time has evolved, because when you start in the 80s, everything was sort of about the English country house, and then the. Then you had Andre Putnam, and you had Philip Stark, and you started a whole. So really, my world. My design world has evolved with the world. It's time and place.
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B
Yeah.
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A
You know, I just love to embrace. I think it's very important to have a strong foundation, and then I think it's really important to be flexible and open to new things. And that's very much why you see a mix of contemporary art, contemporary accessories, contemporary space done with old furniture. I love the contrasts, and I love the play and the mix of things, because I think that that's very natural in the. And I think that the other thing is that most people's homes really are like a biography, and they should be like a portrait, and they need to represent the different parts of your life. So very few people are all white and bland and sort of monochromatic. As much as I have this fantasy of wanting to do an all white room, the truth of the matter is personalities are not necessarily that.
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B
Yeah.
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A
So it's a very interesting. You know, your home should reflect you. And that's why. Why my work is so different. Because my clients are different. 17 clients right now. Not one of them is choosing the same thing, which is wonderful.
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B
Oh, my God. 17 at once. That's amazing. And it's all over the world.
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A
All over. Very. I only have one client in Chicago. My work is everywhere. But, you know, what everyone has in common is that it's a reflection of their experience. And that's what design should be. It's. I'm there to edit, I'm there to help. I'm there to show them the menu of choices and things that might help them understand what they want in the end. Because it's just as hard for me to articulate what I want from my own home as it is for anybody else. Editing is a huge part of design. And the better the editing, the better quality of design. It's what you take off that matters sometimes at the end, it's that whole idea that you might dress, but at the just take that one thing off that you didn't need. And a room is the same way. You can design rooms, but it's what you didn't put in the room that sometimes defines it best.
- [11:46]
B
Yeah. Leaving a little bit of negative space or taking out a pattern.
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A
And by the way, sometimes the room is made by taking something completely from the outside world and throwing it in there and shaking it up, because that's the room you'll remember.
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B
And the way you tell stories with your design, I mean, you also see that at Casabranca with the textile collection and the wallpaper collection. I have the Papavero in my house. It's so beautiful. And we use the wicker pattern frequently. I mean, we use your textiles all the time. They're stunning.
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A
Thank you.
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B
They're so beautiful and so different and interesting. And we always love going into Casabranca when we go down to Palm beach just to see what's going on in the shop. Can you tell us a little bit about what it was like starting that?
- [12:32]
A
And the Casa Branca is an extension of something I've been doing for many, many years. I've always designed custom fabric for my clients and for myself and produced them and never had a, you know, thing about that. That was something I enjoyed the process of making. And so what happened is I had started to have this. We had this paper that we would do that would be a hand blocked. We would block plaster onto a paper. And it was the basis of that Papavero that you love so much. And people would call, and they'd call my office and say, we love it. We want to buy it. And we'd sell it and sell it. And then it became difficult to do it, that I developed a product from it, and then we developed Casabranca. We started to think, you know, what is the next generation going to want from all of this craziness in my life? And Andrew, my son, had just graduated from Northwestern, from business school, Kellogg, and he was looking at working for a luxury fashion brand in London. But he saw that I was looking. I was interviewing all these people, and he said, you know, I'd love to look at it. And he did, and he came on board, which is my blessing. It's fantastic because he can take it to the next generation. So the beauty of Casa Branca, the reason it's different is because just like people, there are all sorts of different points of view. And so we design the line, we select items, we organize the stories, so to speak, based on all these different kinds of people that we work with or that we know. Clients. Customers. Clients like you, you know, inspire me just as much as what I have in my sort of basket of knowledge. So I think it's. That's the beauty of being able to do something in a business like that rather than just for a client. It's the multiples that are really cool, the fact that they can go on the road. They love doing these design socials because they get to meet all sorts of new people. Showrooms are a wonderful opportunity. And of course, the store and the atelier are wonderful because people can come in and see our world in one place, but not everybody can travel there.
