Talk Shop: Edith Young
ABOUT EDITH
Chances are, if you’re plugged into the fashion world (even if just on Instagram), you’ve seen Edith Young’s work. The artist, designer, photographer and writer previously held senior photo and writing positions at Man Repeller before taking on a deputy creative director role at Rowing Blazers.
Her photo essays – including one particular set with pies for MR that still sticks in our mind – are always visually striking, beautifully saturated, and combine the perfect alchemy of her New York cool-girl vibe meets preppy aesthetic. After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, Edith now lives in her hometown of New York.
Her first book, Color Scheme: An Irreverent History of Art and Pop Culture in Color Palettes, will be published by Princeton Architectural Press in September 2021. She also sells her thoughtful artwork, including her stunning palette prints, on her website, which showcases her portfolio in depth.
In addition to working on her book, Edith is working on multidisciplinary projects with various publications and brands. We loved sitting down with Edith and chatting about her inspiration and what she has coming down the pipe, and hope you do too!
Describe your style in three words or less:
Irreverent and colorful (or, Polo Bar meets Dylan’s Candy Bar)
What have been the three biggest influences on your aesthetic in your life:
Art history, Bruce Weber’s portraits, Theresa Duncan’s video games (and an honorable mention for the Clarence House logo pencil)
How did you start your company, and/or what is your favorite thing about what you do:
My work is pretty varied, but as a photographer I love coaxing out a subject’s organic, uninhibited expression and then preserving it with precision in a portrait. I’m most excited about making more visual essays like this one, and have ideas for about 500 more.
What does your home say about you:
This is not my first rodeo living in a small space.
Where do you find inspiration:
Walking around New York, and reading books mostly. (I wholeheartedly recommend Final Cut by Steven Bach if you’re into Hollywood and Arbitrary Stupid Goal by Tamara Shopsin if you’re into New York.)
Who are your style icons:
Pete Davidson.
What are your key ingredients for entertaining:
Invite a mix of your friends from far flung corners of your world who have never met, and then back away slowly, watching the chemistry materialize. Also, make Kalimotxo (red wine and Coke) as a specialty cocktail and serve with blended ice.
Do you collect anything:
Dust, primarily. Also, matchbooks, matchboxes, and gold charms. As a kid I collected paperweights, which now seems like a pretty bad estimation of how much paper I’d be handling and how windy my surroundings would be as an adult.
Favorite Instagram accounts to follow for inspiration:
I try not to seek inspiration on Instagram, but my dad and brother co-run an account called @fergusalice_art (in homage to culinary icons Fergus Henderson and Alice Waters) where they post the most arresting paintings and prints that are up for auction (usually at reasonable price points/estimates). It’s really an incredible and underrated service and my favorite update that I see on that cursed app each day.
What are you working on right now:
Right now I’m putting the finishing touches on my book before it goes to the printer in a few weeks, selling my palette prints, working on a few commissions, and wrapping up a brand identity project for a client. I am also slowly decorating my first apartment (it’s a studio so every piece of furniture has to be like a Swiss army knife), and cooking up some longer term interiors-related projects.
Wardrobe staples:
The Sizzle pant by AYR, black jeans by Universal Standard, black tights by Heist.
Favorite fabric/wallpaper:
I’ve recently been seduced by Pierre Frey’s Lasso fabric. For wallpaper, I dream of Fornasetti’s cloudy Nuvol.
Best interior advice you ever received:
“Maybe you should think about measuring that before you buy it.”
Best career advice you ever received:
I’ve had this quote bookmarked for quite a while, by Susan Lyne, founder of BBG Ventures: “One thing to remember as you go through life is that it is always wise to leave something on the table—that a victory for one side or the other is a prescription for failure… Just because you can get someone to agree to very tough terms doesn’t mean it’s going to be in your long-term interest to do that.”
Another superb one, by Vanity Fair’s editor-in-chief Radhika Jones in Delia Cai’s newsletter Deez Links: “You ask about institutional change, and I think it comes down to individual decisions. Each day you’re making the call about what stories to pursue, and those choices add up every week, every month, and that is how change happens incrementally.”
Your greatest extravagance:
Dresses that make me look and feel like a frosted pastry by genius Anna Heinrichs, designer of Horror Vacui.
Favorite places to shop for home:
EQ3 for well-designed and sturdy basics, middle-tier auction houses and auction websites like Invaluable, and then I do a lot of ogling of the Lacquer Company website. I love lacquer.
Your interiors motto:
Don’t overthink it. (And avoid trends like the plague!!)
Your life motto:
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Take Ten: My Favorite…
Food: Green tea oreo ice cream from Chinatown Ice Cream Factory on Bayard Street
Drink: Skin contact wine by Meinklang
Film: The Last Picture Show by Peter Bogdanovich
Hotel: (Going for a morning swim in) the Sunset Tower Hotel (‘s empty pool). Swoon.
City: New York
Bedding: I bought a mattress this year for the first time and fretted about all the newfangled options, but I’m thrilled with the Saatva luxury firm one I picked.
Tea or Coffee (and how do you take it): Iced cold brew with frothed oat milk, as soon as I wake up, followed by a midday English breakfast tea with milk and honey
Playlist: The eponymously titled edith 2020-2021
Weekend Activity: Watching SNL
Design Book: The World of Muriel Brandolini: Interiors