Estée Lauder's granddaughter Aerin designs opulent home interiors
Estée Lauder's granddaughter designs opulent interiors, but she still lets her children play on the furniture, writes P. Ramakrishnan
Aerin Lauder's interior design book Beauty at Home by Aerin Lauder peeks out from the corner of her hotel suite. With pages depicting chic living spaces, the patina of grandeur and old money is displayed in shades of blue and white in a book filled with grand interiors.
For those in Hong Kong living in small apartments, the book is like a staycation for the senses, a journey into large rooms swathed in Montrose linen, where gold-dipped seashells decorate tabletops with an elegance normally found in biopics about Jackie O.
I love shades of jade and gold. There’s an otherworldly elegance to them that’s fascinating
"I haven't been to anyone's private residence yet. But I'd love to sneak a peek at homes here. I like what I've seen of Hong Kong and China, and I've been here several times," says Lauder, 43.
"I'm interested in the sense of tradition and family values, the adherence to heritage, which is a counterpoint to the city that's constantly growing.
"That sense of tradition meshes beautifully with the refined modernity found here. My design philosophy is 'heritage with a twist' and I can see permutations of that all around Hong Kong.
"From a design perspective, I love certain shades of jade and gold. There's an other-worldly elegance to them that fascinates me. The porcelain white with exquisite ink-blue artwork in fine china is a motif that crops up in my homes," she says.