Few contemporary designers have had the impact of Miles Redd. Even before Instagram, his fresh take on traditional decor, full of exuberant colors, lacquered walls, bold patterns, and faded chintzes inspired a new generation of designers. Here he talks about how his childhood in Atlanta inspired his love for design history, the lessons he learned while working with Oscar de la Renta, why returning phone calls is crucial, and how auction catalogs have become a secret resource, plus much more.
Additional resources:
- How Miles Redd Transformed an Outdated Solarium Into a Luxurious Jewel Box via House Beautiful
- Miles Redd Announces New Partner and Renames Firm Redd Kaihoi via Architectural Digest
- Playing Favorites with Miles Redd via Chairish
Connect with Chairish and our guests on Instagram:
- Chairish: @chairishco
- Michael Boodro: @michaelboodro
- Miles Redd: @milesredd
Read and listen to the entire episode:
Michael Boodro 00:36
Few young designers have had as great an impact as Miles Redd. By the time he founded his own firm in 1998. After working with Bunny Williams and John Rosselli, he was already being acknowledged for bringing fresh energy to traditional decorating. He energized the field with his use of bright colors, gleaming lacquer, florals and bold geometric patterns. Not to mention his unpretentious approach and humor. Like a modern day Dorothy Draper, he brought fun back to decorating and has influenced an entire generation of designers who have embraced what, before Myles, had been considered old hat or old lady. Everything from painted floors and pelmets to tented ceilings and gilded mirrors. By the time his book “The Big Book of Chic” was published in 2012, Redd had clearly become not just a designer, but a tastemaker. And his lines of fabrics, wall coverings and rugs for Schumacher have been hugely successful. So much so that his iconic deconstructed striped pattern has just been transfMiles Redd. Hello Miles!
Miles Redd 01:42
Michael, I’m gonna cry it that introduction. Thank you. That was a lot.
Michael Boodro 01:51
Your career has been a lot Miles. So Miles, one of the things I wanted to ask you about first is, a lot of people, including me, sort of see you as having emerged almost like Apollo from the head of Zeus…
Miles Redd 02:05
From the head of Bunny.
Michael Boodro 02:08
Well, that’s what I want to ask you about. Your early training. I know you went to NYU. But how did you really develop your aesthetic? And how did you get started and develop your passion for the history of interior design?
Miles Redd 02:21
It really starts when I was a small boy in Atlanta, Georgia. My mother and I were both just house crazy. And we had this thing where, if the house was being constructed, we’d just pull up. This is in the in the 80s, when you could do such things, we just pull up and just walk through. And we just were just always obsessed with like floor plans and decorating and environment. I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and Philip Schutze, who’s sort of famous classical architect had built a number of just like utterly fantasy houses that I’ve really yet to see in any other location.
Michael Boodro 03:08
Atlanta’s very special that way.
Miles Redd 03:09
There’s David Adler in Chicago but Philip Schutze, he built all these like sort of Italianate fantasies where you feel like it’s not quite Italy, because you’re in Atlanta, Georgia, but there’s just it’s a surreal fantasy. I really credit those as sort of the things that spurred me on and Atlanta had a lot of taste and a lot of style makers. I was friends with Dottie Travis’s kids. So I was going over to her house, and these are sort of Atlanta decorators, Susan Wilcox, another big Atlanta decorator, and their influence just kind of rubbed off on me. I feel like it was sort of Bunny, the laboratory of John Rosselli. And then, just what I was magnetized to, which was sort of Billy Baldwin’s apartment in the Waldorf Astoria with the Coca Cola brown walls. I was like, why don’t we do lacquer? There’s a number of sort of early Albert Hadley things, which were all sort of chinoiserie and mirrors. He was always in my head. Anthony Hale, John Fowler, Dorothy Draper, Elsie ee Wolf. I just became obsessed and any book I could get my hands on I was reading.
Michael Boodro 04:40
I was gonna say you probably weren’t studying design history at NYU.
