Nancy Collins Bespoke Design

Design Philosophy

Vintage with a kick… Art with a function…

“Style is Wit and Elegance gone dancing.” 
Nancy Collins

 As a journalist, I’ve traveled the world interviewing the rich, powerful, famous – and those who wished they were. My interviews – including President Bill Clinton, Jack Nicholson, Nicole Kidman, Will Smith, Jennifer Aniston, John Travolta, Yasir Arafat, Elizabeth Taylor, Cindy McCain, Drew Barrymore, Ted Koppel, Tim Russert, Linda Tripp, Lance Armstrong and Demi Moore – have appeared on the covers of Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Harper’s Bazaar, New York, Architectural Digest, Forbes Life, Interview, George and Good Housekeeping.As an on-air correspondent for ABC News, my conversations with Paula Abdul, Donald Trump and Diane Keaton, among others, were seen on PrimetimeLive and 20/20.
     On my travels, when I wasn’t talking, I was looking...always for the exotic, beautiful, original, quirky, amusing, one-of-a-kind pieces that now fill my New York apartment. Friends were always asking where I found my treasures; could I find things for them?  Still, it took a leopard pillow and my mother’s mahogany drop-leaf table from the Fifties to make me finally go into business. Working with a uniquely-gifted decorative artist – graduate and teacher at New York’s highly respected Isabel O’Neill School for the Painted Finish, veteran TV and movie set designer – I  produced a leopard pillow, asking if he could recreate the same print on Mama's mahogany.He did. And Nancy Collins bespoke design was born.
     At bespoke design, we give old things new life. Starting with unusual vintage pieces -- furniture, lamps, mirrors, objets -- we rethink, custom design and custom paint each. One-of-a-kind pieces with one-of-a kind finishes…tawny tortoise shell...animal prints: tiger, leopard, zebra, snake, giraffe...gold, silver, platinum, copper leaf….negoro nuri...faux lapis...fantasy malachite...black, vanilla, orange, red, grey lacquer – you name it. If you can dream it up, we can do it. Moreover, each painted piece receives layers of all-natural resin, insuring its surface is water and stain resistant, safeguarded against chemicals, chips, marks and scratches.(We also carry virgin vintage -- that is, vintage unpainted in the original finish).  

     Our gallery, Nancy Collins bespoke design, is located at Center 44, 222 E. 44 (bet.2 and 3 ave.), NY, NY, 10017. Tele:212.450.7988