- [14:47]
B
The atelier is very amazing. We used a few pieces for our Kips Bay show house room last year in Palm beach that we did. And just getting to travel there and see the space was such a treat.
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A
Well, it was so interesting because we've always had the boutique, and it's been great on worth and it's great. But the atelier was an opportunity to show things in scale and to show more of the vintage and antique, which I feel are very much the spice of a room, because we can all, you know, we all can shop great brands like Serena and Lily and all that. But when you are able to mix in something unique, rare, or special and design, you know, an antique, you really can make a space sing. So that is where, you know, this is basically my closet. People are shopping my closet.
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B
Well, it's a very beautiful closet, which is great. It was great. It was so cool. I love it. And I agree. I think the mix and especially adding things that have life and patina is what makes a space feel layered and interesting and your eye travels. Instead of having things from, you know, just one place or things that all kind of are on the same note.
- [15:56]
A
Well, they're different points of view. It's just like a spice when you're cooking. You know, we can all make pasta with butter and cheese, but when you put a little pepper in it, it gets a little. It gets that life. And cacio e pepe is a Roman dish, so I know it well. But that is literally what bringing in the most interesting interiors that you'll see in history were collected. They were brought together. They were showing the culture of the person who lived in them. And I think that that's so important that people understand the difference between a really great retail point of view, which is, you know, you have a brand and you want to show your brand. But in my view, the fun for me is to see how you interpret it. I mean, I love seeing what I thought would go one way, another, because that's the beauty of life.
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B
Yeah.
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A
So that's how vintage and antique really worked. And the unique, it sort of all fit in, because that's what distinguishes a lot of my work. I have no fear of buying antiques. I'm very adept, and I know the field. And so this Casabranca collection of pieces that we've bought are. Is really an edit born of 40 years of buying easily.
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B
So amazing.
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A
I still have the first thing I bought at auction, which was out of the Wrightsman estate, and it was a pair of Louis Ses chairs. And they have been with me since. It was the biggest purchase at that time that I'd ever made, and I still have them. So when you buy antiques and quality, you will have them forever. Literally forever.
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B
Yeah. Well, the quality. I mean, they don't make furniture like that anymore. So those pieces are just.
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A
And there are different ways of having them look, too. You don't have to feel like, you know, so many people are worried about antiques and they think, oh, that's antique. Well, you know, you can make an antique look super chic and new. Look at Miles Red. Look at how he interprets It. It's incredible. There's so many people who have taken, you know, ho hum pieces maybe, and given them a completely new light. And that's the beauty of design.
- [18:02]
B
Yeah, it's so true. Do you think, is that your favorite element about the design process? Like, what's your favorite part of the process?
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A
I'm a Virgo. This is like a confession. So I like the process. I like an organized process. As you may know, I do interior architecture. So do everything from the floors, the walls, the ceilings, the lights, materials for everything. So I love that something can have a plan, and then in the end, even I am surprised. It's so interesting. Clients have seen me walk in, you know, walk into a room, and I do all my own installations. So I'm there. But I love walking away and coming back in the next day and really seeing the space for what it is, which is where it's like it has its own life. And I am just as blown away as anybody else by the final result because it's like seeing a portrait finished. It's a portrait of someone else. It's not me. So I really love that about design. I think process is very, very important. The discipline of our industry is. Of our craft is extremely important and fundamental to the outcome and the success. You have to have a plan, you have to your homework, you have to measure, you have to think, and then you have to have fun.
- [19:27]
B
Yeah, that's true, too. I know there's so much planning that goes into it because there are a million different inputs and outputs that could go wrong. And you kind of. And also, the longer you do it, the more you know what to look for.
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A
And I still am surprised. You know, things happen, the times change, trades change. You know, there are new things that come out. You know, how to use LED lighting. When I used to love a warm light. You know, you learn all these different things. You just have to keep with the process and stay alert and enjoy novelty because you can't do the same thing over and over again. The beauty of changing and evolving is that you grow and that you become better and that your work shows it. It's a really important part. And the same thing happens with a client who's done their first home, and then by the time they've, you know, grown and their kids are starting to grow up and they finally can indulge in some things that, you know, a little nicer or a little different.
