The 10 Most Outrageously Luxurious Homes Of Fashion Designers
by Hilary George-Parkin | 5:00 pm, July 23rd, 2012
Do you know which pair of designers have a vacation home with an 18k gold guest room? How about who boards a $60 million yacht when he needs to take a break his ten other homes around the world? Or whose NYC townhouse used to house twelve separate apartments? Find out all this and more in our ultimate guide to the over-the-top real estate of our favorite fashion designers…the only thing that remains to be asked now is, “When can we move in?”
From Valentino ‘s lavish 17th century French mansion to Vera Wang ‘s ultramodern Beverly Hills pied-à-terre and even Coco Chanel ‘s iconic space on rue Cambon, we’re taking you inside the wildest and most luxurious of designer homes. So Parsons kids, bookmark this page when you’re in need of a little extra push to get you through that final collection. We promise it’ll be worth it when you sign the deed for that first penthouse overlooking Central Park.
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1. Chateau de Wideville, Valentino's 17th Century Manor
Built in 1600, Wideville was once home to Louis XIII's finance minister, so it's fitting that it is now in the very tanned hands of the Last Emperor himself.
image via Vanity Fair
2. Inside Chateau de Wideville
Valentino purchased the estate in 1998 after selling his company for $300 million and has since filled it with the finest furniture and art that money can buy. Between the Chateau, a 152-foot yacht, and his four other homes around the world, the designer employs a staff of 50 for year-round upkeep of the swanky digs. No wonder he and partner Giancarlo Giacometti have been described as the "kings of high living."
images via Valentino and Vanity Fair
3. Ralph Lauren's Bedford, NY Estate
Check out those rare luxury automobiles! There are 60+ more where they came from, housed nearby in a sprawling garage . Unfortunately, zoning regulations prevented the house you see to the left from featuring an underground bat cave for this purpose. Life sure is tough sometimes for a billionaire .
images via Architectural Digest/Durston Saylor
4. Inside the home
So very Ralph Lauren, no? 300 acres of stained wood, forest green plaids, and distressed leather. And, of course, some roaming thoroughbreds. All made right here in America, no doubt.
images via Architectural Digest/Durston Saylor
5. Diane Von Furstenberg's Meatpacking Penthouse
If we could choose to live in any apartment in New York, this would probably be it. Alas, unless DVF has some adoption plans we aren't aware of, this will likely remain a pipe dream. So instead, we'll just have to fantasize.
image via Architectural Digest /François Halard
6. Inside the pad
A lips sofa, a zebra rug, and a canopy bed. DVF has gone and designed the space of our tweenage dreams, except, you know, all grown up. Our favorite part about the place, however, has to be the staircase lined with 3,000 Swarovski crystals. Talk about bedazzled!
images via Architectural Digest /François Halard
7. Karl Lagerfeld's Quai Voltaire Apartment
Karl has owned or occupied more than 20 abodes in locations ranging from Monaco to Biarritz to Vermont, but currently he has settled in a relatively humble abode on Paris' left bank. It is, however, one of five he owns on the same block. One for sleeping, one for eating, one for working, one for his photo studio, and a final one for guests. Phew .
image via Wikipedia Commons
8. Inside the Paris lair
Sterile, isn't it? Karl has likened the space to a hospital's neonatal ward, and we must say we're inclined to agree. Except, perhaps, for that library you see, which houses the Kaiser's staggering collection of 300,000+ books. The designer is also known for his capriciousness when it comes to decorating, so for all we know, tomorrow that chrome bedroom could be filled with velvet drapery and tufted ottomans.
images via Architectural Digest/Karl Lagerfeld and The Selby
9. Reed Krakoff's Upper East Side Townhouse
The Coach creative director's seven-story, 18,000 square foot brownstone formerly held twelve separate apartments. That's right: twelve. According to Vogue it evokes the "modernist majesty of the Guggenheim," which pretty much says it all, doesn't it?
image via Vogue/Sheila Metzner
10. Inside the townhouse
The devil here is really in the details, however, as should be expected from a space populated with picks from the designer's wife, interior designer Delphine Krakoff. The couple once unknowingly got into a bidding war over a $60,000 Alexandre Noll sculpture (cute dinner party story, eh?), which now holds court amongst pieces by masters like Claude Lalanne and Alexander Calder. Heck, even the kids' rooms are furnished with Pucci rugs and Louis XVI chairs.
images via Vogue/Sheila Metzner
11. Tommy Hilfiger's Mustique Retreat
Hilfiger named this place "Palm Beach," presumably so he could tell his friends "I own Palm Beach" and really mean it. The designer has been vacationing on the exclusive island for almost three decades, but didn't commission the six bedroom, five guest house villa until the early nineties...you can only borrow Mick Jagger's place for so long, after all. Now the Rolling Stone is their next door neighbor. Can you say beach party?
image via Claude Fletcher
12. Inside the villa
The secluded estate is decorated in British colonial style and features furniture originally owned by the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. We imagine Tommy and wife Dee have been spending quite a bit of time here since selling their sold their Greenwich, CT manse for $20 million in favor of a cozier Plaza duplex.
images via Irish Independent and WWD
13. Giorgio Armani's 213-Foot Yacht
The Maìn , Armani's $60 million yacht, took three years to build and boasts an elevator, jacuzzi, cinema, six guest cabins, and a staff of twelve. Fancy!
image via The Dalmolin
14. Inside the yacht
It is, as you can see, built for entertaining. Whether it's the most luxurious of the designer's ten homes is up for debate, however. Other humble abodes include a Swiss alpine chalet, a cliffside Antigua villa, and a penthouse pied-à-terre on Central Park West. We imagine he must have a tough time deciding where to stay next.
images via The Dalmolin
15. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana's Portofino villa
Perched atop a cliff in the Italian fishing village, the designers' luxury vacation home has played host to such friends as Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, and Kylie Minogue, so it's no surprise that the inside is just a little bit glamorous.
image via Swiss Family Olson
16. Inside the retreat
And when we say "a little bit," we mean it features an guest room covered floor-to-ceiling in 18k gold. Also: a hand-painted zebra print room, mega-watt chandeliers, and occasionally a yacht docked outside. It's no wonder, therefore, the pair so often seek inspiration here in Portofino.
images via Didier Delmas and InStyle/Jason Schmidt
17. Vera Wang's $10 million Beverly Hills Mansion
What's a 90210 manse without an infinity pool? Nothing, that's what.
image via WSJ
18. Inside the Beverly Hills pad
Wang's pied-à-terre is probably the most modern of all the digs featured here (with the possible exception of Karl's austere apartment) and we must say we're impressed. It was formerly owned by Burt Reynolds and now functions as the designer's "zen escape" from the usual New York hustle and bustle. Oh, and also prime fodder for the gossip rags as of late.
images via WSJ and Harper's Bazaar
19. Coco Chanel's 31 Rue Cambon Apartment
Welcome to the lair of the legend herself. Well, her entertaining space at least — she got all of her beauty rest at the nearby Ritz Carlton.
image via Privé
20. Inside 31 Rue Cambon
It is quite the study in opulence, as you can see. Coco had a thing for Orientalism, and it shows in her use of red and gold accents and the scattered religious tokens like the Buddha atop her bookcase. See that sofa? She designed it herself. And that chandelier? If you look verrrry closely you'll see it features "5"s and interlocking "C"s. Custom made, bien sur .
images via The Coveteur
Coco Chanel designer homes Diane von Furstenberg Karl Lagerfeld Ralph Lauren Reed Krakoff Tommy Hilfiger Valentino Vera Wang
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