design – Ann Street Studio

Amandari

May 29, 2014June 5, 2014Posted in TravelTagged aman, amandari, bali, bed, decor, design, hotel, lifestyle, rice field, travel, ubud5 Comments

An Aman in Paradise… the last time I stayed at an Aman resort it totally changed my idea of what resort hospitality could be. The attention to detail and service, design and quality are exceptional in a way you typically only find in private residences. Maybe that is because Aman resorts make themselves at home in the communities they inhabit – winners of the Global Green Award, they maintain the importance of looking at their social and environmental responsibility of taking care of the community where you conduct business. Their foundation is built on the relationship with the local community, from hiring to supporting local issues.

It makes sense that John Hardy, who also has such a huge community impact on Bali and focuses their company on social and environmental issues, would be a natural partner with the Aman resorts in Bali where their products are now sold. An inspiring approach leads to a beautiful property where you start the day on your patio overlooking rice fields and end it with a glass of wine in your private outdoor bathtub…

From snow capped mountains now to damp warm rice fields, here is the experience that is Amandari~

Above, taking a closer look at the beautiful rice fields outside our door in a 90s linen flax dress I bought off eBay and ballerina body suit with silver John Hardy bamboo double coil bracelet

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Cumberland Island

April 17, 2014January 5, 2015Posted in TravelTagged baptist church, boats, clawfoot bathtub, cocktails, cumberland, cumberland island, cumberlandisland, design, destination, eggs, first african baptist church, GA, georiga, getwaway, gogo, historic, horses, interior, interior design, interiors, island, jewelry, jfk jr, jfk jr wedding, jfk jr wedding chuch, JFK Jr's wedding reception, leisure, national seashore, nature, pamento cheese, picnic, romantic, southern, southern homes, southern hospitality, theamericansouth, travel, white house, wild horses7 Comments

I remember that photograph. It was instantly synonymous with American style, American royalty, and that fairytale wedding to Prince Charming. I never forgot that image, the beauty of the moment, the elegance and intimacy of the chosen venue. Such an interesting choice to make for such a famous last name. Fast forward nearly 18 years later, and I’m standing on the steps of the First African Baptist Church on Cumberland Island thinking about all the dreams that one photograph gave me as a child. I remember reading about how the guests stayed at the Greyfield Inn where the reception was held but as time passed these little details faded away, now those faded details are a part of my very personal memories. Cumberland became more than a dream, but a cherished experience.

The day is full of delight with the kind of youthful energy and discovery you find in a F. Scott Fitzgerald book. We went on hour long hikes, took bike rides to old cemeteries and rode around horses grazing beneath the ruins of the Dungeness mansion. We rode for hours down the seashore without ever seeing another person, finding seashells and chasing horses. One of the most charming rituals of the Inn is how they make their guests picnic baskets for lunch everyday you can take with you on your private adventures. On our second morning we rode with the house naturalist on a tour of the island where we visited that famous church, saw the house where President Jimmy Carter ate at multiple times, and discovered Plum Plantation which took my breath away. The history and nature, preservation and privateness is so far beyond anything I have ever experienced that I can only describe this stretch of land, twice the size of Manhattan, as magical.

If you ever need to find that corner of the world where things just are… where you can sit in the natural silence of the world alone and breathe in the sunlight, taste the salt of the sea and feel that life is just simply beautiful… then come to Cumberland Island. My heart will be there waiting for you.

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Greyfield Inn

April 16, 2014June 2, 2016Posted in TravelTagged clawfoot bathtub, cocktails, cumberland, cumberland island, cumberlandisland, design, destination, eggs, GA, georgia, georiga, getwaway, gogo, greyfield inn, greyfieldinn, historic, historic hotel, hotel, interior, interior design, interiors, island, jewelry, jfk jr, JFK Jr's wedding reception, john f kennedy jr, leisure, pamento cheese, personal-favorite-hotel, picnic, romantic, savannah, southern, southern homes, southern hospitality, theamericansouth, travel, vacation, white house17 Comments

While we were in California last year, spending the day photographing Lake Tahoe with our friends, Adam Katseff and his wife Amy, they told us about the Greyfield Inn…the magical place they stayed on their honeymoon, one that they knew I would LOVE (turned out to be a major understatement). I knew the name sounded familiar, and once they mentioned it was on Cumberland Island, it all came back to me…an enchanting wedding, an all-American couple…but more on that tomorrow…

