I really enjoy whimsical articles of clothing, like a Schiaparelli lobster dress, or an Olympia Le Tan book clutch. There are ways outfits can be intelligent and make jokes. I suppose I like to wear the pun while I make it a… ‘punsemble’?”
“I’m hyper-aware of words, language, and images. I know that there are ways I can put things together that haven’t yet been arranged or styled. New combinations can provoke new ideas about the life of art, and art in life.”
“My approach to everything is somewhat artistic. I view things through a lens where things are cherished on the basis of the aesthetic, but then pierces past that, beyond the superficial…”
“I view my closet as a mini art collection. Rarely do I have buyer’s remorse, because I rarely buy. I don’t shop to spend, I look to collect. I’m going to those sample sales and digging for three hours to find that special piece…”
AESTHETIC UNIVERSE:
FABERGÉ BIG EGG HUNT CURATOR- ANYA FIRESTONE
By Eamonn Wright | Photos by Christian Frarey | March 24, 2014
Anya Firestone is in her element as she breezes into Maison Ladurée in Soho. A flurry of cheek kissing ensues, and French salutations are exchanged as she greets Ladurée USA’s Co-Presidents Elisabeth Holder and Pierre-Antoine Raberin. French niceties quickly turn into business talk.
Firestone is only 25 years old, but she already heads curation for the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt: New York. There she oversees the transformation of New York City into an urban gallery featuring giant eggs crafted by a roster of over 200 creative glitterati. Ladurée is sponsoring one of the numerous egg sculptures alongside fashion icons Carolina Herrera, Diane von Furstenberg, and Ralph Lauren.
The Big Egg Hunt’s fiberglass creations will be hidden across New York’s five boroughs where they will remain for three weeks before being auctioned off by Sotheby’s. The proceeds from the auction will be donated to Studio In A School , a non-profit dedicated to bringingvisual arts to inner city children, and Elephant Family, a non-profit for endangered Asian elephants.
Firestone takes a seat in Ladurée’s opulent salon de thé before a spread of their famous signature macarons. The draperies, gilt frames, and chandeliers are the perfect backdrop for her buoyant personality- a hybrid of humor and splendor, manifested in everything from her parlance to her wardrobe.
Her outfits are a form of artistic expression. The way she selects a sequined top, or a flirty lip-print skirt, is similar to the way she speaks- always searching for the most precise descriptor for an aesthetic concept, or work of art.
This eloquence is the product of years of academic endeavor. After knocking out two art residencies in France, Firestone completed a Masters in French Cultural Studies at Columbia University’s Paris campus.
At home, her pink bedroom is akin to an aesthetic sanctuary for a millennial Marie Antoinette. But for this raven-haired Hell’s Kitchen native, art and grandeur are simply a way of life.
A moment’s scan of the sun-soaked room, outfitted in electric rose wallpaper scrolled with gold from a boutique in Paris’ 7th arrondissement, is all the proof you need to see that nothing about Firestone’s taste is predictable.
A temple to her brand of Francophilia, this veritable boudoir is strewn with stacks of 19th century French literature, art books, silk flowers and ornate frames exhibiting striking family photos. A baroque-style frame on the wall displays a cut of wrapping paper with a map of Paris.
In the corner is a dress mannequin draped in glittering, stringy belts that could have started life in a Belle Époque atelier on the Left Bank.
Her sartorial collection is a mélange of pieces that defy genre or period, though a number of labels are major – Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, and Louboutin show up more than once as I scan her wardrobe.
The City of Light will always be an inspiration for Firestone, “Everyone asks me if I prefer Paris to New York, but I can’t compare them. New York is like a brother to me, but Paris is like a lover who I met, and knew that I’d found my match… the obsessions of French culture have always been obsessions of mine..”
But above all, it’s Anya Firestone’s passion for creative ability that shows there’s a good deal more to her job than putting attractive objects together.
“I feel like I’m on the verge of creation. Constantly.”
Take part in the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt happening April 1st through April 26th.
Read more about New York City Creatives: Dressing the New York City Ballet- Natalie Turturro
