DESIGNER STARS: JONATHAN ADLER

Jonathan Adler: I am sure for most of you in the States this Designer Star is by now a household name. However, this potter and (interior) designer is not very known in Europe yet. This could be due to the fact that we Europeans are not (yet) used to his signature style of bright colors and glam, seventies style pop culture inspired furniture.

So for my European readers, here’s a short introduction to this happy-go lucky designer. It’s also a story about perseverence and believing in yourself.

Born in 1966, Adler had his first pottery class at summer camp and from that day onwards he was hooked to the wheel forever. Later on, he allegedly studied Art History but actually spent most of his time at the Rhode Island School of Design making pots. Inspired by pop culture, early bling bling, fashion and contemporary art he was told that he had no talent and he’d better become a lawyer.

So off he went to New York where he worked for three years as an assistant to various entertainment lawyers (tyrants as he calls them himself). After getting fired at every job, he had a revelation: despite the disapproval of his professor at the School of Design, he wanted to make pots. Pots Adler himself would want to buy. His first collection was collectively bought by luxury department store Barneys in New York. After three years of working like a maniac, doing everything himself, he teamed up with Aid to Artisans, a non-profit organization that connects designers in America with artisans in developing countries to promote fair trade. Since then, production is done in Peru with fair pay to the workers.

But pottery was not Adler’s only love. Adler’s desire to design all the bits one needs to create a flawlessly chic home led to more and more. Today, Jonathan Adler is a design company with over 25 stores worldwide, selling everything you need to create a happy, colorful home. Besides that Adler is also the mastermind behind the interiors of many hotels, restaurants and private residences.

And you’re in luck as some of his eye-catching, glitzy light fixtures are now on sale at Lumens.com. So I hope you will have fun browsing the little collection I have made below and that you strike a good deal.

Save 20% on all products by Jonathan Adler at Lumens.com. Free Shipping! Sale runs 2/10 – 2/23.

Adler Pottery – I love the Muse Collection, incorporating body parts for a surreal style as seen here in the Georgia Orb

The Edie vase from the Muse Collection, inspired by Edie Sedgwick, best known as one of Andy Warhol’s muses

The Antwerp Floorlamp here combined with some pottery from the Lantern Collection by Jonathan Adler

Pottery from the Menagerie Collection by Jonathan Adler

The Ventana Chandelier

The Vienna Chandelier via The Zoe Report

The Giant Sputnik Chandelier

The elegant and feminine Brigitte Lounge Chair, a Mid Century inspired design which at the same time is so current, seen here with the Bristol Floor Easel lamp