Keren Craig
“My style is definitely eclectic. I’ve always been obsessed with vintage and antique textiles from around the world. Until recently, I always wore vintage during the day and Marchesa at night. Now we have our Marchesa Voyage line, which allows me to wear Marchesa by day and night. I love mixing prints and patterns together.”
“I’ve always been a magpie drawn to glamour and glitter! I think even if you’re short on time and juggling kids that putting on a piece or two that shines or glitters lifts your spirits and makes you feel good! Well, at least for me it does!”
Restorsea hand treatment: “This is the BEST, I get very dry cracked skin.”
Le Labo Rose 31: “The aroma is mixed right in front of you in the Le Labo store. I love that you’re offered a discount if you recycle your past perfume bottle – smell good, save money, and recycle!”
Chanel le blanc de Chanel: “Wonderful illuminating base.”
Restorsea eye cream: “GENIUS!”
“We have a loft in Manhattan, which is definitely eclectic too! We have a cherished home upstate so we focus much of our interior energy there right now…I love vintage textiles so they feature heavily in my interiors too”.
Marchesa Parfume d’Extase fragrance:
“We’ve always wanted Marchesa to become a lifestyle brand so perfume felt like a natural extension. The process of making perfume was so fascinating – I loved every minute of the process. It took over 14 months from start to finish. It feels extremely luxurious to have your own perfume!”
“My skincare has always been Patricia Wexler ever since I came to New York. Her products are amazing, easy to use and surprisingly inexpensive. Her facials are incredible too!”
Wexler Resurfacing microbrasion stystem
Pictured:
Toni & Guy Sea salt spray: “Great for beachy/ textured hair”.
Shu Uemera Essence absolut: “I cant live without this oil for my hair. Applied to damp hair, it stops any frizz. I love it!”
Kerastase shampoo and conditioner : “Love the scent especially!”
On her signature beauty look: “I love a smokey eye, day or night – obviously for the workday, I make it a little bit lighter!
“I think something is going to be the perfect shoe for all occasions and then find out its too small or it doesn’t go with anything! I am lucky to be friends and collaborate with Christian Louboutin. Another friend of mine is Tabitha Simmons, having friends like these helps with the collection!”
“We have a big collection of art as my father, mother and grandparents are artists- as too is one of my friends Charles Lahti whom we collect his paintings”.
“Contouring the face with josie maran argan creamy concealer crayon. also Adding some YSL touché éclait above your top lip makes your lips pop more and a dab on the actual bottom lip makes them look fuller”
Also pictured:
“Have fun, experiment, and most of all you have to feel good in something on the inside or it shows on the outside- you have to own your look!”
On her words to live by:
“Strength, authenticity, be passionate and loving”.
On balancing work and motherhood:
“Being a working mum definitely has its challenges. I am very cognoscente of compressing my day so I am able to get home for my girls in the evening. Luckily my husband is very an amazing father and very hands on too”.
On maintaining her blonde:
“Parvin Klein at John Barrett. I love John. They have taken care of my hair for years! They are truly THE BEST!”
On her 2 minute beauty look:
“You can do a quick brown smokey eye, you just need a fine brush for under the eye, then a good larger soft brush to apply the eyeshadow on the lid. Go heavier on the outside of the eye getting lighter towards the inside. It’s quick, easy! Putting some bronzer on your cheeks for a quick contour and sun kissed look is also a must”.
These days, it seems every other actress on every red carpet is trying to push the boundaries and make a statement. But back in the 1920’s, there was one woman who was way ahead of them all. Back then, Marchesa Luisa Casati was Europe’s most notorious and eccentric fashionista. A woman who would wear live snakes as jewelry. Who would swan about naked under her furs with a cheetah on a diamond-studded leash. We’re talking next level awesome. She was as adored as much as she was abhorred, and was by far the most scandalous women of her day. But the thing is, everywhere she went, Marchesa Luisa inspired genius. She was considered “A living work of Art”, which is exactly what the label named after her creates.
You instantly know a Marchesa creation when you see one. Elegant, timeless, eclectic. Precisely how we’d describe the sprawling Manhattan loft of the label’s Co-Founder and Co-Creative Director Keren Craig, whose style, just like the label, is truly distinctive.
“I’ve always been obsessed with vintage and antique textiles from around the world. I love mixing prints and patterns together.”
It’s that mix that has seen Keren and her Co-Founder Georgina Chapman create an empire in just ten short years “We always talked about having a business together early on in our friendship which is over twenty years now! It was during one of our trips to India in 2004 that we finally decided just to go for it”.
Keren counts Christian Louboutin and Tabitha Simmons among her closest friends, and the La Labo guys are neighbours, so imagine our delight when we found ourselves in an entanglement of fragrances and shoes. A serious amount of shoes.
“I buy so many that I hardly wear! I think something is going to be the perfect shoe for all occasions and then find out its too small or it doesn’t go with anything”. We hear you sister!
All this, the beauty, the glamour, the friends, and yet Keren remains refreshingly unaffected. She’s just so damn nice. As we chat, her children whizz around on their scooters and there is a beautiful calmness about her, this motherly energy – as if she’s most relaxed when she has her girls in her arms.
Enter into her bathroom and it’s refreshing also that Keren has a rather simple beauty routine. She sticks to products that work. Being the designer she is, she’s worked with some of the best make–up artists in the world, so privy to countless insider tips, “Adding some YSL Touché Eclat above your top lip makes your lips pop more, and a dab on the bottom lip makes them look fuller”. Yes please!
When it’s time to exit her abode that she shares with her husband Piers and their two daughters Delphine (2) and Delilah (5), we almost have to drag ourselves out. There is just so much to take in, there’s something to look at on every surface, it’s like some sort of wondrous, enchanted bazaar, with vintage and ornamental pieces from all over the world. From the cushions to the rugs to the beautiful Charles Lahti artworks, there’s just so much texture, so much character, so much intrigue, so much life! You get the feeling even The Marchesa herself would have felt right at home.
Photographed by Adrian Mesko.
