You founded your Studio Mellone firm in 2012 after working for architect Robert A.M. Stern and designer Mark Hampton. How did you go from luxury residential to fashion retail?
The minute I started my company, my good friend Thom Browne asked me to do a store. I said, “Thom, I’ve never done a store before.” He said, “That’s exactly why I want you to do it.” He wanted someone to come at his store from a residential perspective.
It’s interesting. Categories that were separate have come together. Retail clients want their stores to feel like houses, and my residential clients want their homes to feel like resorts.
Since then, you’ve done seven stores for Browne, as well as projects for Jason Wu and, most recently, Carolina Herrera’s Madison Avenue flagship.
It’s interesting. Categories that were separate have come together. Retail clients want their stores to feel like houses, and my residential clients want their homes to feel like resorts.
Can you give us an example?
Carolina’s [retail] townhouse hadn’t been renovated since 2000. We made the space feel like a house again, a “home” for the brand. We replaced blocked-out windows. We brought in new doors. We put in stone and parquet floors. All three stories now feel like large living rooms.
What’s your uniform?
I go from construction sites to formal meetings. So I typically wear a Thom Browne shirt with upscale cargo pants and Red Wing boots that I can polish up if I need to head to a dinner.
Your most recent residential project is the amenity suite at 25 Park Row.
The architecture for that project is a modern take on classic Art Deco buildings. We looked at great rooms, hotel lobbies and the interiors of Deco transatlantic cruise ships. So we created floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, fixtures that look like Leigh lights and a mosaic pool. It will look stunning when it opens this spring.