After hearing about it, I knew I had to see Greyfield Inn for myself and with the trip down to visit SCAD, it was the perfect opportunity. I’m an extremely visual person and I’m sure it comes to no surprise to you that I quite often dream about the way life looked “back then”. I think walking through the doors of Greyfield will be as close as I will ever get to knowing the way it might have actually looked…

You leave your car on Amelia Island and Mitti, one of the four owners and inheritors of Greyfield and the Carnegie property, takes you by boat to Cumberland Island. Walking up from the dock the giant, old live oaks seem to wave at you with their long fingers of Spanish moss, diffusing the afternoon sun into a sparkling haze underneath their centuries-old canopy. Then, from behind the trees you catch the first glimpse of the four story white mansion they call Greyfield. Built in 1900 as a wedding gift to the Carnegie’s daughter, Margaret, this home is still furnished with many of the original pieces of that era but with exceptional modern day comforts (ummm…air-conditioning). As you walk up the grand staircase to the second floor porch lined with rocking chairs and swinging daybeds, you regret how short your stay is. Now, up in the canopy of live oaks, you overlook the property of white picketed fences and fields of grazing wild horses and as they offer you organic rosemary lemonade, if you’re like me, you think you’ve died and gone to heaven.

The house, grand as it is, still holds a very sweet intimacy. At night, sitting out by the waterway looking back on her, she stands a soft pearly white in the light of the moon, framed by Spanish moss draped trees with a golden light glowing out of every window, so warm and welcoming you would swear the evening was meant just for you. The charm extends to the inside with its historic clawfoot bathtubs, immaculate upkeep, full service bar, organic meals, classic high quality southern linens and L’Occitane toiletries. Every evening, men in dinner jackets and ladies in our sweet southern dresses snack on hors d’oeuvres and classic Southern cocktails (recipe for my favorite below!), awaiting a dinner bell around 7:30 where we all move into the formal dining room for that night’s seasonal meal which at times can harvest ingredients from Greyfield’s own impressive garden.

I know on busy New York days or times when I’m caught in a blizzard, I will think back on this memory and my soul will fill with the warmth of these sunny afternoons, lost on Cumberland Island in a dream called Greyfield…

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NOVIS

February 19, 2014July 9, 2014Posted in Fashion ReportageTagged design, designer, Ecco Domani, ecco domani fashion foundation, eccodomani, EDFF, fashion, fashion reportage, interview, jordana warmflash, jordanawarmflash, new york, New York City, New York Fashion Week, novis, novisnyc, nyc, nyfw, reportage3 Comments

This week, we’ve been talking to the three winning designers of the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award, exploring various fashion ideas from just hanging out with friends with Timo Weiland to the extremes of nature and knitwear with DEGEN.

All of these designers have been wonderful, but one of them captured our hearts right off the bat with her traditional silhouettes and re-interpreted vintage prints: Jordana Warmflash of NOVIS.

What is your favorite piece that you’ve designed?

There are different aspects to each piece that I love. Right now I’m really into this blue coat that’s going to come out in fall 2014. It’s fairly simple but the fit is amazing…it’s a great piece.

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DEGEN

February 18, 2014March 24, 2014Posted in Fashion ReportageTagged degen, design, designer, Ecco Domani, ecco domani fashion foundation, eccodomani, EDFF, fashion, fashion reportage, interview, knitwear, lindsay degen, lindsaydegen, new york, New York City, New York Fashion Week, newyorkcity, nyc, nyfw, reportageLeave a comment

Yesterday we had the chance to hang out with the designers behind Timo Weiland, and today we venture further into the world of knits with fellow Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award winner, Lindsay Degen of DEGEN.

Lindsay admitted to us that she was thrilled and surprised by the call that she had won, as her aesthetic is “kind of crazy”…working solely in knitwear, her past collections have explored and delved into various topics surrounding the body, ranging from cultural anxieties to microscopic views of DNA and bacteria.

Her presentation this season featured live knitters in addition to male and female models, Crocs, and LED lights as well as various new materials knitted into the funky pieces she is known for.

To start off…how excited are you to be a winner of the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award?

