As retailer and socialite, New York dwelling Lauren Santo Domingo has attended and hosted a bonanza of opulent gatherings and she is now turning her expert eye to Tiffany & Co’s as the newly appointed Artistic Director of Home. “Tiffany & Co has played an important part in milestones throughout my life and I am honoured to work with such an iconic brand,” says Santo Domingo who is famed in the city for her fantastical dinner parties.
She is working with the brand’s creative team to reinvigorate the range with verve and wit. Cue a set of bone china logo embossed Tiffany beakers, fashioned after generic take away cups, and glazed in pastel colours to chime with the original Tiffany Blue. The collection is a nod to Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly who as a gal trying to build a glamorous life in New York in the 1960s, is captured in the opening shots of Breakfast at Tiffany’s coffee cup and croissant in hand declaring “That’s right: I’m CRAZY about Tiffany’s!” staring at the dazzling gems in the store window.
Artistic Director Lauren Santo Domingo
@thelsd // Instagram
Tiffany Home Glassware
Tiffany // Press
Santo Domingo has also revived the brand’s archival motifs and standouts include the Wisteria collection with purple and green blossoms bursting over Limoges Porcelain plates and the ingenious Tiffany Toile line which features motifs of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and the arch in Washington Square Park. Delicate glasses meanwhile are inspired by Louis Comfort’s Tiffany’s extraordinary Art Nouveau lamps and are hand blown by Austrian maker, Lobmeyer. Santo Domingo is deftly tuning into the beauty of tradition, adapting it to now with re-scaled items and a new pattern - a subtle gold T that riffs one of the brand's most popular jewellery lines.
There is an illustrious history to parlay that dates back to when Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young established Tiffany & Young as a stationery and fancy goods store at 247 Broadway in 1837. They were innovators courting America’s Gilded Age society and subsequent generations who came to Tiffany to purchase milestone presents, innovative jewellery and to fill their china cabinets.
The homeware reinvention is part of top to toe reinvigoration of the American luxury brand by its new owners LVMH that bought the brand for $15.8 bn in 2021. In late April, the newly restored 10,000 sq. metre Tiffany & Co. Landmark store that stands at the luxury retail apex of Manhattan on 57th street, was unveiled with its glorious shimmering Peter Marino designed interior. The opening party included a performance by Katy Perry, honours by Gal Gadot, and appearances by Hailey Bieber, Pharrell Williams, Florence Pugh.
The revamp was spearheaded by Anthony Ledru, CEO (previously executive VP of global commercial activities at LVMH) and Alexandre Arnault, EVP of Products and Communications who has championed collaborations with Nike on those sought after Tiffany sneakers and with Supreme on accessories. The 10 floors offer a journey into luxury with dining table ‘scenes’ curated with over 40 artworks and collectible furniture. Jean Michel Basquiat’s joyous 1982 Equals (that appeared in the Jay Z and Beyonce About Love campaign) takes pride of place in the ground floor atrium space while work by Damien Hirst, Julian Schnabel, Daniel Arsham and Richard Prince’s are hung throughout. Another triumphant feature is a sinuous curvilinear 144 step staircase (between floors 3 and 8) inspired by the amorphic forms of Elsa Peretti. For Ledru, it is the renovation of the century and marks a new chapter for the brand.
Entertaining is an art that many of us would like to master and a beautifully set table is an anchor to any event. For a lesson, VIP clients can head up to the 10th floor apartment which is a microcosm of the city’s glamour past and present. Marino who started out his practice as a residential designer (Andy Warhol, Agnelli, Yves Saint Laurent were clients) was invited to design a Marino apartment. With a bar, library and dining area with expansive NYC city skyline views, what better way to buy dinner plates and diamonds?