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B
Yeah.
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A
You know, I always tell them, just enjoy this. This is a great stage of life. And there's no race. You can enjoy this process and, and make those decisions that work for you now.
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B
Yeah. And it also. You grow with them too. Every time you work with a client. Each time.
- [20:44]
A
My clients teach me things all the time. I have wonderful. You know, it's all about the exchange. Just as I'm sure you find the same thing has a different way of dressing. We might all similar businesses, but how we put it together is where there's some flair and you think, wow, that looks so great. And that's the same thing with interiors. People bring to it something different. I might be the brand, but what's cool is seeing what you make of it.
- [21:14]
B
That's so true. I love that. What do you think is sort of like the most important element when you're designing a space?
- [21:21]
A
The plan, the furniture plan. Being able to expand a client's experience of the space, make it so that I love like multi use space. That's the practical side of me, which is not obviously too big of a side, but it is, it's a foundation for everything in my life. But I like to be able to. If I can't bring someone to a room for more than two or three reasons, I feel like I haven't done my job.
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B
Yeah.
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A
So for instance, I like a living room that has a games table so that people go there. I like to move around in my homes. We move tables around, we have dining in different parts of the house. And I encourage my clients to do the same thing. And I feel like that to me is really important. So if you can expand someone's experience of a space, they'll be that much more happy with it.
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B
Yeah, no, it's true. Because then they get multi use out of it. And it also changes the experience of the house that they can sort of live in each room rather than just having the formal living room that they only go in when they're having, you know, drinks.
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A
Formal living room.
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B
Exactly.
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A
I can't make you go and read, do your needlepoint, do your zooms, play cards, have dinner for two. I haven't done my job.
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B
Amen. I love that. It's so true. Because if you're not living in your house, then what's the point?
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A
Yep. Well, the greatest compliment I get is when clients tell me, I never knew I would love being home so much. And that is literally the greatest reward I get. And I've had it so many times that clients say, I don't want to leave, I want to just stay home. Yeah, well, what more could you want in life?
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B
My God, no, That's so true. And also. Also, it's, you know, when you make it functional for people, especially, you know, when kids have young. When there are kids and there's young families, and it's functional for them, and it's like such a game changer.
- [23:12]
A
Well, that's how things like our sofa blankets sort of were born. When I grew up, there was this wonderful business in Rome that would do these great sofa blankets, and I have done them for clients forever, which is where we do these throws that you can put on your sofa and then your pillows. So you can take a white sofa and change completely the experience. Well, that right there is a way to take young family and be able to still have your white sofa if that's what you wanted. And then at the same time, we used to do winter and summer so you could flip it and have a whole different look in your room.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And then eventually you let go of that and you have. Once you've invested in a sofa, you know, the more you can use it and the longer you can use it, the better it is.
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B
Yeah.
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A
That was something that really worked out very well. And I. I know that Casabranca is doing a bunch of that, which that's being expanded as we speak. So it'll be kind of fun to see if people understand, because I use them all the time. I have them in my house in the Bahamas. We use sofa blankets. And it's inside, outside. It's great.
- [24:16]
B
No, they're genius. Especially if you have kids and dogs. I mean, they're so smart and adults. Yeah.
- [24:22]
A
Red wine.
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B
Exactly. Red wine. Exactly. Is there a design rule that you sort of always follow or one that you think is totally made to be broken?
- [24:32]
A
There's a design rule for me, which is to buy the best you can buy because you will never look back. And that is so incredibly true. It is proven true every second of every day.
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B
Yeah.
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A
I always go back. And as you get older, you discover, you know what? Go buy the one thing that was beautiful. Don't buy a bunch. If you took the stack of clothing that you don't wear and put it up against the one piece you should have bought, literally the same applies in a private home. In your home. I think that's so important, and it's something that I learned in time, and I think it's. You'll never look back. Never look back.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Then the rules that are meant to be broken are those rules that are where you say, well, here's a material that's really only for A living room. Well, that's silly because then you'll never see it.
