Blackburn + Sweetzer Has Moved

Clockwise from top left: Trina Turk and Elizabeth Jenkins of InStyle; Trina Turk prints; Trina turk poses with actresses Marisol Nichols (far left) and Leah Remini (second from right), The Red House Interiors owner Michelle Workman (second from left) and InStyle’s Elizabeth Jenkins (far right); Trina Turk pillows; click to expand

Home furnishing and accessories shop The Red House Interiors opened its doors Saturday afternoon to play house to ‘How Fashion and Interior Design Merge,’ a discussion with designer Trina Turk moderated by Elizabeth Jenkins of InStyle and part of the ‘Legends of La Cienega‘ weekend.

The colorful interior was crammed with young ladies sporting equally colorful dresses and tops, no doubt inspired or designed by Ms. Turk herself. Girls plopped down on cushy upholstered chairs as Jenkins led Trina through her journey from fashion designer to interior designer.

“I think any designer wants to design stuff she would wear herself, so I think that’s what led me to start my own company.” When asked of her initial leap as a solo designer, she went on to list Nancy Drew and Mary Tyler Moore as her early influences. “[Drew] was kind of an independent-thinking young woman and Mary Tyler Moore was fashionable in a very tailored way.”

Turk’s interiors line for Schumacher and what’s next, men’s, shoes, jewels…

Turk’s line with Schumacher consists of nine of her prints in multiple color ways, totaling 42 different versatile variations, including her famous Pieces Print. “I think it’s kind of happy and has a sort of Palm Spring-y type of feel to it. It’s super wild for home, but it’s doing pretty well. I think people just like the colors. The more colorful, fun kinds of prints could be a kids room in any setting, and when you’re outdoors you don’t have the confines of what the architecture is so much.”

As for what’s next for Turk, she says “We’ve done a small collection of menswear that we have in our Palm Springs store, but we’ve never really wholesaled that line, so that’s something we’re thinking about. And also, I’ve never done shoes. We’re working on jewelry, I have a big collection of mostly Scandinavian modern jewelry, so we’re doing a jewelry line and also working on beach bags and towels for kind of home-resort lifestyle.”

Turk ended the discussion with some advice to all the aspiring designers in the crowd, saying the secret to getting ahead is to “work for other people before you go out on your own; while you’re getting paid by someone else, that’s when you want to make your mistakes and learn. Project Runway has given this idea that you can graduate from design school and become a super star. Although that does happen—there are a few instances currently where that has happened—I think that’s a rarity and the more you can learn while you’re working for someone else, the better.”

» Decors—Inaugural ‘Legends of La Cienega’ Friday and Saturday

— By Keri Pina