Cote d'Azur Style

A pair of unlikely star-crossed lovers (in the form of a psychic medium and world renowned illusionist) cross paths in the picturesque backdrop of the French Riviera in the 1920s in Woody Allen's latest film Magic in the Moonlight (Sony Pictures Classics). Actors Colin Firth and Emma Stone headline the iconic director's latest romantic comedy where exotic locales, period-perfect interiors and costumes always play a starring role.

Travel savvy viewers might recognize Cap d'Antibes' Villa Eilenroc and Villa Renardière where many of the scenes take place. Production designer Anne Seibel (who teamed with Allen on Midnight in Paris and To Rome with Love) and set decorator Jille Azis created the Art Deco inspired world of magic and romance that also included a Berlin theater and cabaret, jazz set and the occasional family estate by the sea.

Allen looked to his longtime collaborator Sonia Grande (Midnight in Paris and Vicky Cristina Barcelona) for the film's costume designs. The designer conducted an exhaustive research for original frocks from the period that spanned "collectors, auctioneers, fairs, markets and vintage shops in the U.S., Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Canada and France." Influenced by 20s French photographer Henri Lartigue and Edward Steichen, Grande also viewed documentaries of the rich at play in 1920s French Riviera for inspiration.

For more on the set and costume designs, see my pieces in The Hollywood Reporter and Architectural Digest.

Photo Credits: Anne Seibel and Sonia Grande (sketches), Jack English@2014 Gravier Productions, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Designing the World of Gatsby

The life of the elusive, enigmatic fictional millionaire Jay Gatsby is portrayed once again (maybe fourth time is the charm) on the silver screen May 10th.  This time around filmmaker Baz Lurhmann tackles F. Scott Fitzgerald's beloved twenties novel of life in the Jazz Age and Roaring Twenties set against an opulent Art Deco and hip hop music backdrop -- and all in 3-D.

Collaborating with costume designer/production designer and wife Catherine Martin, the film is set in the tony old and new moneyed worlds of Long Island Sound's fictional East and West Egg via the duo's homeland of Sydney. The Academy Award winning designer took her cues from the Garbo films of the twenties and the work of interior designer Syrie Maugham as inspiration for the film's designs. And since noveau riche was the order of the day, opulence translated into lots of gilt and gold for the Gatsby mansion that represented the majority of the 43 sets constructed in fourteen days. For more on the Gatsby sets, read my article in the Hollywood Reporter here.

Besides designing the sets and costumes (next post), Martin has her own home line aptly called Catherine Martin Home. Several of her rug designs in collaboration with Designer Rugs  (the Art Deco line is out June 6th) and moderne style fabrics with Mokum are seen in the film.

Grand foyer of Gatsby's mansion 

Gatsby's balcony

Gatsby's grand stairway

Costume and production designer Catherine "CM" Martin

Catherine Martin for Mokum - Great Gatsby inspired Art Deco interior

Black Pearl Rug

Garden Party Rug

Night Bird Rug

Catherine Martin's Mokum Moderne Rivoli collection of fabrics as used in Gatsby - available at Holly Hunt in USA

Many design companies have jumped on the Gatsby bandwagon with Deco infused designs on everything from faucets to light fixtures. A few of my personal favorites are below:

Harlow ceiling fixture by Corbett Lighting. Available as a pendant or single/double wall sconce
in sleek stainless steel with crystal accents. Love this!

Nothing says Art Deco like French design legend Jean-Michel Frank.
Shown above is the burnished wood screen Grand Paravent, Vers circa 1925. 

With its modern lines, Graff's Fontaine lavatory faucet
would have fit in nicely at the Gatsby manse.

Photo Credits:  Hollywood Reporter, Warner Brothers, Catherine Martin Home, Designer Rugs, Mokum, Graff, Corbett Lighting

Russian Imperial Style: Anna K

The romantic saga of the ill fated Anna Karenina has played out on film, television and even operas --- this time around director Joe Wright envisioned a different twist and portrayed the epic on a "beautiful decaying theatre" in 1870's Russia via a soundstage at London's Shepperton Studios.

Wright teamed once again with production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer (the trio worked on the period dramas Atonement and Pride & Prejudice) who created the social worlds of St. Petersburg and Moscow in the late 1800s to period perfection in an exhausting 12 week timeframe.

The love affair hits theaters Friday, November 16th. Read more in my piece for The Hollywood Reporter, "$50 Million, 100 Sets and One Stage: The Visual Splendor of Anna Karenina."

Greenwood was influenced by the popular 1935 Anna K version starring Greta Garbo

Anna K's Vivien Leigh in 1948

Keira Knightley in the 2012 version

Shepperton studio set with copy of heaven room mural at UK's Burghley House

Russian Imperial furnishings for the master bedroom on the theatre stage set

Ice skating rink was one of the many different types of staged sets that included horse races, opera houses, ballrooms and train stations 

God is in the Details:  Period Perfect Accessories

Leo Tolstoy's novel of society and adultery also influenced Banana Republic's fall collection for 2012 Inspired by the work of costume designer Jacqueline Durran, the collection's key fashion notes are faux fur, lace, brocade and velvet in rich burgandy, merlot and black. The Holiday 76 piece line is available for both men and women.

Banana Republic's Anna K Fall collection above and below

Photo Credits: Focus Features, Banana Republic

Hollywood at Home: Spotlight on Ryan Murphy

While maybe not be a household name to some, writer Ryan Murphy has brought us some of the most entertaining, twisted, inventive and hilarious television to date respectively, namely Glee, Nip/Tuck, American Horror Story and The New Normal. And his house in Los Angeles is pretty spectacular too.

The Hollywood Reporter recently featured his Spanish Colonial manse that serves as an inspiration for his new hit NBC show The New Normal. A self-confessed aficionado of 20s and 30s Monterey Spanish furniture, his collection is sympatico in the home that also boasts Diane Keaton as a former owner. And the synchronicities don't stop there - Normal is filmed in a 1927 Spanish Colonial house in Bel Air  once owned and lovingly restored by Diane Keaton. Designed by production designer Tony Fanning and set decorator Bryan Venegas (of Brothers and Sisters fame), the pair had to duplicate Monterey furnishings due to their scarcity.

At home with The New Normal

The multi colored Spanish tile kitchen countertop in The New Normal

The New Normal's sophisticated neutral toned bedroom

Spanish courtyard filled with whimsy at the Murphy household

The multi- Emmy Award winner in his library

Murphy's greige toned master bedroom

Bold black and white kitchen makes a simple statement

A Keaton interior is known for its whimsy and Murphy's home faithfully carries on the tradition. His personal collection of photographs include black and whites of the sixties film The Graduate, Tom Hanks sporting a pumpkin head and a young Barack Obama (the Glee creator even hosted a fund-raising party there for the President). Working with LA designer Cliff Fong, they "created eclectic interiors mixing ranch-inspired, period-correct furniture, contemporary art and photography and American Horror Story- worthy objects. Well said Hollywood Reporter. For a tour of his home, go here.

Photo Credits: NBC, The Hollywood Reporter/Douglas Friedman