Designer Jessica Gersten taps her fashion vocabulary to create chic, artful, and highly personal residential interiors.
Photos by William Jess Laird. Styling by Katja Greeff
Jessica Gersten
Interior Designer
When crafting a home for any one of her chic clients, New York-based interior and product designer Jessica Gersten always follows three guiding principles: lifestyle, architecture, and essence. “We first get a download from the clients on who they are, their children, work habits, and collections. Then, we look at the architecture of the space—and whether it is historic or modern—which dictates a lot about what can be done in it,” says Gersten of her design process. “Finally, we define the project’s essence. Is it structured or fluid? Is it eclectic or vintage? I have an intuition about people and can often determine what they are looking for through the space where they currently live, where they've traveled, what they appreciate, and their personality.”
Since founding her eponymous design studio in 2008, Gersten has applied this personalized method to transforming contemporary and historic residences across the United States. However, she began training her design eye in the fashion world, working for Ralph Lauren and Armani before she pivoted to interiors. The lessons she learned at those brands have poetically influenced her design work. “One of the first [fashion] collections I worked on was inspired by sculptor Constantin Brancusi and since then, I've been fascinated by the forms people can create in all materials,” Gersten says. Now, “there's a sculptural aspect to every project of mine,” one that helps build the richly layered interiors she is known for.
This design signature can be seen in the forms, materials, and objects she sources for each house, and in the way that they interact with each other within a space. In New York, Gersten recently swathed an apartment on Central Park West in sheer curtains, designed a custom horsehair chair for the living room, and selected organic lighting fixtures to bring necessary softness to its stone- and wood-paneled walls. “The husband was very focused on a structured, tailored look,” explains the designer. “Over the course of the project, the clients put their trust in me and I was able to introduce my signature softer, sculptural elements, which mirror more of the wife’s essence.”
Photos by William Jess Laird. Styling by Katja Greeff
Gersten builds each room around these kinds of formal juxtapositions, choosing both shapes and materials carefully. Bronze is a finish she returns to often, for its timeless feel, its beautiful ability to age and patina, and “the heart and soul it represents,” she says. When she selects textiles, fine linens, and natural materials, quality is of the utmost importance—“it’s 90% of the experience,” Gersten insists. Together, they make spaces feel soulful. “When you have the sturdiness and craftsmanship of a bronze piece next to the amazing texture of a handmade textile, both present the hand of the artist in different poetic ways,” says the designer. “A client who wants to live surrounded by that feeling is aligned with me.”
One of her most personally significant projects is an entirely bespoke Upper West Side home for art collectors. Collaborating with artisans including Emmanuelle Simon, Vincenzo de Cotiis, and Emmanuel Jonckers, some on their first commission in the United States, Gersten took full reign on designing this exemplar of a comfortable, inviting collectible design-filled interior. Sculpture is inherent, so her focus turned to the aesthetic and functional conversations between materials, forms, and the homeowners’ art collection. “The four creative concepts that have been consistent throughout my career are volume, drape, sculpture, and texture,” says Gersten. “Those words come from the fashion vocabulary and are integral to my work as an interior and product designer, too.”
Peruse the designer’s recent portfolio and it may be surprising to learn that her “signature used to be neutral, calm spaces,” she says, admitting: “To be honest, I got tired of it.” Her design eye has long been inspired by travel, and now she’s leaning in. From 25 years of visits to Tulum, Mexico—“where visuals of the tangled jungle and local textiles paired with my fashion background ended up crystallizing” as a rope lighting collection—to her most recent trip to the Spanish island of Majorca, where traditional plasterwork and hand-crafted design “legitimized those anchor elements of my own practice,” Gersten’s interiors bring together artistry from around the globe and embrace the visual dialogues between them.
“My tastes have transitioned from contemporary, stark, and minimal toward celebrating layers, cultures, and colors,” she says. “As a designer, there are so many other sides to me.”
