Ryan Korban

Ryan Korban

• Publisher: Harper
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9780062235749
• Topic: Architektur
• Subtopic: Innenarchitektur

Ryan Korban has redefined luxury for a new generation, with an approach to interior design that infuses a timeless sensibility with a sense of lost romance, sex, fantasy, and a strong fashion influence. In this beautiful book filled with more than one hundred full-color photographs, the acclaimed interior designer, who is making a career of translating this aesthetic into elegant, comfortable interiors, shows readers how to achieve a sense of luxury in their homes that is at once glamorous and highly personal.

Each of the book's seven thematic chapters focuses on a key component or influence that is essential to Korban's approach to decorating, and offers numerous sources of inspiration and innovative ideas. Every section also includes an introductory essay that explains his point of view on the subject, followed by a seamless flow of captioned images that expresses it in detail and from various visual perspectives. The photographs of spaces he has designed—including homes for celebrity clients—are complemented by images from fashion, advertising, fine art, and design that will inspire readers with their compelling juxtaposition and enhance the luxurious aesthetic. A Sources section listing Korban's go-to shops for everything from flowers to furniture rounds out this stunning book that is as alluring as the spaces featured within.

With more than 100 full-color photographs throughout

1

ANIMAL INSTINCT

ANIMAL SKINS CONSTITUTE A BIG PART OF MY DESIGN LANGUAGE.

And sex has a lot to do with it: using hide, fur, and taxidermy conveys a sense of allure, seduction, and romance—an overall feeling that I try to bring to every room I do. Filling a space with hides—a zebra skin on the floor, a coyote fur slung across the sofa, a set of stingray chairs around the dining table—creates a palpable sensuality that people enjoy. They feel sexy when they’re in a sexy setting.

A room with animal skins always makes me think of the famous Helmut Newton photograph Charlotte Rampling as Venus in Furs. In it, Rampling is seated on a daybed, swathed in fur, her long legs defiantly set apart. She’s so glamorous, but there’s a bit of misbehaving going on. That’s the vibe I’m after.

My affinity for animal skins goes beyond their primal appeal, though. I often use them to add texture or to layer a space. I don’t use patterns that often; you won’t find a lot of toile or Greek keys in my interiors. Using animal skins is how I do prints in a space. Leopard, ostrich, crocodile—they all have an individual, graphic look that lends richness and excitement to a room. But my favorite animal skin is zebra, for its bold geometric stripes.

Animal skins have inspired my color choices, too. I’ve never really been big on using color. For the most part, I prefer subtle shades, and it’s from animal skins—in fact, from the natural world, really—that I learned the nuances of combining colors successfully. Coyote showed me how great certain shades of camel, black, and brown look together, while the gray, black, and white found in the feathers of the Japanese crane is often the go-to palette for my spaces.

Fur and hides also help set a mood. You can create a sense of calm, warmth, or even seduction by using them. Perhaps because it comes from the skin of deep underwater species, shagreen conveys a quiet coolness. Similarly, bleached parchment can be very peaceful and calming. Boiled wool can create the same comfort and coziness associated with a fuzzy lamb, while tiger stripes add an immediate sense of sex and intrigue to a space.

I love to experiment with materials, and I often look to fashion for inspiration. With new collections every season, luxury fashion houses always seem to be looking forward, searching for innovative ways to use and transform materials. That level of ingenuity inspires me. Consequently, every time I upholster a piece of furniture, I think about what I’m doing probably in the way a luxury fashion designer thinks about a piece in a forthcoming collection. Should I do it in pony skin? How about perforated suede? It’s exciting for me to experiment with fabrics in that way. I love the sense of newness that a pair of chairs upholstered in goat hair conveys. Or a hammock in fox fur—which is not a very complicated concept, but it is unexpected and luxurious. I also love covering things in shagreen. When the French interior designer Jean-Michel Frank used it to wrap large pieces of furniture in the 1930s, he made doing so feel fresh, because shagreen had traditionally been used for accessories. The same is true again today: covering chairs with materials used more commonly for a clutch or a pair of shoes feels new and exciting.

I admit I often go overboard when it comes to using animal skins—so much so that the Wall Street Journal once described my old apartment as an “animal rights activist’s nightmare.” But, of course, that’s not true. I respect animal life and rights enormously. When it comes to taxidermy, there are strict laws in place that I fully support and abide by. For one, dealers must wait for the animals to pass away in zoos or wildlife sanctuaries before buying or selling their skins. It’s illegal to kill the animals, which means that acquiring a certain specimen can take months, even years.

An amazing piece of taxidermy really brings life to a space—as well as a sense of wonder and fantasy. The fact that it’s one-of-a-kind enables you to create an environment that is not only unique, but unforgettably your own.

The whole reason I extract from the animal kingdom is to create a visceral reaction. For me, that depth of feeling is the definition of animal instinct.

Franco Rubartelli
The Magnificent Mirage
Vogue, July 1968
featuring Veruschka

WITH HER LONG LIMBS AND FELINE LOOKS, 1960S SUPERMODEL

Veruschka was as animalistic as they come. Even the way she posed had a feral quality: bending and arching, tossing her hair, and stretching her body, she carried herself like a jungle cat, completely seducing the lens. I think a lot about Veruschka when I design, and how she transformed when she moved. How do you design a room that would make you feel that way, act that way? A room that makes you want a drink? A room that makes you want to have sex? You take a cue from the animal world.

Inspired by the soft, plush look and feel of lamb’s wool, I did the drapes in the dining room of this SoHo apartment in boiled wool. I had looked at a few bouclé samples, but they felt too traditional. I came across the wool at a fabric store that sells leftover material from fashion designers—and it had a sheer, slinky quality that I found both beautiful and exciting.

I have a thing for cats—they’re the sexiest of all animals. Part of the reason I was drawn to ...