The design and fashion worlds turned out on Tuesday night to fete new Architectural Digest Editor in Chief Amy Astley and her first curated issue since taking over the design bible in May. Appropriately for Astley, the former editor of Teen Vogue, September is the mag’s style issue and she packed it with great names like designer Marc Jacobs, “It Girl” Giovanna Bataglia, and fashion-maven turned English country doyenne, Amanda Brooks.
We loved having a look inside Jacob’s carefully curated townhouse featured in the issue. Responding to a query about how he might describe his aesthetic sensibility when it came to interiors, Jacobs said, “I’m not big on having a particular concept or look. I just want to live with things I genuinely love—great Art Deco furniture, pieces from the ’70s, and contemporary art.” Perhaps the best line came from interior designer Thad Hayes, who shared an anecdote about working with Jacobs. “We were looking at a classic boxy Jean-Michel Frank sofa and Marc said, offhandedly, ‘Of course I love it—it’s tattoed on my torso.’ Then he lifted up his shirt and showed me the couch.”
The AD fete took place at Spring Place, the new, members-only social club and workspace on Varick Street. Anna Wintour, the Vogue editor in chief and Conde Nast artistic director, who chose Astley for the position, came out to support her protege. When Astley was appointed, the announcement took some in the design industry by surprise, considering Astley’s long tenure at Teen Vogue. But Wintour reminded, “Amy has spent a great deal of her career immersed in art and design, including five years at House & Garden where she also served as the de facto personal interior stylist for Alexander Liberman, [the legendary Conde Nast Editorial Director] which has given her a deep knowledge and lifelong passion for design that will lift Architectural Digest to new heights.”
Joining Wintour were Joseph Altuzarra, Amanda Brooks, Kate Brodsky, Ann Caruso, Alina Cho, Amy Fine Collins, Milly de Cabrol, Blair Clarke, Claire Distenfeld, Rachel Feinstein, Michele Oka Doner, Simon Doonan and Jonathan Adler, Lisa Marie Fernandez, Casey Fremont, Thelma Golden, Tommy and Dee Hilfiger, Cornelia Guest, Marc Jacobs, Jill and Harry Kargman, Sean and Michelle Landers, Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, Robert Lazzarini, Phillip Lim, Marigay McKee, Pilar Molyneux, Carlos Mota, Doreen Remen, David Rockwell, Ralph Rucci, Eric Rutherford, Danielle Snyder and Jodie Snyder Morel, Temple St. Clair, Harley Viera-Newton, Emily Weiss, Yvonne Force Villareal, Anna Wintour, Jason Wu, and Lynn Yaeger. Harley Viera-Newton provided the music.