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B
Right.
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A
So if you're the kind of person who has a so called front room, I just believe that if you love something, you have to use it. You've got to put it in a room and you've got to mix it into any space where you're going to be because that's who you are. And so it's like someone who wears jewelry. There are a lot of people who love beautiful jewelry and they'll have it and put it away. Or there are people who wear it and wear it with a white shirt and a pair of jeans and it looks incredible. That is the interior. I think everyone should look.
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B
Yeah, I agree. It's also like, you know, if you have really great china and you're only using it for like the one formal dinner you're throwing a year, like use it every day or make the point.
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A
Of using it, you know? Yes, I would love to think that I use my antique or whatever I have. But you know, what's even better is to say, okay, we used to have something with our children. We had what we called family dinner. So it was dinner in the dining room and I hired someone to come and cook. And that way our kids and then our kids would invite a friend.
- [26:21]
B
So I love that.
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A
And that is where we set the table. My kids learned about placement, which is where you seat people. My kids learned about setting a table and enjoying that process. And you know what? All three of my kids love having dinners. They love setting tables. And you can mix it up. You can do a raffia placemat with a wonderful porcelain plate. You don't have to have everything be at an elevated level. And I think that's how you end up using that nice stuff, you know, the good stuff.
- [26:55]
B
Yeah. And you see that in the mix of what you offer with Casabranco too. I mean, the interesting mix of what you have is what makes it so unique and has such a great distinct point of view.
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A
But then in the end, it's really how you play with it. Like, I'm happy to do the dishes. I'd love to see how you'd set a table with our dishes. You know, what would you mix?
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B
Well, I love that family dinner idea. I'm going to take that from you.
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A
Oh, it's so important. And you know, our kids, to this day, we still have family dinners and it's. There's nothing better. You bring your friends. I mean, it's really. It was a wonderful discipline that Turned into probably one of our best memories ever. To this day, we all still do it. It's great.
- [27:36]
B
I love that I have two girls, I have a five year old daughter and a two and a half year old. And as they get older, it's like, you know, you want to keep them in the house and that's such a great way to do it.
- [27:47]
A
But even when they're that age, so my children were that age when we started. And what they would do is we'd have their godmother come or their friend's parents, you know, we would mix it up so there was always someone from the outside and that way it was new to everybody. Everyone was on their better behavior. I won't say best because that was not always the case. So what happened is they'd be part of it. They'd learn to set the table, they'd say, what about this? And they'd be involved. We'd light candles and there were some very cute stories. Our kids got reputations at school where evidently some mother said that she had heard that we would set up our children for dinner with a date at like the age of five, handing dinners, which is so not true. But anyway, that sounds good. It sounded good, but. No, but it is something really wonderful. That's the idea of life. It's not this idea that this is fine and that it's very elegant and therefore it's only used for this occasion if that's the case, it will be so rarely seen. It's so important to have those things. Yes, but enjoy them, use them, have them be a part of you.
- [28:59]
B
I love that. That's like magic. I love that so much. Well, looking back through your career, have you had a mentor in your career at all and.
- [29:07]
A
No, my clients were my best mentors.
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B
I love that.
- [29:10]
A
My clients, my trades, my work rooms, my architect, contractors, art galleries. I mean, those were my mentors. And trying to just always keep up my pace and raise the ante every day, every single day. I still do. I still read about new things. I still look into things that I'd never seen before. I look into different. It's just same thing with architecture and interiors. No matter what. Art accessories. I think that's how you. That is your mentor. Life is the mentor. Yeah, it's wonderful if you have an individual. But I think the truth is an individual's highest and best use as a mentor is to open your eyes. That's really it. It's like being the greatest maitre d in a restaurant. You know, you show Them the best table, show them a great menu, set the mood. That's what a mentor should do.
