Acclaimed Designer Joy Moyler Masters the Line Between Fashion and Architecture

Her client list includes Pia Getty, John Mayer, Leonardo DiCaprio, David Geffen, HRH Marie Chantal of Greece and other big names in Hollywood and art. And in a recent interview with our publisher, given all the high-profile clients who have her on speed dial, she was the essence of grace and gratitude, and she is very kind.

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So, where did it all begin? Joy Moyler spent her childhood inspired by the diverse food, architecture and fashion of the New York City neighborhoods where she grew up.

Her parents put an emphasis on exploring the many cultural neighborhoods of the city, immersing her and her sister in the history of New York from a young age.

“At the ages of 4 to 5 years old, we would stroll around Little Italy and enjoy the food culture there. We would walk around the Lower East Side and look at some of the old tenements of when New York was first developed,” Joy Moyler says.

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“To this day the Metropolitan Museum of Art is my absolute favorite structure in all of New York City,” she says.

Joy went to the High School of Art and DesignNew York to follow her passion in fashion design, but by her junior year her main focus had switched to architecture.

“The wonderful thing about that high school is that there were six-week intervals where you studied illustration, fashion design, architecture, photography and graphic design,” Joy says. “There was a rotation to give you an opportunity to sort of put your finger into each of these disciplines to see which you wish to pursue in higher education.”

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Despite the change in focus to architecture, Joy Moyler continued to weave aspects of fashion into her projects.

“I always wanted each of those disciplines to continue to be entwined in what I did, because I just didn’t want to give one of them up,” she says. ”To this day, there are aspects of the fashion of Givenchy, Valentino and haberdashery details that are integrated into a lot of the custom furniture that I do.”

Now, with a Bachelor of Science Architectural degree and more than 25 years of experience, Joy has worked with many of the most prominent architecture, interior design firms and fashion houses.

“The idea is that you are telling the story from the sidewalk,” Joy says. “When you look into a window at a Ralph Lauren flagship store, you’re looking at belt designs, you’re looking at the watch, you’re looking at the shoes, you’re looking at the way a scarf is tied, you’re looking at the jewelry, you’re looking at the texture of the outfit that’s being illustrated.”

Joy says that Ralph Lauren presents in a way that no one else does, updating the store design after six months to present a whole new concept and give consumers a unique experience each visit.

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“You feel as though you have just walked into someone’s home, for the beginning of the most wonderful dinner party, for the most wonderful weekend getaway or a wonderful girls trip somewhere with a beach,” Joy says “You are unbelievably transformed simply by the placement of product, the feel of the wood, the feel of a plastered wall and it’s all the absolute pinnacle of set design.”

After enjoying her time at Ralph Lauren and wanting to continue to grow and develop her design experiences, Joy Moyler became the US Head Designer of the Giorgio Armani Interior Design Studio.

“I essentially got to do the exact same work for a different brand, a different fashion house, and was able again to use a lot of the textiles from Giorgio Armani’s fashion brand in my work of interiors products there,” Joy says. “It was like being let loose in the candy store.”

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While working on a design project for Giorgio Armani’s niece’s ex-husband, Joy was encouraged to take the leap and leave the fashion brand to start her own interior design firm, Joy Moyler Interiors.

“My firm today, we continue to do a primarily residential work,” Joy says. “Eighty percent of it is actually in Europe, London, Italy and Moscow.”

When she started her own firm, Joy knew that she didn’t want to stick to just one design style.

“It’s afforded me to work in different parts of the world as a result of not having a particular style and being curious and adventurous in design and not wanting really to be pigeonholed,” she says. “So, whether it’s a residential project, retail project, commercial, or hospitality, I will be game for whatever!”

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When she is working with on a residential project, Joy listens to the client about their inspirations for the space, and she says often the conversation is led by a love of travel.

“If someone says that they love going to India, I jump right into my spice rack and I just start sniffing the spices and I’ll cook Indian dinner,” Joy Moyler says. “I’ll pull out a piece of textile and then I’ll look at a piece of ivory and think, how can we incorporate the colors, the feel, the texture of this?”

In addition to her design work, she’s also launched a small tabletop line, Joy Moyler Atelier, which contains a collection of nine different pieces with 50 units available from each design.

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“We sold out except for four little pieces, and I have some new items coming soon and replenishment of some items that were already sold out,” Joy Moyler says. “We’re developing new product as well, so that’s got a lot of my time and intention because I just love tabletops.”

What advice does Joy have to give for young interior designers with the ambition to start their own firm?

“I encourage you to work for as many firms as possible, learn as much as you can on someone else’s dime and not be eager to just jump out there and start your own firm,” she says. “The blessings that await you are so numerous you would absolutely be doing yourself an injustice to not experience that.”