Jamie Drake
photo by Marco Ricca
What are three words to describe your style? 1. Bold 2. Urbane 3. Intriguing
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? At 9 years old my mother decided it was time to redecorate. I insisted on black patent leather walls and crisp white glossy moldings. The bed I positioned on an angle and the cover was a black on white toile de Jouy printed on a very racy sateen.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? In my teen years I bought a pair of wildly chic, Art Moderne black ceramic vases. Very space age, with a form like a rocket, I still have one. The other smashed long ago.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? Syrie Maugham, especially to create a room for me like she designed for herself in London, with strips of mirror covering the walls, white satin sofas trimmed with fringe, Louis XV chairs covered in modern fabric, a Jean-Michel Frank low table and masses of white Casablanca lilies. The scent must’ve been as intoxicating as the glamour quotient.
No room is complete without Candles. Creating a mood is essential to a wonderful interior, and nothing brings more warmth and glamour than flickering golden candlelight.
People think of me as an extrovert, but I am really an introvert.
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement Baby’s breath
An hors d’oeuvre platter Saltines. I recently was a guest at a house with a chef. Every evening he served foie gras, caviar, herring or some such on a banal cracker that quickly became soggy. And he is French! Quel horreur!!
A bar cabinet Chipped glasses
A song for: I don’t really listen to music except at a party. The world is already so noisy.
Dinner at home
Working at your desk
Going for a run
Biggest Vice? My nicotine Logic e-cigarette. I finally gave up smoking a few years ago. This is the next vice to kick.
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? Hmmm….Ambien is a sleeping pill! I don’t sleep shop.
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? Yes. I think my wardrobe is bold, urbane and often with a touch of razzle-dazzle.
Who is your star crush? Chris Pine
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it? Mix too many uncoordinated patterns together. I’m talking about zero common thread: not color, scale, pattern. The master of course was dear Mario Buatta. And his rooms were always transcendently beautiful.
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? The Great Houses of Paris
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? A sense of wit.
photo by William Waldron
A Few Favorites:
Movie: Funny Girl
Book: The Alienist
Scent: Terre de Hermes
The fabric you always come back to: Velvet
Dream project: The White House
Meal: Quatorze’s Magret de Canard au poivre vert
Drink: Vodka martini up with a twist, shaken hard
Hotel: Amanjena
Travel Destination: Morocco
Artist: Tony Cragg
Thing to collect obsessively: Small sculptures
Era in the history of design: The 18th Century
Museum: The Metropolitan
Paint color that always looks great: Black
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: Mitchell Owens
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? No pets at the moment, but definitely a dog lover