Miles Redd 04:45
No, I wasn’t.For Christmas I would be like, I’d like Elsie de Wolfe’s decorating book, so the writing was clearly on the wall. It was just a passion.I didn’t even recognize it because I was in at NYU for film school, and yet obsessed with decorating. It was sort of like a light bulb when I got to John Rosselli. I always tell people who are trying to figure out what they want to do. I’m just like, do what you the easiest, most natural thing in the world. And for me, it was decorating.
Michael Boodro 05:26
That was great. It’s always wonderful when you discover your passion early on. But one of the things I want to ask you about is that period in New York. The kind of traditional decorating that you love, and the history of design was kind of out of fashion with a lot of designers. It was sort of that moment of, you know, Calvin Klein minimalism and high tech industrial chic. So did you feel at that time you were going against the tide? Or was it just something you didn’t even notice what was going on?
Miles Redd 05:56
Well, I think that, yes, I am deeply aware that I am going against the tide to some degree, like, I feel like you cannot follow fashion, or else you end up a cliche and it is better to just follow your inner voice. My favorite thing to do in decorating is to take sort of a sow’s ear and turn it into a silk purse. I think that there is so much great stuff that has come, but it’s kind of wrapped in brown furniture or grandmother furniture. If you look at the lines and the carving and the way it’s made,it is a lot better than what we can do today.
Michael Boodro 06:49
Yeah, I never understood why brown furniture went out of fashion myself.
Miles Redd 06:53
You know, if you painted or lacquered it or changed it, it does become new.That’s my sort of favorite thing to do. Also, I think people have sort of caught on, but there was a period there where you could just get so much for nothing.
Michael Boodro 07:10
And that was out of fashion as you were saying.
Miles Redd 07:13
That was really fun, to be like, “oh, no, no, trust me, trust me, trust me.” And I like old things. They they have a soul. And there is the added benefit of there’s a kind of greenness to it, because you’re not disposing of something. And it’s a kind of, I guess, high form of recycling in a way, which someone pointed out to me, actually, and I embraced it.
Michael Boodro 07:41
Yeah. Now I I’d love to talk a little about your first clients. Because here you are working with John Rosselli, but you decide to go out on your own. You train with Bunny. Who were the people who came to you who had the confidence to come to you and say “I want you.”
Miles Redd 07:57
You know what it was my friends and I’m grateful for them in the beginning, because they really helped me get through the beginning period. And I’ve always said I answered every call, I returned every message. I’m always reachable via the telephone. And I just said yes to everything big or small. The first person who actually called me was a college chum of mine. He’s such a great guy. He was a filmmaker, a successful filmmaker, and it’s kind of since he’s gone into the art world. But it was his mom who was like, help Chom. He’s gonna need your help. And so that was sort of the first project. And then I just kept answering the phone and saying yes, and it just kind of snowballed, and snowballed and snowballed to bigger and bigger projects.
Michael Boodro 08:59
And basically you started on like doing Manhattan apartments, would you say for the most part?
Miles Redd 09:05
Absolutely. Like it was Manhattan apartments. And then like, I think I did a little project in Atlanta. I was very lucky enough to purchase a townhouse with my sister sort of around that time, which I did. And I sort of feel like that enabled me to really show my gestalt, if you will. And I felt like it kind of launched me. Then I got the job as the creative director of Oscar de la Renta home. And that was another springboard into a whole nother, level of education and understanding. And I mean, any Oscar de la Renta room is an education.
Michael Boodro 09:46
Right. And I want to ask you about that, because I think you were there like six or seven years?
Miles Redd 09:50
Ten! Ten years. 2013 None of us could believe it. I know.
Michael Boodro 09:57
Wow, that’s amazing. So what was it like? I mean, because obviously fashion has a big influence on interiors in general, but clearly working with Oscar De La Renta himself must have been quite the tutorial.
Miles Redd 10:09
I mean, you know what it really is and I think of him almost every day, just because he always had this expression: “if you rest you rust.” He showed up to work every day, and, took great joy and pleasure in designing and making collections and just creating beauty everywhere he went. And that really sits with me because I think all of us thought during the pandemic about throwing in the towel and a little bit. And you know, just like, “should I do it?” But you soldier on, and then you circle back and you find the joy and the happiness again. But his eye for color, and objects and quality was always just so inspiring, really. And I always think W-W-O-D? What would Oscar do? And I have to also say like it was also his wife in that who was very much, if Oscar was the fantasy, Annette was the sort of the rigor and the discipline. And equally, both of them were sort of a team and to see them battle it out and come to some of the greatest rooms of the 20th century.
