THE AESTHETES

Life is still a party for creative couple Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan, three decades in.

PURIST: This is a milestone year for you guys: your 15th anniversary. What’s the secret to your success?

Simon Doonan: We keep it light and fluffy.

Jonathan Adler: Chemistry, I suppose.

How have you built a life together?

SD: It was fairly effortless. So I guess it was meant to be.

JA: Neither of us drinks, so there are no bonkers moments like George and Martha from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Looking back, what was most memorable about your wedding day? Can you set the scene for us?

SD: When we went to City Hall in San Francisco with Jonny’s mom and sister, they got mistaken for a May/December lesbian couple. LOL.

JA: Après ceremony we went to my shop on Fillmore and re-merchandised the store and then went to Barneys for a jewelry party. Romantique, non?

How long were you a couple before you wed, and when did you know it was love?

SD: Fifteen years-ish.

JA: I think Simon means it was 15 years-ish before we wed. I knew it was love when we went on a low-rent ski trip to Vermont and listened to Pat Benatar nonstop and it all felt so so right.

Tell us three favorite things about each other.

SD: Jonathan supports the Philly Eagles. His fave fashion brands are Thom Browne and Comme des Garçons. He is a massive fan of George Michael, RIP.

JA: 1. Even though people prolly think Simon is a kind of a fluffy fashion person, he’s actually a kinda butch intellectual. Ditto moi, if I’m being honest. 2. He climbs up on the roof regularly and cleans out the dead leaves from the rain gutters. 3. I gotta repeat No. 2 again. Roof, gutters—doesn’t get better than that.

How do you find compatibility in creativity?

SD: We agree about most things. If we disagree, we have a pillow fight.

JA: And I always win! Our first summer together we rented a house on Shelter Island with a dock and we used to go to the end of the dock and wrestle and throw each other off the dock. It was quite serious and macho. But we’ve entered our pillow fight era.

Do you ask each other for advice/feedback?

SD: Jonny is a fabulous editor. I ask him to read everything I write. His feedback is vital to my writing.

JA: I always make Simon come to my pottery studio to show him everything I’m cooking up. He never criticizes, always kinda just kvells. I actually wish he was more critical!

Simon, what item have you inspired in Jonathan’s line, and Jonathan, what idea or important feedback have you given Simon?

SD: I always encouraged Jonny to put faces on his designs. People like to be looked at.

JA: I am a total Simon Doonan fanboy. Always was, always will be. Right now I’m rereading his seminal tome Beautiful People for the 15th time. But I try not to give him too many compliments lest he get a swelled head.

You must be compatible moodwise—in the sense of being social together and then having downtime and quiet together. What is that flow like?

SD: I am writing all day solo, so I am more gregarious than Jonny. I push him to go out and partay!

JA: We’re improbably chill and totes compatible of habit and vibe.

How do you make a long relationship work?

SD: Knowing when to keep your trap shut.

JA: We always make each other cups of tea and refill the kettle. Tea is very, very, very important to us.

Tastes and aesthetics are so important to each of you. In what ways do you aesthetically complement each other? What kinds of compromises do you each have to make in the relationship to make it work? Like, are there any forbidden objects, furnishings, colors etc.?

SD: Jonathan takes the lead on issues of decor. This is, after all, his profession. I like to watch and applaud.

JA: If people think about us (which they really should quite often, BTW), they would imagine that there’s lots of bickering about where exactly to place decorative obelisks on the mantel and debates about floral arrangements. But, in reality, not so much.

How do you best enjoy your time together, in the city and out East?

SD: Our favorite thing is to frolic on the beach with our mutt, Foxylady.

JA: Foxylady, Foxylady, Foxylady. She’s a 12-pound, aloof beauty and we spend every waking moment focused on her.

What’s your life like on Shelter Island, what brings you both joy out there?

SD: The bird life on Shelter Island is beyond. We spend hours watching the ospreys diving into the water and catching fish.

JA: Shelter Island is HEAVEN on Earth. Don’t mean to jinx it, but it feels like nothing bad could ever happen. There’s nobody I’m afraid to bump into, there’s no traffic, no parking woes, nothing bad! We wake up, hop on our paddleboards, and just go…