I’m super excited about it. I thought there was no way I would ever get it, because – if you look at the list of designers, they’re all incredible well-known designers, and none of them really have a really crazy, out-there aesthetic. They all look different, but my line aesthetically doesn’t really fit in with the bunch. So I was super excited that they chose me, because it’s a real honor to be lumped in with those other designers. Additionally there’s only one other knitwear designer – Tom Scott – who has won it, and while he has mostly knitwear he also has some woven, so I was really glad to hold down the knitwear niche.

[The grant money] is allowing me to make a 20-foot interactive LED rainbow for my presentation. I really wanted to do it this season anyway, but it allowed me to do it in a less makeshift way. It looks so good, I can’t wait.

A 20 foot rainbow??

This collection, I’m introducing some bizarre things, including fishing line and reflective yarn…because I was inspired by all these materials I’d never used before, I was having all these moments of “Wow, I’ve never had these moments before, I never knew knitting could be like this.” I wanted the viewers to have a similar experience, but they wouldn’t have that by watching someone knit. I thought, “What makes people go wow, what are we amazed by as children?” And the answer was rainbows. It’s the craziest thing nature does.

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Timo Weiland

February 17, 2014March 24, 2014Posted in Fashion ReportageTagged alan eckstein, alaneckstein, design, designer, donna kang, Donnakang, Ecco Domani, ecco domani fashion foundation, eccodomani, EDFF, fashion, highline hotel, interview, men's, menswear, new york, New York Fashion Week, newyork, nyc, nyfw, presentation, timo weiland, timoweiland1 Comment

Good taste never goes out of style…

I’m all about having a great drink, and as you all know, I live for a beautiful fashion moment. So I was thrilled to hear about the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation, a marriage of great taste between Italian wines and awards for emerging fashion designers.

The EDFF and their elite panel of judges works hard to select the best of the best, and their choice of three emerging designers receive a grant to go toward their presentations at New York Fashion Week. In their 13 seasons, the EDFF has given $1.8 million to designers, many of whom now have flourishing careers such as Joseph Altuzarra and Derek Lam.

This week, we’re featuring the three winners of the EDFF award. Being able to talk to up and coming designers about all aspects of their work – personal style, inspiration, and dreams for the future – is so wonderful and eye-opening for me. As a photographer I love beautiful moments and being able to tell stories, so hearing the tales behind stunning collections makes the experience even better.

For our first interview, we got to talk to the three designers behind menswear winner Timo Weiland – Timo, Alan Eckstein, and Donna Kang. They were so lovely to talk to, it felt like friends just hanging out…which is exactly what their collection is about.

Who ideally wears Timo Weiland?

Alan: For menswear, it’s classic with a twist. It’s a very wearable collection but it has signs of care, great tailoring, and personality to it.

Timo: Everything we do is classic with a twist, I think. There’s definitely a New York feel and inspiration. And we’re constantly inspired by our circle of friends and their personalities.

How do you think winning the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award will affect your business?

A: It’s incredible. It’s pretty much our greatest honor to date. Every designer needs some sort of validation, and this is definitely a really great thing for us. It’s a great community, it’s a great award. We respect so many past winners – we look up to people like Proenza, Alexander Wang, Rag+Bone. And it’s a really good year – we love Degen and NOVIS too!

It also gives us the chance to show. We may not have been able to show men’s this year for budgetary reasons, but now we’re able to.

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FEED Heritage Bags

February 5, 2014February 7, 2014Posted in Fashion ReportageTagged accessories, accessory design, charity, design, fashion, feed, fw2014, handmade, lauren bush, lauren bush lauren, laurenbush, laurenbushlauren, new york, New York City, New York Fashion Week, nyc, nyfw, NYFW 2014, NYFW20149 Comments

Another New York Fashion Week is beginning today, which means a full week of beauty, glamour and all sorts of gowns…but I thought it would be nice to kick off the coverage by focusing on a brand that really thinks about the world around us and changes it for the better one mouth at a time.