Michael Boodro 11:43
I mean, Oscar is right up there in terms of so many fashion designers who have iconic homes and certainly Oscar and Annette were among that group. You know, Saint Laurent, Givenchy…Ralph Lauren…Karl Lagerfeld…we could go on and on. People are saying, “oh, is there a connection between fashion and interiors?” Obviously, there is. But I would love to get a sense from you in terms of how you took what you learned at Oscar De La Renta, and put it into your own work. Obviously, you loved antiquse already before you started working with Oscar, but was there anything particular you took from him?
Miles Redd 12:17
The one thing that I really take from Oscar is that the level of quality, knowing when you can do better, and when you can be more refined and have something better. And I think in interior design, you see so many things and so often, it is just to just be like, oh, I just want to get it done. That’ll work. And knowing when to be like, no, that’s not good enough and pushing yourself to either be patient and wait, or like take another lap around the block until you find that perfect something. You know, like a level of sort of perfectionism is kind of refining and, and changing. Like he was constantly taking things away, and changing things and selling things, upgrading and refining all through his life. And it was never, like it said, perfect. It was always this organic growing thing.
Michael Boodro 13:33
The other thing I want to ask you about, is how you managed (at least it seems to me for an outsider) to get a younger generation that had not traditionally been that interested in interiors, to get really excited about interior design. And this was long before Instagram, which I think has fed a huge appetite for interiors and all of that. But you managed to get young people interested and not just young socialites. You have stayed so pertinent to younger designers. What do you think the hook there was? Was it something about you, Miles, that young people responded to? You know what that is?
Miles Redd 14:15
Gosh, flattery will get you everywhere!
Michael Boodro 14:20
I’m only stating the facts here.
Miles Redd 14:24
I’m not quite sure I have an answer for that. I just see what I see and do what I do. And I think it sort of maybe resonates with people. I always say you have to look back to look forward. I think that one of the things I maybe did was sort of take the best of every great decorator from say 1930 to 1975. So if it’s chinoiserie walls, it’s a nod to Rose Cummings. If it’s lacquer, it’s actually a nod more to Billy Baldwin and Albert Hadley. Then just taking all of these fractions, and then putting them together in a way that is, I guess, Miles Redd at the end of the day. I think I just gleaned on to the things that people were excited about.So many things had gone away, so many glamorous things had gone away like satin and painted furniture and all these things that were mainstays of the 30s. I think I just started using them and I think if you see someone use it, it gives you a kind of creative license to be like, oh, I can do that, too. I think before there were a lot of rules saying, “no, you can’t do that.” And now I just think that that’s kind of going away because pretty much you can do whatever you want if you if you have a vision for it.
Michael Boodro 16:49
Clearly, you know design history like nobody’s business. But there are other people who know design history as well, and use historical elements, but you managed to blow all the dust off of this history and make it fun. I think it had to do a lot with your personality. You know, not a lot of designers would pose in a top hat when they’re launching their fat fabric line. I remember when when your first line for Schumacher came out with a big push, you were very front and center. I do think it was something I said in the intro, I think you brought a lot of fun into it and made people think that this is something that is approachable and that I deserve to have it. Was that a conscious thing for you?
Miles Redd 17:35
Not really. I think there was the conscious decision of, I always wanted to live in a Harper’s Bazaar fashions still life shoot. I love high glamour and that’s definitely in my inspiration and what I love in terms of design and canon, and it’s all there. It just comes out how it comes out, I suppose. It comes out in the rooms, I guess. I don’t know.
Michael Boodro 18:08
Okay, I want to ask you about your book. “The Big Book of Chic,” I believe came out in 2012. Many decorators do books and generally they tend to be retrospectives of their work. Here’s 12 projects I did that I loved. This is the furthest from that. So what was your inspiration behind the book? And why did you go in such a different direction than the normal.
