Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1439511
BAD-BOY HANDSOME ROBERT STILIN, THE SULTRY NEW GARDE SHOWROOM AND COCKTAILS MAKES FOR ONE SEXY SALON TALK. By Lisa Collins Shaddock. Photography Jonathan Zizzo. T here was something about designer Robert Stilin's a p p e a r a n c e a t the new Garde showroom during Texas Design Week that set it apart. As far as book signings go, it was … sexy. Perhaps it was the timing, with dusk falling and another balmy Dallas day finally cooling down. Or perhaps it was the way the Giopato & Coombes fixtures cast a soft glow off the 6,000-square-foot showroom's hand-plastered walls, concrete floors, and curved Pierre Augustin Rose sofas. Or maybe it was tough-boy handsome Stilin's description of how he selects fabrics ("I rub them on my body"). Regardless, the mood was set. Garde founders Scotti Sitz (in a dynamite Faye Toogood shroud) and John Davidson, who opened the Dallas offshoot of their hot LA showroom earlier this year, introduced the guest of honor, followed by a Q&A about his career and approach to design. In addition to his elegant masculine interiors, many of Stilin's projects are layered with noteworthy contemporary art. Farrow & Ball stepped up as a keynote sponsor, and guests collected the moody-hued paint swatch books. Following the talk, Stilin signed copies of his first monograph, Robert Stilin Interiors (Vendome Press). Seen: Kathy Adcock-Smith, Chris Angelle, Luis Araujo, Al Oliver, Josh Rice, Mil Bodron, Mallory Culbert, Mark Curtis, Chad Dorsey, Taylor Eichenwald, Greg Fourticq, John Cone, Brian Bolke, Jennifer Gibbs, Donna Guerra, Roy Marcus, Farrow & Ball's Carrell Stahala, Amy Tasch, Becca Cason Thrash, John Thrash, Melanie Turner, Leslie Wynne, Mary Young, and Megan Linquest. MOOD SETTING THE John Cone Greg Fourticq Marie Veit, Donna Riha Philip Vanderford Taylor Eichenwald Joel Campbell Barbara Savidge William Nash, Vicki King John Thrash Becca Cason Thrash Joshua Rice Robert Stilin Scotti Sitz, John Davidson Nancy Lane Shannon Mann Melanie Turner Jenn Gibbs Jordan Murphy Celeste Mijares Carrell Stahala