DESIGN PROFILE Kelly Wearstler

For someone with the moniker ‘the rock star of the design world’, internationally renowned designer Kelly Wearstler has a surprisingly free-spirited outlook on life, much of which can be attributed to the West Coast Beverly Hills locale she calls home.

- Amy Moorea Wong

‘My style is inherently Californian; soulful and evocative yet modern, with a laid-back, easy elegance,’ she tells us. ‘Los Angeles informs my work because it’s not rooted in tradition, there are no boundaries or restrictions on style –there are no rules.’ Kelly founded her studio in 1995, waiting tables while setting up her business and developing her aesthetic, which she describes as ‘risk taking’.

Now the queen of provocative juxtaposition, Kelly is known for her multifaceted outlook on design, an approach she refers to as ‘mixology’; contemporary features meet the historic; raw finishes go alongside the refined; architectural lines confront organic shapes and saturated tones contrast natural materials. The result? An effortless, almost stumbled-upon, sense of indulgence.