Miles Redd 18:32
because decorating books don’t sell. And I, at the end of the day, am a business person. I mean, I do think in terms of dollars and cents, but I do think in terms of, I always ask myself, do you want it? And if I don’t want it, then I feel like it’s back to the drawing board. If I want something, then I’m good to go. I think that I had seen so many decorating books come out and they are beautiful, incredible decorating books. No disrespect to my peers but I talked to many people and everybody said you do the buy-in and you sell for 1000 books if you’re lucky. And I was just like, well, I wanted to make something that didn’t scream my name even though it ended up doing so. I remember no publisher wanted to do it. Assouline was the only people that wanted to do it because they said, well, you can pay for it and we’ll sort of see. I remember I was like I just want the title to say “The Big Book of Chic” and that’s it. And Oscar, I remember, was like, I would put your name on it. I’m like, I’ll put my name on the spine but I’m not gonna put my name on it. Because a book becomes this object, this thing. That’s a fun thing to have on a coffee table, “The Big Book of Chic.” People look at it and like what the hell is that? It’s like the book of sex, things like that. People are curious about it because of the title. And because I didn’t promote myself, I think it did really well. I think it’s the title that sells the book. And I think that’s what’s the driving force, and it was intentional and knock on wood. I think we sold like 75,000 copies.
Michael Boodro 20:30
Yeah, I think it’s one of the best selling designer books ever. It was interesting to me, because it really was about your aesthetic as opposed to your project.
Miles Redd 20:45
Yes, absolutely. I do think at the end of it all, people are like, you don’t see anything. And I was like, yeah, this is a book about the fantasy of things that capture my imagination. I realize the criticism is, this isn’t a decorating book, this is a disappointment. I say, sorry, to you, dear reader. I think at the very end of my career, maybe go back and do one whole canon of a real decorating book and talk about the stories and really share the rooms. This was a lot of details and clips and fantasies. It’s more meant to be mood and evocative. And it was sort of like the Instagram book before Instagram happened.
Michael Boodro 21:32
Well, exactly. I mentioned this before, you did all of this pre-Instagram, and Instagram made it faster and easier. And now everybody can do that. But you really went against the tide with that book. You put yourself out there as a sort of a thinker and a see-er, how you saw the world and wanted to see the world. That was really very brave at the time. I could see why conventional publishers were very wary of it and much of their regret today. But again, it’s like my point about bringing personality and fun into decorating. I think that the book sort of cemented that for you. I think, Schumacher very smartly, (you know, Dara Capanigro is brilliant) she recognized that aspect of you and she actually brought that same kind of energy to your collection. What was it like to work on the collection and come up with your first group of patterns and the fabrics? How did that work?
Miles Redd 22:36
It is so much fun. I can’t even tell you how much I love it. Well, one, getting to work with Dara, who is like the ultimate editor, is faster than the speed of light. The Schumacher team and what they have done, they revolutionized the fabric industry. You would go in the D&D building and showrooms felt sort of sad. But Schumaker, they just keep churning it out and keep getting it more exciting and more interesting content and material. It’s really been one of the most fun things I’ve done. And actually, we’ve got another big launch of fabrics that are coming out in the spring, and I’m super excited about it. It’s like a brown two. It’s just great because they took some risks. I think we thought about chinoiserie rooms, that was one of the things that I was like, I want to bring that to the masses, because they are so expensive, and not everybody can afford them. I would love to make something that is affordable. I do believe beauty is for everyone and design is for everyone. It doesn’t have to be this rarefied thing that only rich people get to enjoy. I’m very communist that way. I love old fashioned sort of block print chintzes. We were able to do those and update that feeling. I love like stripes and graphic patterns. And as you said, the deconstructed stripe is now on pajamas, which I think are adorable. It was just a dream come true. It’s so much fun to suddenly then have this, the fabrics to be able to decorate with. This is another just super fun thing to do.
Michael Boodro 24:27
When you’re designing your new collection for Schumacher, what were you looking at besides chinoiserie? Were there other periods of history that you’ve been looking at?Or thinking about or incorporating?
