Kelly Wearstler

Proust on Design: Kelly Wearstler | CLOTH & KIND

what is your idea of perfect design happiness? ANYTHING THAT TELLS A GREAT STORY.

Proust on Design: Kelly Wearstler | CLOTH & KIND

what is your greatest fear in design? OVERDESIGN.

which historical design figure do you most identify with? JOSEF HOFFMANN.

Proust on Design: Kelly Wearstler | CLOTH & KIND

which living designer do you most admire? THERE ARE SEVERAL… JACQUES GRANGE, PETER MARINO, JEAN-LOUIS DENIOT TO NAME A FEW.

what profession other than design would you like to attempt? PAINTING.

what is your greatest design extravagance? TAKING A RISK .

when and where were you happiest with your design? THE MOMENT I BRING A CLIENT’S VISION TO FRUITION.

Proust on Design: Kelly Wearstler | CLOTH & KIND

what do you consider your greatest achievement in design? LEARNING TO BE A GREAT LISTENER.

if you died and came back as another designer or design object, who or what do you think it would be? TO BE IMMORTALIZED AS SCULPTURE.

Proust on Design: Kelly Wearstler | CLOTH & KIND

what specific design related talent are you lacking that you would you most like to have? BEING ABLE TO DRAW BEAUTIFULLY.

Proust on Design: Kelly Wearstler | CLOTH & KIND

what is your most treasured design related possession? A PAINTING BY VICTOR VASARELY (MY FAVORITE ARTIST) PAINTING THAT HANGS IN MY BEDROOM.

what do you regard as the lowest depths of misery in design? A LOOK THAT’S ONE NOTE - WHERE EVERYTHING COMES FROM THE SAME DESIGNER OR ERA. I LOVE A MIX OF SCALE, PERIOD AND TEXTURE.

what curse word do you most frequently use? FUCK!

what is your favorite design related word? RAW AND REFINED.

Proust on Design: Kelly Wearstler | CLOTH & KIND

what is your least favorite design related word? RETRO, KITSCH, WHIMSY.

what turns you on in design? TAKING RISKS.

what turns you off in design? FOLLOWING TRENDS.

what is your motto in design? TAKE RISKS. LOVE COLOR.

Proust on Design: Kelly Wearstler | CLOTH & KIND

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IMAGE CREDITS | All images courtesy of Kelly Wearstler, and via her Instagram feed. Josef Hoffman image courtesy of Apartment Therapy.

ABOUT PROUST ON DESIGN | Answered by our design icons, these must-ask questions come from a 19th century parlor game made popular by Marcel Proust, the French novelist, essayist & critic. Proust believed the direct questions and honest responses that they elicited revealed the true nature of the individual. For this column, we have put a design related spin on the traditional questions. While this method has been used by many journalists throughout the years, we were primarily inspired by The Proust Questionnaire, which appears monthly on the back page of one of our all time favorite magazines, Vanity Fair (also Krista’s alma mater). Read all of the previous Proust on Design questionnaires here.