KELLY WEARSTLER: Meet the woman of many trades, as she expands her design empire into the fashion world

Kelly Wearstler knows a thing or two about great style.

[highlight_text] “I’ve always loved fashion,” she said. “It’s been a major source of inspiration for me. It felt like a natural evolution to create a ready-to-wear and jewelry line.” [/highlight_text]

The American designer began her career in interiors, as the creative force behind the redesigns of high-end resorts and hotels across the country. Perhaps most notable of those projects was her chic facelift of the iconic 1940s-era Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills. This project was significant in her life for other reasons– she completed the project under hotelier Brad Korzen, who would later become her husband. Other hotel projects by Wearstler include the Viceroy Hotels and Resorts.

But Wearstler’s impressive list of design credentials doesn’t end there. In 2008, she was a judge on Bravo’s hit show Top Design, and the lithe beauty has penned three design books, Domicilium Decoratus, Modern Glamour and Hue. Another book with Rizzoli is currently in the works, set for release in October.

Wearstler also released a line of bespoke home goods for iconic department store Bergdorf Goodman, Kwid bed sheets for Sferra, rugs for The Rug Company, fine china for Pickard China and wall treatments for F. Schumacher & Co.

“Everything I come in contact with can inspire me,” Wearstler said of her design process. “Color, a recent trip, a work of art, a cool design book, Mother Nature. You can find inspiration everywhere if you are aware of your surroundings.”

With the help of that inspiration, last spring, Wearstler embarked upon her most exciting sartorial journey yet, her eponymous fashion line, Kelly Wearstler, which she calls “an extension of her interiors.”

The Fall 2011 Kelly Wearstler collection played upon the patterns and design aesthetic of Wearstler’s interior design work, a mix of prints, structured jackets and classic style.

“The collection has an effortless California vibe,” Wearstler said. “The pieces are feminine, but with an edge.”

Joining the collection in Winter 2011 were clutches and jewelry, in addition to the ready-to-wear items.

“I’ve loved working with stones and metals in my interior projects,” she said of her newly launched accessories line. “Translating that into my accessories collection was a really fluid process for me.”

The Spring 2012 line takes on a mod-glam identity, making use of the mixing patterns trend for this season. Kelly Wearstler is carried exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Holt Renfrew, Net-A-Porter and the Kelly Wearstler Boutique on Melrose.

For Wearstler, the jump to fashion was a natural one.

“I’ve always loved fashion,” she said. “It’s been a major source of inspiration for me. It felt like a natural evolution to create a ready-to-wear and jewelry line.”

As far as what’s next for this fashion forward designer? Wearstler is currently working on several residential projects, one of which is a large-scale project in the Middle East. In addition to putting the finishing touches on her book, Wearstler is like any other working mother, trying to balance it all.

“I love being a mother, and I love my work,” she said. “While my schedule is incredibly demanding, the key is to stay focused and organized. I make sure I am home by 6:30 p.m. each night.”

An established interior design and fashion icon, a budding author and a mother and wife, home by 6 p.m. each night? We’re impressed.

Five Minutes with Kelly

Last book you read?
The BFG by Roald Dahl

Last piece you bought for your own home?
An amazing piece of art from a gallery in Miami

Your go-to shoes?
Pierre Hardy

Go-to drink?
Freshly squeezed organic beet, carrot, spinach, green apple ginger-lemon E-3 live juice

Idea of a perfect day?
A day at our beach house in Malibu with my family

Favorite room in your house?
My closet!