Miles Redd 24:40
I always look at things almost individualistically, if you will, and I can jump all around. There will be a decorative finish that I love, which I think, why not make that a wallpaper? Or I’ll find an old document of a faded chintz from a house maybe in 1930, and I think like now we need to bring that back that’s cooked long enough. There’s a Coromandel screen that I’ve had in my living room for years, which we’re turning into a wallpaper. There’s a painting by Sargent called Lily Lily Rose. And so, I did a fabric inspired from the lilies. No one’s ever gonna see it, but the idea of the lilies brought from the painting is, for me, just something I’ve always loved. And the world is your oyster, just look around.
Michael Boodro 25:47
Fantastic. And where are you looking now? Do you go to museums regularly? Books, movies, fashion?
Miles Redd 25:54
Always, for me, the movies. You know, I’m a big cinephile. I was as a film student. The things that I love the most really are the auction houses. You usually get to see someone’s whole collection of something. So you sort of get a sense of what they were curious about what they were interested in and how they put things together. You also get the information. The auction houses know so deeply about with it, not all the time, but a lot of the time. You get a lot of information, so you get to learn. And then there’s the opportunity to buy it. Which, always happens a little haphazardly.
Michael Boodro 26:45
One of the things I want to ask you about is your fairly recent partnership with David Kaihoi.
Miles Redd 26:50
So, David and I had worked together for 12 years, and he was the right arm in this business, if not the left arm as well. And I always think, David has the best taste and the most beautiful manners and the most wonderful way about him. He really is the yin to my yang. If I’m florals and lacquers and mirrored rooms, he is a crisp white shirt, a perfect pair of khakis, a parchment box. It’s just a nice foil. And also, you know, as you get older, it’s nice to share the mantle with somebody. For me, the thing that I really enjoy a lot in decorating are the kids in my office that are passionate. There’s so much talent to push along. Anyway, David is a great mentor as well. Just having a partner really makes navigating the world a little bit easier.
Michael Boodro 27:56
So it’s kind of like Parish Hadley.
Miles Redd 27:59
I would say so. I would say so with me being Sister and David being Albert for sure.
Michael Boodro 28:07
Well, that was a great combination! That combination worked really well for a really long time. That bodes well for your future. I know you did, a very successful line of outdoor furniture for Ballard. Is there any other projects that you are thinking about or have in the works, because I think it’s such an important point where you brought up about making good design accessible, a lot of different price points.
Miles Redd 28:33
So funny that you should ask, definitely, there’s another line for Schumacher that’s coming out. The other thing I was gonna say is The Lacquer Compaany, which is a British company, really does make what I think is well priced. It’s not inexpensive, but it’s not expensive, and it’s beautifully made. I have a collection with them and I was just on the phone this morning working on the second collection, which will probably be another year before it comes out. We’re just in preliminary stages, but it’s always so fun to make new things.
Michael Boodro 29:09
Terrific. And how have you fared during the pandemic? Many, many designers I’ve talked to have said they’ve been incredibly busy. Is that been the case with you guys, you and David?
Miles Redd 29:18
We have been super busy. I count my blessings for that because it really has helped me get through. When the pandemic happened, it gave me something to focus on besides all the sadness that’s happening in our world. We have been working a lot and leave for an installation on Sunday, actually. So we just keep on going.
Michael Boodro 29:40
That’s fantastic. Have you noticed over the past two years, any difference in what your clients are looking for in their homes? Many people say that people are more obsessed with their homes now they’re spending more time. Now they need home offices, they need places for the kids to do their work….
Miles Redd 29:55
I think Iit’s more about just wanting everything super comfortable. Like there’s a real direction towards comfort carpet, upholstery, barefoot, like slouchy, TV, relaxation, or kind of kitchen-expansive hangout. It’s great. The times demand the needs and these are the times we’re in.
Michael Boodro 30:25
What kind of color palettes have you been thinking about of late, Miles? Be careful what you say, because it’s going to influence hundreds of people!
