Moises Esquenazi designs for Mr. Gatsby’s
Moises Esquenazi: Esquenazi's Palm Springs home was featured as one of the "Best Homes in America" in the 25th Anniversary edition of Metropolitan Home. Additional work has been published in the Los Angeles Times, SPACE Magazine, The London Telegraph, Hamptons Cottages & Gardens and Palm Springs Life. Esquenazi is currently developing Le Oob, his own furniture, wallpaper and fabric line. He divides his time between Los Angeles & New York.
The Sag Harbor Modernist Estate designed by Moises Esquenazi in Mr. Gatsby’s “Featured Section” is available for Summer Rental from August 1st through Labor Day. The property sits on approximately one and a half acres with views of the Harbor. There are four full bedrooms and baths as well as one half bedroom and bath. The property is slated to be featured in Metropolitan Home Magazine in October 2009.
A native of Bogotá, Colombia, Moises Esquenazi’s interest and early education in art were fostered by his grandmother, an artist and patron of contemporary Colombian artists, as well as by his father, an ambassador, engineer and farmer. Esquenazi was educated primarily in the U.S., earning a B.A. from Cornell University and an M.F.A. from the University of Southern California. Esquenazi’s early career was spent as an architectural renderer and animator, working on such projects as Steve Wynn’s Freemont Street Experience in Las Vegas and the AT&T Olympic Pavilion in Atlanta. His education in architecture and fine arts as well as the skills he fine-tuned as an animator proved invaluable for 3-D modeling and rendering when he transitioned into a new career as an interior and products designer seven years ago. Esquenazi is also an accomplished photographer, having exhibited at The Makor Center in New York City. Oceans & Hedges is his most recent photography series, which will be exhibited in June 2008. He will also be shooting one of his Hamptons projects for Hamptons Cottages & Gardens Magazine in the spring.Whenever possible, Esquenazi customizes his clients’ homes by designing furnishings or wall coverings for them. Instead of focusing on a particular style, he strives to integrate the client’s background with the style of the architecture and the local surroundings, and always allowing function to guide the design. Having the focus on function permits the client to drop some pre-conceived ideas of what the space should look like, resulting in a more creative use of elements, such as the “conversation daybed’ which has become a signature element. The idea of a daybed allows families and friends to take off their shoes and gather in a cozy area to relax and visit.
Talking with Betsey Johnson from Z to New York…
New Year’s was over and I was returning from a friend’s villa in Z.
Everyone had boarded the plane departing from the Zihuatanejo Airport, or so I thought, when “something” came spinning up the stairs just as the forward door was being closed (there are no air-bridges at this airport). This “something” hurled some sort of plastic gold suitcase which appeared to have been attacked by a Bedazzler and dipped in glitter into the cabin. As I flinched from the trajectory of sequins, glitter and rhinestones, I caught a glimpse of what appeared to be blonde locks?
In usual circumstances, I would have panicked and grabbed someone’s child to throw at the oncoming assault. But I was in Mexico, and the two glasses of tequila I drank before embarking helped to slow my usually manic thought process so that I could more easily digest my situation. I had narrowed this situation down to only two possibilities: The Tasmanian Devil had retired to Mexico and was being called back to Warner Brothers for a new Bugs Bunny feature, OR the Chupacabra was making a daytime attack on a commercial aircraft.
Neither scenario proved correct: Betsey Johnson had just boarded the plane plopping down right next to me.
Betsy and I had met before briefly in Sag Harbor. Once she had buckled in, and we each had a drink to settle our nerves, she started telling me about her homes outside of “Z” (that’s short for Zihuatanejo) after I told her that I was looking at possibly representing villa rentals in Z for Mr. Gatsby’s Travel Club.
She had built two homes and was now putting them on the market. She told me of her love affair with Mexico….the colors, the ocean, the people. So, I asked her why she is now selling both her places? She told me that as an artist, Mexico gave her inspiration, but as a grandmother she wanted to be closer to her grandchildren. She had remodeled a home in East Hampton and the two-hour car ride from New York made her Hamptons home an easy destination. She told me that East Hampton gives her a different sense of inspiration as an artist. The town and her home there give her a sense of serenity.
She also talked about the challenges of being both an entrepreneur and a designer while managing to date a much younger Italian and build homes. At 65, she still oversees her entire collection and co-manages more than eighty stores which are all corporate owned. I asked where she was currently deriving inspiration? She told me that 80s punk was back, and that she was currently taking inspiration from her own vintage pieces.
I asked her what other designers inspired her and she immediately declared “Donna Karan”. She loved what Donna had done in Sag Harbor with Urban Zen mixing home decor with amazing sweaters and accessories. She also loved what the store stood for: mixing cultures and inspiring change through fashion and design. Betsey and I also talked about Donna’s daughter Gaby and what a wonderful job she had done with the restaurant Tutto Il Giorno adjacent to Urban Zen.
Though I was still cautious of her carry-on, Betsey bedazzled me. She had amazing energy, she was positive and she had designed a life that worked for her.