FEED, founded by the wonderful Lauren Bush Lauren in 2007, has so far been able to provide over 75 million school meals globally through sales of a collection of totes, handbags, wallets, jewelry, t-shirts, scarfs and more. This season, FEED is introducing a new luxury collection of leather bags (I personally LOVE) handmade by master artisans in Kenya. Each item you purchase, whether it is one of the leather totes (available this fall) or a burlap all function bag, has a number on the back which tells you how many meals for the year you have provided with your purchase. I was intrigued by this design decision, because it’s so rare that you get to know and fully understand the personal impact of something you buy. When I complimented Lauren on it, she said she wanted to make sure FEED was tangible and meaningful in a way you can relate to personally and not simply a “percentage of proceeds” product.

The amazing thing about the production of the FEED products is not only the good that is brought about from the sales but also that it provides sustainable employment to the local craftsmen in Kenya or Guatemala who can then send their kids to school where they can have nutritious meals sourced from local farmers. Lauren’s passion toward the work she does with FEED comes through so clearly, whether she’s talking about how the beading on one Kenya Messenger Bag took two and a half days, or through watching the 8mm films of school children in Africa she shot on her most recent trip.

So here is to remembering this Fashion Week that there is nothing more fashionable than doing good.

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The Singular

January 13, 2014March 5, 2014Posted in TravelTagged accomodations, chile, design, frigorifico bories, hotel, Hotel Singular, interior, interior design, interiors, only in south america, onlyinsouthamerica, patagonia, puerto bories, singular, Singular hotel, south america, southamerica, The Singular, travel6 Comments

I love traveling the world, seeing all the places I dreamed of as a child. All my life I have wanted to adventure down to South America, but nothing could have prepared me for the natural beauty I was to find in Chile’s Patagonia. Way down south, the furthest I have ever been in the world, lies The Singular Patagonia, a stunning piece of living history.

Recently restored as a luxury hotel, the complex had previously been a cold storage plant built in the early twentieth century. The owners, descendants of the families who built their lives in this area, recognized the importance of the structure and made the decision to keep it alive. Now the Singular boasts not only one of the most sustainable five-star hotels in Chile, but also a private collection of machines, engines, and other artifacts from the original factory.

It was so fascinating to walk the grounds and see how the hotel and factory merged together, how wood and steel shipped over from England many years ago became something brand new. Come along on our tour, see what can be found #onlyinsouthamerica…

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Chopard’s Red Carpet Collection

November 18, 2013November 20, 2013Posted in LifestyleTagged autumn, cannes, chopard, design, factory, high jewelry, jewelry, red carpet collection, the making of2 Comments

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~ George Eliot

There is a beauty in autumn entirely its own: the crispness of the air, the slow return of rosy cheeks, the crunch of leaves underfoot, the shimmer of change in the air. How do you go about capturing such a complex and stunning season?

When you are Chopard, you turn to your high jewelers. These amazingly talented craftsmen and women shaped an entire fall scene into an intricate, beautiful necklace – leaves shifting color, acorns growing nearly to the point of dropping, a gentle spider deftly building a web between two leaves. With colored diamonds set like cobblestones on the branch and tsavorite leaves glittering, the piece gives off a gentle shimmering glow, just like autumn mornings.

Here is an intimate look at the making of an autumn inspired piece for Chopard’s Red Carpet Collection from their artisan factory in Geneva to the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival.

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Blog Theme Designed~ From Me To You

July 13, 2010Posted in UncategorizedTagged blog design, collaboration, design, for sale, from me to you, kevin burg, southern afternoon, theme, Tumblr ThemeLeave a comment

A collaboration project between two artists.

I know very well the importance of what good design can communicate and mean, for over a year I’ve lived within the walls of my own blog design. This is my home on the Internet. It’s a warm, safe environment which inspires me to share so much of my work, passion, and art daily all over the world. I think of it like a beautiful picture frame elevating the content. Collaborating again with New York City Web Designer, Kevin Burg, we created another theme, this time however, available for anyone!

It’s called Southern Afternoon and mixes real photographed elements with the online world. Inspiration for our theme came from old scrapbooks, scrapbooks being a place where you keep mementos, photographs, letters, concert tickets, all the things personal to you. I’m so dearly proud of this project that took us 3 months to complete & is now available for you! I can’t wait to see what you post in your virtual scrapbook!

See the full design here with all the bells & whistles on display to showcase all the ways you can post and all the changes you can make to personalize it for you!

Click HERE if you want to purchase!