- [30:09]
B
Yeah, that's true. And also, just to your point of keeping your eyes open when you're doing this and just absorbing like a sponge, as much information as you can from every touch point is really a great way to kind of help grow in your career in design.
- [30:22]
A
And by the way, mentors could be dead. They could be people like Henri Samuel. You have so many people. You have Renzo Mongiardino, you have all these great examples in the iconic designers. John Fowler, Nancy Lancaster, all these incredible people. And if you study their work, Francis Elkins, oh, my God, I could go on and on. Every single one of them has given me a tremendous amount just by studying their work and understanding their references and where they came from and how that happened in their time. So when people ask me, how do you learn? Well, you learn by this. You open up your eyes, you look at everything and you study. I read incessantly. There's nothing better.
- [31:10]
B
No, I agree. I know we had Peter Panoyer on last season, and we were talking about just the importance of always reading and learning and continuing that part of your education going on forever. Because that's how you keep growing as a discipline.
- [31:24]
A
Oh, absolutely. That's how you grow as a person.
- [31:27]
B
Yeah. Yeah. No, you're right.
- [31:29]
A
Keep your eyes open and keep moving. It's just life. It's the best.
- [31:34]
B
I love it. It's so true. What do you think your home says about you?
- [31:38]
A
Depending on the day, it might say I'm crazy. You know, warm. A lot of people. I really believe that comfort is sort of the basis of any interior. So once you have that really great plan and you've made the most of your room, you need to make that every room is comfortable and that you've thought about where someone's going to read, where someone needs light, where someone needs a place to put a drink down. You have to really, you know, a lot of the rooms we're seeing now where they're really set almost as a. You'll see sofas, no lights next to them. You'll see no end table. You know, it's great, it looks great, but it's not going to live.
- [32:19]
B
It's not functional exactly.
- [32:21]
A
So my home. A lot of people would tell you they're very comfortable, they're always warm. In terms of life lighting, I really like day life and night life. And I really think about how dimmed lights and candles and hurricanes will work at night. And then how the room works, you know, first thing in the morning with the east light and the sun streaming in. I really think that that's what distinguishes. I mix my forms. So I'll mix a Louis Quinze with a super modern chair, and I'll work with an 18th century painting and a contemporary artist. I'll mix colors very often that are not expected. But in general, if you said, how did you feel in her house? It's always everyone. Any of my homes, people say are warm. And that to me is the greatest compliment because I don't really need. I don't want people to worry about what they saw as much as how they felt, because that's what sticks long term.
- [33:19]
B
No, that's exactly right. I mean, it's the biggest takeaway when you leave a space is how you felt is what you remember, not, you know, what this specific chair looked like. Exactly. The atmosphere, the feeling of what you created. I love that.
- [33:33]
A
And the focus of the people in a room, you know, be. Don't worry. Put a platter on a coffee table, have a trays, drink next to it. Don't worry about be there. Because the whole reason we share time is not to show off what we have, but as much as to be together. So our home is our greatest gift to the people we love. You know, anything you do in your home, you're doing to. To share.
- [33:57]
B
Yeah. It's so beautiful. I love that. What are some of your favorite places to shop?
- [34:02]
A
Oh, everywhere.
- [34:03]
B
Everywhere. I knew. I really knew you were going to say that.
- [34:06]
A
Shopper. Let's think. I mean, obviously anywhere. I really love hitting a new town like Charleston and discovering businesses that I've never seen. I think that's kind of the one thing that I miss about pre Internet or pre, you know, is that you used to go, and there'd be only one place in the world where you. You could buy that one thing. And so if you bought it, people knew, oh, you've been there. But also you had a memento that was unique.
- [34:36]
B
Right. It makes it more exciting when you could do that. Now it's like everything could get everything anywhere.
