On Tuesday night, Colin King, a stylist and creative director known for styling interiors for brands and publications including Roman and Williams Guild, Crate & Barrel, Architectural abstract And Elle Decor, celebrated the launch of his first book, Arrange things (Rizzoli). Held at The Future Perfect’s Goldwyn House (the Hollywood Hills mansion named after legendary film producer and former owner of the house, Samuel Goldwyn), the event welcomed a range of creative guests including Troye Sivan, Jessie Andrews, Jake Arnold, Chriselle Lim and more.
The title of the book is a phrase that appears in King’s Instagram bio, a literal distillation of what he does as a stylist who works in interiors. “My first mentor was Tom Delavan, the director of design/interior at T magazinesaid humbly [to me], “You’re just a mover with one eye.” That’s really all. It’s just getting things moving and finding and forging those relationships that feel interesting and tell a story,” says King The Hollywood Reporter. Arrange things (published March 14) offers a glimpse into the stylist’s process of elevating spaces, told through anecdotes and striking imagery.
David Alhadeff, founder of contemporary design gallery The Future Perfect, is a friend of King’s, making the gallery owner’s personal home-meets showspace an ideal venue for the event.
“I think when you can go into a private home and experience works of art, culture and living environment merge, something really special happens – people can imagine living with [art] in their own space,” says King. “[David] was truly a pioneer in displaying artworks in a residential context.”
The crowd at Colin King’s Los Angeles Rizzoli book launch
Kyle Goldberg/BFA
Tuesday night’s event was hosted by chef and event producer Olivia Muniak and sponsored by Maison Margiela’s REPLICA Fragrances, as the first West Coast celebration of the new brand On a date candle and diffuser fragrance. Guests roamed all three floors of the house (taking photos, getting books signed, gasping at the unique playfulness of The Future Perfect’s design choices) and chatting over glasses of wine in the backyard’s sculpture garden, framed by a grove of trees.
Cinematic, secluded and warm with candlelight, the house was transformed into a living exhibition of art and vibrant, sculptural furnishings, including pieces from King’s upcoming product collaboration with The Future Perfect. “They’re in the house as prototypes, conversation starters,” says King. “It’s this constant dialogue between art, design, life and use of pieces.”
King, who describes his aesthetic as “warm minimalism,” began the book production process with the framework for his story, but enlisted the help of Sam Cochran, Architectural abstract global features director, to help translate the creative process behind his visual medium into a series of essays organized organically into several chapters.
“As a self-taught… I have no process. It’s just intuitive. It’s innate,” explains King. “[Sam] was really able to distill it and ask me the right questions to tease it out of me. Like, ‘I know your objects are talking to you, but can you tell me what they’re saying?’”
“Colin sprinkles magic into every room he enters. It was a joy to unpack his process together, sifting through thousands of images to distill his ethos into a range of themes,” Cochran told THR in an email statement. “It takes a brilliant eye to capture the essence of a room and extract beauty from the mundane.”
This collaboration with other creatives is a familiar working style for King, who has worked on several high-profile editorial shoots, including styling his longtime client Gwyneth Paltrow’s home for the cover of ADVERTISEMENT.
Copies of Arrange things in the Goldwyn House from The Future Perfect
Kyle Goldberg/BFA
finally, Arrange things is a treatise on the often underestimated power of objects, and how managing a space – or a life – around it is a dignified and beautiful pursuit.
“I think less, better things are always interesting, but even with so few things, people still feel enveloped and warm when they enter the space. Not like a cold monastery, [but] very layered in texture,” King muses. “I think so many people buy things for certain areas. For me, styling is such a daily practice that really allows me to see the world in a new and interesting way. And I hope so [this book] does the same for the reader…be it a bowl, a single candlestick, a branch…arranging them in an elevated way that feels simple yet sophisticated.”
