Lifestyles’ spring issue launch party

all in the family

Principal designer from Taylor & Taylor creates a Zen-inspired family getaway in Key Largo that combines modern sensibility with ancient influences and a deep respect for nature.

BY JEAN NAYAR

From top: outdoor design celebrates natural elements; blue and white color story.

Maximizing their connection with the outdoors has always been a priority for the owners of an expansive condo in Key Largo. So, when they purchased the four-bedroom abode as guest quarters for the visitors who frequent their nearby waterfront home, they wanted the interiors to be in tune with the environs. They also wanted to cozy up the flat with the creature comforts they enjoy in both their primary dwelling in the Midwest and their winter house in Florida. Having worked with designer Phyllis Taylor, a principal of the Miami-based interior design firm Taylor & Taylor, on their winter home in Ocean Reef Club, they knew she would deliver on both scores.

Before starting the project, however, Taylor had to convince the athletic couple to depart from the traditional aesthetic they usually favor. “It works well in their classic single-family homes, but it just didn’t suit the thoroughly modern style of the condo, which they purchased during the preconstruction phase,” says Taylor. Trusting in her expertise, they deferred to her judgment and gave her free rein to turn the stark dwelling — with its odd angles and challenging floor plan — into an inviting getaway. The only nonnegotiable demand was the color. “They both just love blue, and no other color but blue,” says the designer. As a result, Taylor chose indigo, a color commonly used in ancient Japanese textile dyeing methods, as her starting point for the interiors and developed a layered yet restrained ambiance that’s at once earthy, clean, and eminently livable.

Inspired by the Asian roots of indigo dye, the designer also relied on the Japanese aesthetic philosophy known as wabi-sabi, which emphasizes both simplicity and imperfection, to guide her approach to the décor. “Since the only color in the home is blue, the rest of it is all about texture,” explains Taylor, who deployed neutral, natural materials on virtually every surface. Working with a millworker from Mexico, she warmed the ceilings and walls of the entrance gallery, living room, and adjoining terrace with planks made from fallen Milpa trees found in an old-growth forest in the Yucatán Peninsula. The same wood was used to make shelves in the kitchen, while grasscloth and cork wall coverings add warmth and dimension to the guest rooms.

Furnishings throughout, including a collection of beribboned bamboo pendants by David Trubridge and various wicker and woven chairs from Artefacto, also nod to the Japanese reverence for nature and respect for handicraft. “They make me think of the woven baskets that are so common in Japan,” she continues. “You can really see the hand of the maker in them.” With lots of children flowing in and out of the home, easy-care furnishings and accents were also top of mind, particularly in the dining area, where the designer topped the concrete base of a bespoke table with a slice of stump wood coated with resin. “It’s a resourceful way to honor nature and embrace imperfection with a custom piece that’s durable and easy to clean at the same time.” Thoughtful touches like these not only delight the owners, who frequent dwelling during the off season for quick trips, golf tournaments, or fishing outings, but also their guests, who sometimes find themselves so comfortable that they’re loath to leave.

Clockwise from top left: natural elements connect outdoor and indoor design; guest bedroom; subtle play on texture and neutral tones.

oscar worthy

A Renaissance man, fashion designer, and artist extraordinaire, Oscar Carvallo is a creator for all seasons.

BY STEPHANIE DAVIS SMITH

Oscar Carvallo’s creative talents have taken him from Caracas to Milan to Paris to Miami, where his studio continues to attract the most discerning of clients. For a designer who presents at the couture shows in Paris, his list of clientele include celebrities, debutants, and VIPs. The multihyphenate is now adding the title of “artist” to his resume with a recent run of an icon-inspired exhibit at Château des Tourelles in the French capital to prove it.

“Art has changed my life. I wake up with the need of painting,” says the accomplished couturier, who also helms a Parisian atelier. “Sometimes, I cannot sleep thinking about the process. Being an artist is being a dreamer, and our goal is to make people also dream.”

It’s not the first time Carvallo has made a leap into a new career. “I finished law school. From the law, I went into fashion.” He abandoned law and entered a master’s design program at Domus Academy Milano, planning to live in Milan permanently. However, “life is full of surprises, and we are the drivers of our own luck,” says the Venezuelan native. His fashion career moved him to Paris instead, where he didn’t know the culture or the language. Eventually, Carvallo decided he wanted to move to the

PHOTO COURTESY OF OSCAR CARVALLO Opposite page: Oscar Carvallo’s collections are big on bold theatrics. This page: designer’s forey into painting is inspired by Fayum technique; Oscar Carvallo. Magic City. “Miami was an experience I wanted to have, and it was fantastic,” says the Renaissance man. “It feels familiar. My family has lived there for many years and, of course, there is the sun and the sea. I miss it so much.”

The pandemic motivated Carvallo to move back to Paris. “It is my home now,” he admits. “Europe is the center of art and creation, and I have to be surrounded by inspiration every day.” His inspiration has found a new oeuvre. And this iteration has little to do with fashion. Carvallo is consumed with paintings done in the Fayum technique, synonymous with the Egyptian portraits of the pharaohs. Later, the technique was adopted by ancient Greek artists. Carvallo references encaustic painting in his works, which incorporates melted wax on canvas. It’s a technique later made famous by Jasper Johns.

This latest endeavor differs greatly from his couture days. “With fashion, I need a huge team to make it possible,” he explains. “Painting is just the canvas and me.” Fortunately, the dashing creator hasn’t abandoned his fashion aspirations and has managed to weave style into art. Carvallo still works with couture clients all over the world, who are very much part of his process. “I have never had a muse as one person. I think every client I make a couture dress for is the muse of that moment.” That’s why he rejoices in designing wedding dresses. “They are pure fantasy and magic where you have the chance to make people dream,” he adds.

Not surprisingly, his fashion spills over into his art. “I usually paint my models from my collections, but they are just a starting point,” Carvallo explains. “During the process of painting the models become magical pharaohs of the first century.” The process is a true fusion of a multitude of his passions that magically transcend geography, style, and, in many ways, time itself. “To be inspired by the present time, that goes back to the past,” he says, “and to finally arrive at a result of the future.” And whether it’s on a canvas or a body, Carvallo’s work is pure magic.