- [34:43]
A
Well, I think it's always been. It's difficult because the world has become smaller, but at the same time, it's become less personal. So it's up to us to find ways to keep personality. And that's the hardest thing, even in design and in a brand, is to keep being ahead of yourself and thinking of new ways. When it comes to shopping, I love, obviously Paris. I love London. I love going to New York, working with smaller artisans. Even la, we're just doing a home in la. And there's so many different places in LA that are incredible. Even antiques are shown in a completely different light.
- [35:27]
B
Yeah.
- [35:27]
A
And that's what's important, is that there's still a flavor that's different. It's like, you know, you know, New Orleans and you know, their foods. Well, it's different from LA and their foods. Well, the same thing happens with interiors.
- [35:40]
B
Yeah.
- [35:41]
A
There's a local light, there's a local culture, there's a local lifestyle, obviously, in each of these places. So I think that's what I still shop is the culture.
- [35:51]
B
It's so cool. And is that how you find inspiration too, when you're shopping and. Yes, traveling museums.
- [35:57]
A
I spend a lot of time in museums and art shows and, you know, I go to many art fairs and furniture fairs and antique shows. I'm one of those who still loves all that. So I'm inspired by all of that. You know, if you have your eyes open, you can walk down the street anywhere and you'll get inspired. You can look at a railing or lanterns or Port Cochere or, you know, the way steps are designed or how someone lined the window. Window treatment from, you know, in London. It always fascinates me that they line the outside of their window treatments in a fun pattern.
- [36:35]
B
Yeah. So you can see them through the window. Yeah.
- [36:37]
A
Every single thing can inspire.
- [36:39]
B
Well, wow. Just wow. You are amazing. We do our rapid fire questions at the end, which we ask our take 10. They have nothing to do really with design, but we always like to ask them because they're personal and give a little bit of a snapshot into what you like. So what is your favorite food?
- [36:59]
A
Pasta.
- [37:01]
B
I'm so glad you said that. Favorite drink?
- [37:08]
A
Negronis Bagliato.
- [37:09]
B
Oh, I love those too. They're so good. Favorite film?
- [37:14]
A
Oh, my God. Well, Auntie Mae might be the top because of the interiors. And Rosalind Russell. So I'd say Auntie Mame.
- [37:22]
B
It's such a good one. Favorite hotel?
- [37:25]
A
Oh, gosh. Another one. I stay in a lot of hotels everywhere. Any hotel that is unique, I am. I have trouble with chains.
- [37:34]
B
Yeah. Like a place that's independent and has its own point of view.
- [37:38]
A
That's original.
- [37:39]
B
Yeah. Favorite city?
- [37:41]
A
Oh, gosh. Come on. This is really. This is like Sophie's Choice. Really. My favorite city is the next one I've known, not been to.
- [37:49]
B
I feel like you must travel everywhere too. All the time.
- [37:52]
A
I'm going to Amsterdam. I hadn't been to Amsterdam, so.
- [37:56]
B
Oh, wow.
- [37:56]
A
Who knows? That may be my next. My new favorite.
- [37:58]
B
Your new favorite? Exactly. Favorite Bedding.
- [38:01]
A
Linen.
- [38:02]
B
Yeah, it's nice. Especially for hot. If you're hot in the summer. It's so nice.
- [38:06]
A
Very good for your skin. It's really incredible for your skin.
- [38:10]
B
Tea or coffee? And how do you take it?
- [38:12]
A
Well, I can make this really complicated. I drink a quick little coffee in the morning with some milk. But if I had choose a drink. I like a chai latte.
- [38:23]
B
Me too. That's what I do in the morning. It's so good.
- [38:26]
A
But I don't know how to make it. So I only get it when I'm somewhere else.
- [38:29]
B
There's this tea brand called Rishi R I S H I. It's delicious.
- [38:34]
A
We know them well.
- [38:35]
B
I make that every morning. They have a great chai that I make every morning. It's so good.
- [38:40]
A
Oh, I'll have to get that.
- [38:42]
B
It's very, very good. Favorite playlist.
