Design Disrupted Space at Milk by Anna Karlin

Design Disrupted Lounge
at NYFW

Written by Amber Johnson

We had the pleasure of speaking with NYC based designer Anna Karlin about her latest project designing the Lexus Design Disrupted space at Milk Studios. Anna Karlin experiments across all mediums as her design practice specializes in everything from digital and print to interiors and set design.

Stay tuned for the upcoming launch of Anna Karlin Furniture + Fine Objects, her second furniture, lighting and interior accessories range. For more on Anna, check out her site here.

anna karlin design disrupted lounge made fw photo nick demilio

TL: What was your creative process like working within such a condensed time frame of 2 weeks?

Anna Karlin: Design wise two weeks is no problem for me. I’m lucky ideas come fast and I work long hours. My team and I make sure we’ve designed several different versions of every space to explore different themes so I can make sure we’re on the path I really want to be on. I use it as a process to test that the design is innovative and it wasn’t simply something that I thought of first or that I am relying on ‘go to’ concepts.

TL: Did this project allow you to express ideas you’ve already had or did it come to you spur of the moment?

AK: There are so many ideas I’d love to execute and the joy of these projects is that you never know what they are until you start working on them. Every design is an answer to a question – either posed by myself or by a client. It’s this way of working that really keeps me generating new ideas – which I like to think is what helps set us apart – for my team and I laziness is not an option. We’d get so bored. We also have a great relationship with our build teams and fabricators which is crucial. We have a very detailed knowledge of material and process which allows us to be smart with knowing what is feasible within the time frame. There is a lot of logistics involved with such custom work, armed with very detailed production knowledge we can make great things happen in unusually short amounts of time.

TL: What was your vision in designing Lexus’ Design Disrupted space?

AK: The question I sought to answer with the design of the space was ‘what qualities align Lexus and Made Fashion Week?’ The shared qualities I sought to communicate were craftsmanship, materiality and luxury. The rooms have been designed as a series of useable sculptures and therefore adhere to the principals of functional beauty. I felt the installation was a fitting environment to celebrate the relationship and support of Lexus to the skills and shared design ideals of the participating designers.

TL: Any cool recent or upcoming projects you are really excited about?

AK: We are about to launch our second furniture, lighting and interior accessories range. “Anna Karlin Furniture + Fine Objects” I am very excited about this. We’ve got everything happening from lighting, larger furniture to carpets, textiles, ceramics and tabletop – I literally can not wait for it to officially launch – it gives me butterflies in my tummy in a good way!