Summer's Last Splash

Richard Christiansen is the fantabulous brains behind Chandelier Creative in NYC. His weekend getaway house in Montauk is bedecked with fabulous vintage linens, Anthropologie globes hanging from trees, witty phrases written in lipstick on bathroom mirrors, and on and on. It's a glorious place and not any of it, down to the Hawaiian shirts made into cushions lining the dock is a mistake or the result of happenstance. As Penelope Green of the NY Times describes him:

Having grown up helping his parents package “the authentic Australian experience” for Japanese tourists on their farm (putting frozen crabs into a river to be “caught”), Mr. Christiansen is adept at creating stage sets and finding shortcuts that read as authentic.

Having worked with Richard for almost two years in NYC, I can attest to his nearly insane level of creativity. It comes out of his pores and he lives and breathes his work. Quite inspirational really*. And authentic, actually. He really loves his friends and the (usually) gorgeous creatives that surround him. So if he had to work extra hard to create an authentic surf shack, it wasn't fake. There was a lot of heart in there too.

(I love what Richard does, but I couldn't live the life he does, or did back nearly 10 years ago when we worked together. But what's inspirational was that even back then he said he wanted to have his own agency and he worked his ass off and did it. And did it fabulously, I might add!)




Photos: 1-3 via Garance Doré, 4 & 5, the NY Times.