- [38:45]
A
Any new version of old music. Literally, I like and I love everything from. Oh, my God, I pick up African versions of Gershwin, for example. I mean literally, to me, I love to see a classic reinterpreted.
- [39:03]
B
That's amazing. I have to like, Google that now. I need to hear what that sounds like.
- [39:08]
A
I will pick up things on Spotify just from hearing it and then I'll like it. And it's amazing what it feeds you.
- [39:15]
B
And I just.
- [39:16]
A
I love any new sound, but based on a classical, I find that to be amazing. But I also love, you know, a lot of everything from Earth, Wind and Fire. Old school to new school.
- [39:29]
B
I love that. What is your favorite weekend activity?
- [39:32]
A
Reading.
- [39:33]
B
Yeah, with.
- [39:34]
A
With my husband nearby.
- [39:36]
B
It's so nice. And this is the hardest one that we ask everyone. What is your favorite design book? Oh, I know it's impossible.
- [39:44]
A
Particularly when someone reads a lot. I don't think there is a single book because I feel like the minute you say one thing is, then you've eliminated so many great things. I hate to sound. There are so many incredible books that it depends on what you're reading. You could read about Francis Elkins, or you could read about Jean Michel Frank, or you could read. There's so many great. What's important is that you read a monograph by. So the difference in books, which has been a problem in the world now is books went from being really wide, wonderful monographs that spoke to the origins, the influences and the development of the designs of a designer. That's the kind of book I like. The best. I think when a book becomes just like, here's pictures of my. Whatever, it's kind of. It changes. It changes. And books, sadly, have become very much like a magazine because magazines are different now. Books seem to be. You know, they come out so much.
- [40:47]
B
Yeah, no, I know. There's like a million every fall and spring.
- [40:51]
A
So many trees choices. So many great choices, by the way. There's so much great stuff out there. There's so many. So much. But I still learn the most from the actual icons. You know, until you're dead, you're not an icon. So just the way you can't call yourself an icon until you're done.
- [41:10]
B
Well, I will say you are a living icon.
- [41:13]
A
Fashion. I can't believe you didn't ask. Because I am obsessed with Erdem. Totally obsessed.
- [41:19]
B
Interesting.
- [41:20]
A
And I love his work from especially. I bought a ton of his fashions last season because it was based on Chatsworth and the Duchess of Devonshire. And it was this wonderful interpretation. There's a great show at Chatsworth right now. I bought so many of his things. I love the old new school. It was just so great. It's like Dries, you know, another fashion designer for people in Design, because he is all about textures and culture and the. The mix of those and then this super wonderful edge that creates the modernity of it all.
- [41:55]
B
I know. I think I'm so sad that Dries is retired. I think that's going to be.
- [42:00]
A
Well, that'll be. It's done.
- [42:02]
B
Yes, exactly.
- [42:03]
A
Well, there are other people. Because her dam has done his own version. You lose one person, but you gain something else. As long as there's still someone original out there, we're fine. Loewe did a ton of really great stuff. That's what I bought this season.
- [42:17]
B
You know, you.
- [42:18]
A
You sort of think, wow, how weird. I bet they'd die if they saw that I wear them.
- [42:25]
B
No, you're like the most chic woman on the planet. They would be so excited.
- [42:30]
A
It's going to be interesting.
- [42:31]
B
But anyway, I love it. Well, a final few words. What are you working on right now? Is there any new stuff that you can talk about?
- [42:40]
A
God, so many things. We're working on a house in Colorado. We are working on start to finish. Stan Dixon, who's a wonderful architect I brought to the project, and he's just amazing. We're working on a project in Palm Beach. We're working on a project in the Bahamas. We're working on a project in New York on Sutton Place. We're Working on. Oh, my God.
- [43:09]
B
Oh, my God. I'm, like, exhausted for you.
- [43:11]
A
I'm here, there, and everywhere, which is what makes it so difficult sometimes. But what's kind of fun is to be able to go to a different culture and which, you know, different climate sort of offers a different culture, and that allows you to interpret yet another new point of view.
