Alpha Kilo's May Design Chronicles

Join us for these Alpha Kilo Events...         

What: Mortlach by Design

Where: Across NYC

When: May 18 -22

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What: ICFF Preview: Ornare & Bernhardt Design

Where: ICFF, Javits Center, NYC

When: May 21 -23

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What: Cifonelli partnering with Chopard for Cannes Film Festival Gent's Night Event

Where: Cannes Film Festival

When: May 17

Alpha Kilo's A–K Muse with:

David Michon?

A-K:

What's the best advice that you've ever been given?

David:

It was in the form of a question: “What are you waiting for?”?

I overthink.?And, this question was posed to me by someone I had met about 2 minutes earlier, actually in an incredibly rude manner. But, it was also very perceptive and cut through some bullshit I was spewing at the time about what I “could” be doing.?

A-K:

Who shaped your design outlook?

David:

Three means of inspiration: First, the movie screen. I just watched BOOM!, a kind of bonkers 1968 Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton film that John Waters refers to as “the best failed art film ever!”. And, the interiors are wild and discordant and, in that way, really permissive. Like, it doesn't have that flawless quality of a North By Northwest, or a Tati film, or the regular references – it's all over the map, and still fantastic. I like that.

Second, weirdos. I am currently obsessed with this very playful but ultimately kind of odd design duo based in Milan; they are called CONCORDE. I love the zaniness of the now-defunct NEST magazine. And, I'm always impressed by great furniture resellers, who resurface some at-times really out-there old design pieces and get us to see the modern cool or relevance in. In Los Angeles we have so many – Formas, who sell on Instagram, is one of my favorites, and have recently sold a Capitello chair (that looks like the top of an ionic column) by Gufram, one of those oversized baseball glove chairs (simply called "Joe", made by Poltronova), and the Feltri chair by Gaetano Pesce (a cross between a throne and a duvet, really).

Third, Suzanne Slesin. She wrote the book on Lofts. She wrote the book on the Hi-tech aesthetic. She wrote all the books. And, most serve as excellent references for how interesting people have put together interesting spaces.?

AK:

What is your career highlight to date?

David:

I'm building up FOR SCALE, a Substack – which is a celebration of the supreme potential of the domestic space, a.k.a. it's a home interiors newsletter (but with more to come!).

With FOR SCALE, we're messing around with lots of design language and values. We care A LOT about interiors, but ultimately we don't believe in “good” taste versus “bad” taste, but just want people to make self-satisfying choices – which we encourage indirectly. I don't care if your house looks like a temple or a sex dungeon, so long as it feels like you've made it personal.?

A co-founder of Substack just subscribed to FOR SCALE, which was a thrill and a half. He must have great taste.