Miles Redd 30:36
It’s funny. Design On A Dime, which I know you know very well, Michael Boodro. You are a great champion of design on a dime. I signed up for my room yesterday. I always think of it as a little laboratory where I want to just test a new idea, if you will. For some reason, there’s a book by Roberto Cappuccio, he was a fashion designer. He used this kind of shocking pink and Daffodil yellow color together. I think it might be a little ahead of the time, but I feel like not for Design On A Dime.
Michael Boodro 31:25
It’s such fun. You know, if you can’t do it there, where are you going to do it? That’s interesting, shocking pink and Daffodil yellow. Well, God knows we all need to think about spring. So you’ve got spring encapsulate right there.
Miles Redd 31:41
We’re in the incubation stage, so I might have a shift here and there.
Michael Boodro 31:45
Right. Right. But it’s interesting that you said you look to movies, but you look to fashion, you look to art. I think what’s so interesting to me that you you’re out there looking not just to the traditional past of design, but fashion and all that stuff.
Miles Redd 32:03
Didn’t Diana Vreeland say, the eye must travel? I have to have to go out and see stuff to really know it. I think to a degree, Instagram is amazing, because it is a window into seeing so much stuff. But there’s nothing like the real thing.
Michael Boodro 32:23
That’s what has been frustrating for people. Not to being able to go to show rooms, museums, you know, that has changed. Thank God, things are opening up. I think design is such a textural world. I am always stroking things in show rooms and even in the sheet department, you know, feeling the towels, feeling the sheets. I think that that’s such a crucial part of design and when that’s kind of curtailed or made more difficult, it’s very hard. I know people order a lot of things online, without touching them or sitting on them. You know, I’m of a generation that it’s harder for me to encompass.
Miles Redd 33:02
I’m of that same generation. And I think so much about why people respond to design. It is censorious. It’s not only just your eyes and your sense of touch, and the way something smells and the way something feels, it is all those things. That’s why decorating is booming, you know what I mean? Because it’s kind of all we got. So I do agree that the digital world, you do extract something from that, like you extract some of the senses. And that can can be difficult.
Michael Boodro 33:32
What’s been interesting to me is, and I think the pandemic highlighted this, but it used to be that the role of the decorator, (I’ve said this before on other podcasts, but I’m sticking to my guns), was to instruct the clients how to live, not just create a home for them, but give them information and permission to live well in their homes. I think that in a funny way, you sort of resuscitated that. You said yes, you may have a small apartment or you may have a grand house, but whatever you have, you want it to be beautiful, and you want to have fun in it. You want to live in it and use it. That’s one of the things that’s always impressed me about your work is you really guide people towards living a big life. I mean, wouldn’t you agree? Don’t people come to you?
Miles Redd 34:31
I’m mean, I have to say I hope so.
Michael Boodro 34:35
I think it’s true Miles. I think that you can see things on Instagram and you can get ideas, certainly from the web and Instagram and all of that and do all that kind of research. But I think that the idea of how to live and how to put things together that’s what designers really bring that no one else can. You have done that, and I think really inspired at least two generations of clients and designers.
Miles Redd 35:06
Gosh, wow. Who was it? I think it was Truman Capote he that said, “whenever I’m depressed, I hire a housekeeper. Because then I feel taken care of.”
Michael Boodro 35:18
I never heard that quote!
Miles Redd 35:20
get out of bed and someone’s done the dishes and done the laundry. And he’s like, if you’re down and out, the first thing you must do is hire a housekeeper. I always think of that. It sounds like that is actually some sound advice, you know, self care. I do think I perpetuate that as a kind of self care and that this is what it’s going to take to self care in this house. And I do give pointers in that direction. I hope.
Michael Boodro 35:52
Yeah, I think that’s so great. Well, I can’t thank you enough miles. This has been so much fun and so informative. I just know your new collection for Schumacher is going to be great. I really look forward to seeing all your projects always and I really appreciate your taking the time to talk to everyone here at The Chairish Podcast.
Miles Redd 36:12
Thank you. Thank you, thank you. It’s a delight to be here with you especially and with the Chairish Podcast.
Lead image: Paul Costello