- [43:29]
B
Yeah, that's so amazing. What is the best advice that you could give for someone looking to define their own interior style?
- [43:38]
A
Well, I've said it earlier, but I mean it every time. It's my mantra. Read, read, look, look every bit you can, and then put the books down and see who you are. Because I can look at Erdem and I can look at Hueve, and I can look at Valentino. I can look at all the people that I think are whatever. But it doesn't matter, because the truth is what happens when you're in your closet? You have to put all those images away and say, does this suit me right? And then make it work. So you might not need to have the whole room. You might have just been influenced by that one thing to have a wonderful spark for your interior. But you need to study. You need to really learn the best. Go and see the best of everything. Go to those house museums, go to the Met and look at the Wrightsman rooms. Look at every single imaginable thing. The English wing that was done by Roman Williams is genius. And you'll see. You know, go to the Frick. Go see everything you can get your hands on. Look, study, take it in and walk away. And then see where that information lands. I always wonder. You know, we think of our dreams. You can. Your world is your dreams, and your dreams are your influence, your future. So make sure you plant all the right things in the garden of those dreams. You know, look at as many beautiful things as many incredibly evolved things, you know, that will be well beyond your abilities financially or even physically, you know, to do. But yet understand that the appreciation of great quality and great effort is what is the foundation of who everyone should be.
- [45:37]
B
Oh, my God. That is so well said. I really cannot even believe that we got to chat today, because I just feel like I have so many takeaways. No, really, truly, I feel like this was so informative, amazing, and you are just so inspiring and such a trailblazer in the industry, and I just feel so happy that you came on.
- [45:57]
A
Thank you. Well, I'm so happy to be. I'm so glad that our paths cross in so many ways.
- [46:02]
B
Me, too.
- [46:04]
A
See, we're so lucky. But, you know, it's just. That's the best part about life. You find all these wonderful new people in our life that we've. You and I crossed paths, what, four years ago, I think it was Covid.
- [46:17]
B
Yep.
- [46:17]
A
Now we found out that our paths have crossed because you went to school, probably.
- [46:22]
B
I know. And also with Katherine. It's such a small world that teaches.
- [46:26]
A
You yet another thing that someone you never knew will influence you, and you certainly influence me. I think it's so wonderful to see the next generation. To me, that's the most exciting thing that I do every day is I see what your generation will do with all of these things. You know, that's exciting to me. You know, I know what I've done. But what you do will be what will be fantastic. I mean, that's nice.
- [46:53]
B
Thank you.
- [46:54]
A
You've got the world ahead of you. God bless.
- [46:57]
B
Thank you. That's so nice. Well, I feel so glad that we get to use all the beautiful Casabranca in our projects to do it.
- [47:05]
A
So I want to see what you've done because it's really fun to see. It's just, I'm sure I don't think Francis Elkins or Jean Michel Frank want to see what I've done, but I think that everybody influences everyone else if we are doing something right. So it's great.
- [47:22]
B
Where can listeners find more about you and your firm?
- [47:26]
A
We have a website, which is branka.com and then if you're interested in our collection, it's called Casabranca.com and we have a store in on Worth Avenue in Palm beach, what we call the Boutique. And then we have a really wonderful, huge space called the Atelier, which is in West Palm. And a website that's really fun to play with and lots of inspiration there. And a great Instagram, which is Casabranca. And my Instagram is Abranca.
- [47:57]
B
Amazing. Well, Alessandra, thank you so much. This was a dream, and I hope I get to see you soon.
- [48:03]
A
Thank you. I can't wait.
- [48:05]
B
Me too. Thank you.
- [48:07]
A
Thank you. Ciao.
- [48:09]
B
That's a wrap for this week's episode of Talk Shop. Thanks for listening. We'll be back next week with more thoughtful discussions and amazing guests. Follow us on Apple, podcasts, Spotify and YouTube, so you never miss an episode. And of course, follow me at Ariel Oken. See you next week.