With the fall design season upon us, a wave of new monographs paint a fresh picture as to how the home increasingly reflects a person’s history and ongoing story. Providing readers with inspiration through the colder months, WWD has studied the season’s most notable interior design books exploring how interior designers are rethinking the art of living, in an age where the kitchen has become the pulse of the home, how furnishings preserve memories and how even a yacht is imagined as an intimate setting that brings families and friends together.
These volumes will offer a glimpse into concepts and interiors endeared by fashion and design alike — and the visionary minds pioneering a new concept of living. Enjoy.
Yinka Ilori’s ‘Chairman‘
Yinka Ilori, the British Nigerian multidisciplinary artist, designer and entrepreneur known for striking prints and designs that spark joy, has published his first monograph.
With “Chairman,” Ilori chronicles his distinct design language back to where he started. It all began with a chair, he said. “They’re just one object, but to me they represent so much more. Chairs were my first design love because of how many stories they carry,” he wrote.
Published by Oro Editions, the book spans over a decade of practice and expands upon the growing conversation around diaspora culture, sustainability and authorship in design. “Chairman” explores how Ilori transforms discarded furniture into vibrant expressions of memory, identity and community — rooted in Nigerian storytelling traditions and shaped by his life in contemporary London. Through bold color, pattern and craft, his chairs have evolved into vehicles of storytelling and symbols of heritage and belonging.
Humbert & Poyet
With their modernist French flair that is well recognized in the world of luxury travel and hospitality, Humbert & Poyet has also published its first monograph.
“Grand Interiors” published with Rizzoli offers a look at nearly two decades of work by founders Emil Humbert and Christophe Poyet, who work between Monaco and Paris. Written by art historian and writer Gay Gassmann, the book explores distinguished hospitality projects including Beefbar in Milan and Josun Palace in Seoul, alongside private residences in New York, Paris, Monaco and Switzerland’s Engadin Valley.
The cover was set within the duo’s first project in the U.S.: a collector’s residence inside New York City’s diagonal modern shrine to high-end living, 53 West 53. Designed by French icons Jean Nouvel and the late Thierry Despont, the property soars 1,050 feet over bustling Midtown Manhattan and the Museum of Modern Art.
Meyer Davis’ ‘The Language of Home’
Despite being the go-to for residences within marquee hotel chains like the Four Seasons, architects Will Meyer and Gray Davis have remained true to their brand mission, deeply rooted in creating inviting homes with ample space for building lasting memories.
Their latest monograph “The Language of Home,” is a testament to their flair for making their clients feel at home and with modern homes tailored to their surroundings. With a foreword by fashion designer Jenna Lyons, the book showcases a variety of distinct residential projects, from city penthouses and lakeside retreats to coastal sanctuaries, culminating in their first luxury yacht project.
Lyons recalled how Meyer and Davis transformed her own cantankerous vision — mushrooms beside saddles, faucets beside disco balls, moldings beside dog doors — into a cohesive design language.
The photo dump might have prompted many designers to plan their exit, she explained, but Meyer and Davis stayed, she explained to WWD in September. “It was the first time I was able to do exactly what I wanted. That freedom can create a level of chaos and lack of decision-making.”
Mick De Giulio’s ‘Kitchen First’
American designer Mick De Giulio is renowned for his innovative interiors and products, but in his latest book, he admits kitchens are his true passion. “I like to approach these not just as complete living spaces but as versatile, interconnected areas whose ease and flow innately connect to how intentionally we can live in our homes,” he wrote in “Kitchen First.” Published with Pointed Leaf Press, the 149-page manuscript highlights De Giulio’s contribution in shaping the modern home and takes readers on tour through a variety of homes, including a sky-rise apartment over Manhattan, a Nassau, Bahamas island retreat and the Aspen Highlands.
The book also touches upon craft details like De Giulio’s use of Cocciopesto, a material made from crushed reclaimed bricks. Resilient and water-resistant, it was used in the Roman times for cisterns, amphoras, aqueducts, as well as underlayers for fresco paintings.
‘Eighteen Interiors’ by Pierre Yovanovitch
“Eighteen Interiors” is Pierre Yovanovitch’s second monograph published by Rizzoli New York.
The book, which was released in September, brings together 18 recent interiors across Paris, London and New York and offers an intimate portrait of his evolving creative universe, where architecture, art, vintage design and bespoke craftsmanship coalesce.
With a foreword by Luca Guadagnino and contributions from Jared Goss, Daniel Harding and Claire Chazal, “Eighteen Interiors” gives readers a privy look into how Yovanovitch curates a home with voices young and new, celebrating the French tradition of décorateurs-ensembliers and the timeless elegance of Art Deco masters such as Jean-Michel Frank and Jean Royèr.
Yovanovitch segued into interior architecture after a career as a menswear designer for Pierre Cardin. In 2017, he launched his debut furniture collection, Oops, with an exhibit at the R & Company gallery in TriBeCa that features his Bear chairs (Papa, Mama and Baby). Since then he’s been creating haute couture interiors through his distinct lens for design, drama and history, and has a devoted client base that includes Kering chief François-Henri Pinault and Christian Louboutin. This latest manuscript is his own visual design memoir, he explained.
“This book is many ways a manifesto, an invitation to discover my craft, one I practice each day with passion and gratitude. It is a way of expressing the dreams that inhabit me, a quiet yet deeply sincere narrative,” he reflected.