Each year Hearst Magazines brings together very best in interior design talent, products and trends which are showcased via the annual Hearst Designer Visions show house. I recently had an opportunity to tour the sixth annual Designer Visions showcase which is comprised of three separate apartments at 250 West Street, a new luxury condo development in Tribeca. This is actually the 2012 show house but due to hurricane Sandy, the official opening celebration and related events had to be postponed until January which is why I only recently had the opportunity to check it out!  Participating designers for the 2012 Designer Visions showcase include Matthew Patrick Smyth for Elle Decor, Antony Todd for Veranda and The Rockwell Group for House Beautiful and I can assure you the spaces are just as stunning as you would expect from such top talent. For the past three years the participating designers have had to create a space centered around a cinema inspired theme but this year Hearst partnered with the 48 Hour Film Project, an organization that seeks to advance the art of filmmaking and the three apartments were used as the set for a short film which was written, shot and edited in 48 hours! The designers were challenged to imagine muses fo their designs to with the goal of creating a finished product that felt highly personalized and completely livable. Above is a peek at some of the rooms and later I’ll be bringing you a full tour of the entire show house – you don’t want to miss it!

If you’re interested in bringing a bit of Designer Visions style into your own home, pieces will be available through February 26th in an online auction through Charity Buzz, with proceeds benefitting the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City in support of Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. To bid on Designer Visions-inspired items and experiences, you can visit www.charitybuzz.com/DesignerVisions. You can also purchase furniture, lighting and home accessories found in or inspired by the apartments through online marketplace Dering Hall here.  And be sure to check back tomorrow for a full tour of all three stunning apartments!

Photos by Nicole Gibbons for So Haute

In the interior design world, there are only a handful of top tier shelter magazines that actively champion the work of the industry’s design talent and one of those is Elle Decor. Through its annual A-List, the title pays homage to the top interior design talent in the biz. Elle Decor launched the A-List in 2012 as a way to celebrate both established and emerging designers and the notoriety undoubtedly enhance the careers of those who are recognized. The prestigious honor is somewhat like the equivalent of receiving an Oscar in the design world.  Below is a look at the work of the the Elle Decor A-List class of 2012 along with links to view each of their portfolios. For more on ED’s 2012 A-List designers, click here.

J. Randall Powers

Aman & Meeks

Brockschmidt & Coleman

Emma Jane Pilkington

B. Five Studio

Celerie Kemble

Paul Fortune

Steven Harris Architects & Rees Roberts + Partners

Haynes – Roberts

Fisher Weisman

The A-List 2012 designers with their Baccarat/Michael Aram designed awards!

After months of speculation over who would replace Paige Rense as editor-in-chief of Architectural Digest (Rense is retiring), it was announced today that Elle Decor’s Margaret Russell will take the helm. She begins her post September 7th and her first issue will hit stands in January 2011. I can’t tell you enough how excited I am about this appointment. AD has long been criticized for being dated and formulaic in its approach and many have agreed that the magazine is in dire need of an overhaul. I believe Russell will bring a fresh point of view to the AD and has the talent and vision to help revive the title. Despite it’s criticism though, AD is hardly struggling. The magazine has a healthy readership of 5MM plus and ad pages for its September 2010 issue are up 5.4% to last year. Nate Berkus also mentioned during the Right Now In Design event last week that for architects and designers, AD is one of the only magazines where a feature actually leads to new clients, which I thought was quite interesting. I’m excited to watch AD evolve and am actually anticipating the arrival of it’s January issue. Congrats Margaret on your new position! And now we can begin the speculation over who will take over Elle Decor!

Photos: elledecor.com and architecturaldigest.com

Margaret Russell with A-List Designer Darryl Carter. Photo: Patrick Butler for Elle Decor

In Elle Decor’s June issue the magazine announced it’s first annual A-List which payed homage to 25 talented designers who define the way we live today plus 5 up-and-coming young designers to watch. The 2010 A-List included designers like Kelly Wearstler, Eric Cohler, Steven Gambrel, Charlotte Moss, Thomas O’Brien, Miles Redd, Michael S. Smith  Jeffrey Bilhuber, Matthew Patrick Smyth,  Madeline Stuart, Bunny Williams and many more! Among the 5 to watch were  Jesse Carrier, Oliver M. Furth, Grant K. Gibson, Katie Lydon and Marie Turner. I was lucky enough to get to celebrate the occasion with Elle Decor at a party hosted at the McGuire showroom at the New York Design Center a few weeks ago. All but 2 of the honored designers were in attendance and all of the top names in the New York design industry came out to fete the honorees.  It was a fabulous event set amidst the backdrop of McGuire’s beautiful furnishings and gorgeous floral arrangements designed by Bronson Van Wyck. Above is Elle Decor Editor-in-Chief Margaret Russell with DC based designer Darryl Carter who I was thrilled to see included on the A-List and I had the pleasure of meeting that evening. He was beyond humbled to be included on the A-List and is obviously very deserving of the honor. He filled me in that his book  Below are a few more of my favorite snaps from the night!

Margaret Russell with Jesse Carrier and Mara Miller of Carrier and Company. Photo: Patrick Butler for Elle Decor

Designers Thomas Jayne & Bunny Williams. Photo: Patrick McMullan

About a week after the A-List event Elle Decor also hosted an intimate cocktail party to celebrate Oscar de la Renta’s new upholstery fabric collaboration with Lee Jofa. I was thrilled to attend and was absolutely blown away at the beauty of his fabrics which mirror the elegance and sophistication of his fashion collections. The to-the trade collection includes beautiful ethnic inspired patterns in bold hues inspired by Oscar’s fashion archives. The fabrications include rich wovens, luscious silks and elaborate embroideries and brocades. Below is a peek of the store window of Oscar’s Madison ave shop which features ball skirts made of his gorgeous new fabrics! I also included a few snaps of my own! Designers, look out for the new Oscar de la Renta fabrics coming this summer to a Lee Jofa showroom near you!

Skirts fashioned from Oscar de la Renta’s new fabric collection. Photo: Patrick Butler for Elle Decor

Beautiful fabrics from the new collection