Where would you like to sit in Christian Siriano’s apartment?
There’s a Dr. Seuss–worthy assortment of options: a chair in the kitchen, a chair in the hall, a chair over here, and a chair over there. And while you might think they were haphazardly placed, know that each of the 14 seating possibilities (we counted) in his lower Manhattan pied-à-terre was put in its spot with extreme purpose—even if that purpose is for his vizsla-Lab mix, Poppy, to have a perch while Siriano chops vegetables or, er, eats takeout at the kitchen counter.
In a fashion world filled with hesitant creatives and back-and-forth (and back again) bosses, Siriano doesn’t deliberate. “I’m probably one of the most decisive creators,” says the 36-year-old designer, who got his start on Project Runway. Rewind to March 2020, when COVID-19 first hit New York City and Siriano tweeted to then New York Governor Andrew Cuomo: “If @NYGovCuomo says we need masks my team will help make some. I have a full sewing team still on staff working from home that can help.” Cuomo replied, and Siriano and his sewers swung into action. “I mean, we had never even made a mask before,” he says. One pattern and 2 million face coverings later, he became a hero who not once steered from his true north: functionality, a little bit of playfulness, and a whole lot of glamour.
He bought the one-bedroom in 2021 as a place to crash after long hours working at his atelier, just a seven-minute walk away, or prep for a fancy event with his boyfriend. (His main residence is an airy modernist home in Connecticut.) “I don’t overthink anything, which is why I’m so rebellious with the way I plan a room,” he says. “I literally will just put a nail in the wall, hang a piece of art there, and I’m like, ‘That’s where it’s gonna go.’” For anyone who has ever stood face-to-face with a paint-chip display at a hardware store or stared at a blank wall with a hammer in hand, the thought of going with your gut and making moves seems, well, revolutionary.
So when it came to putting together the Tribeca apartment, Siriano didn’t hem and haw over color schemes. (In fact, all the walls are swathed in White Dove, a name he rattles off like a person who clearly knows his Benjamin Moore.) And the furniture? A clean mix of vintage—he’s familiar with all the good dealers in Connecticut—and his own designs, which he plans to expand upon this year.
“It’s like this is a little jewel box of beautiful things,” Siriano says of the 1,200 square feet. “I treat it like a very fabulous hotel suite.” If he has people over, there’s only enough of his Christian Siriano for Stone + Lain plates for eight, and even Poppy gets her own vintage cabinet of dog treats and toys because, as Siriano notes, “I really needed a space to put all of her things that wasn’t just a basket on the floor.”
And given his new–Old Hollywood gowns—worn by everyone from Michelle Obama to Billy Porter to Oprah Winfrey—it’s not surprising to hear him talk about decorating the apartment as if he were devising a fashion collection. Though the decor is minimalist, the textures keep it interesting. Traditional herringbone floors get a dose of softness from the fabric of the moment, bouclé, which appears on his own Leo bench and Lily stool. His bedding is made from a linen he points out would make a fabulous coat. “People even say my dining chairs look like little people in dresses,” he says.
The whole point of the place is for it to be a little fancy. “It’s a total 180 from my Chelsea apartment, which was a big loft,” he says. “This feels very French, very elegant. I was looking for somewhere that I could fill with really gorgeous things that I knew wouldn’t necessarily get ruined, because I’m not throwing big parties here.”
Take his vivid, 6-foot-tall Frida Kahlo portrait, painted by his friend Ashley Longshore and hanging in the entryway to his bedroom. After visiting the famously unibrowed artist’s house in Mexico City, he knew he had to have her energy in his space. “She’s one of the O.G. queens of the art world,” he says. She mingles on the walls alongside pieces by Sunny Sunshine, Ewa Matyja, and Peter Robert Keil.
Though the apartment is set, just like in fashion, anything can be altered, and design regrets are not a thing in Siriano’s world. “Let’s say in a few months, I can’t walk around a room or it isn’t working—I change it,” he says. “I don’t treat it as a failure. It’s just something we’ll try again next time.”
So for now, Siriano says you should come in and take a seat. But not on the chair in the kitchen. That one is reserved for Poppy.
In Christian Siriano’s Manhattan pied-à-terre, the designer fashioned the space like a vintage-filled hotel where he could check in, then check out.
ROOM
WORK the
Photography by Tim Lenz
Words by Julie Vadnal
I literally will just put a nail
“It’s like this is a little jewel box
Let’s say in a few months, I can’t walk around
“
“
in the wall, hang a piece
of art there, and I’m like,
‘That’s where it’s gonna go.’”
of beautiful things. I treat it like
a very fabulous hotel suite.”
a room or it isn’t working—I change it. I don’t
treat it as a failure. It’s just something we’ll try
again next time.”
Credits
Turner Sofa, Arteriors; Custom Pillows, Christian Siriano; Mid-Century Lounge Chairs by Gigi Radice, Office Cane Chair by Pierre Jeanneret, and Stool by Charlotte Perriand, 1stDibs; Rug, ABC Carpet & Home; Vintage Coffee Table Set; Vintage 1960s Japanese Bud Vases, The Window; 20th-Century Art Deco Lucite Console, Chairish; Vintage 1970s Travertine Pedestal; Vintage 1960s Water Jug; Painting, Peter Robert Keil.
Credits
This Image: Timna Vase, L’Objet; Painting, Ewa Matyja; Vintage Italian Side Chair, Chairish. Above: Vintage Dining Table by Adrian Pearsall, 1stDibs; Vintage 1970s Dining Chairs; Pendant Lamp, Seth Brody .
Credits
Vintage Wood Bust Table Lamp; Vintage 1970s Contemporary Lucite and Glass Console Table, Chairish; Custom Painting and Leo Bench, Christian Siriano.
Credits
This image: Custom Upholstered Canopy Bed; Custom Bedding in Fabric by Lee Jofa; Modern Side Table, Chairish; Lennox Stool, Christian Siriano; Vase, Oatmeal. Right: Vintage Burl-Wood Stools; Memphis-Style Italian Chair, Chairish; Painting, Julian Cardinal. Above: Paintings, Ashley Longshore and Sunny Sunshine; Vintage 1970s Lucite Stools; Vintage Demi-Lune Table.
Credits
Vase, RW Guild; Vintage Stool.
Shop the Story
Mae 3D Art, Edith Beurskens ($190)
Turner Sofa, Arteriors ($4,615)
Timna Pitcher, L'Objet ($275)
Lula Chair, Christian Siriano ($1,795)
Video by Sara Falco
For London creative Judith Achumba-Wöllenstein, decorating is both an art and a science.
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treat it like a very fabulous
I don’t treat it as a failure. It’s
just something we’ll try
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