Sasha Bikoff: Global Interior Design Phenom & Springs Sensation

If Marie Antoinette were the Queen of France — or wherever — today, her in-house interior designer would be Sasha Bikoff.

When we first met the international interior design phenom, it was 2018, when she won first place at the 7th Annual VIP Tabletop Competition at the Hampton Classic for her Bikoff Equestrian tablescape. We soon began following her social media channels and became die-hard fans. We wondered how our favorite interior designer was faring through the pandemic. As it turns out, it has only accelerated her drive and output of stunning work.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First, let’s understand how someone with such an out-of-the-box design style found herself designing all over the world, collaborating with Versace, designing furniture, and so much more. From her start as a ceramist, and a fine arts and art history major at George Washington University and the American University in Paris to being featured by Architectural Digest this summer. Wow.

“I think that I’m not a classically trained interior designer is what gives me my edge,” Bikoff said. She was three years into an art gallery job when she began designing hers and her friends’ apartments in New York City — Bikoff had found her calling.

Her initial foray into professional interior design was an apartment in the Dakota in Manhattan, which won her the stamp of “interior design for the young and wealthy” by the New York Times. Her style mixes the space age modern aesthetic from the 1960s — think vintage Pucci or Marimekko — with 18th-century Italian Rococo and a hint of Memphis Milano from the 1980s, to give you an idea of how her design edge is definitively hers. There are few designers that can claim that, like Jonathan Adler and Vicente Wolf.

“When I first started decorating, I was buying remnant Pucci fabric from the garment district and reupholstering with it. It has that same happy, swirly color pattern and vibe that I love. It definitely brings back the 1950s Palm Beach glamorous Regency era,” she said.

Yet, the work is approachable and always puts a smile on its viewers’ faces. Bikoff explained how her style is inspired by so much — right from her devices, which certainly helps in a global pandemic. “I think with social media, we don’t necessarily have to go to France to get inspired by the architecture and interiors, we can just scroll and be immersed.”

Bikoff has exhibited her work at Art Basel Miami and Salone del Mobile in collaboration with Versace. She has also displayed at DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting Aids, the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Gala, Holiday House, and the Kips Bay Decorator Show House. Since her early 20s, she has found herself in the thick of the glamorous interior design circuit and drilling down into consumer goods such as a collection of carpets with her Disco Dots and Zodiac designs, as well as a wallpaper collection with Fabricut and Vervain, a mosaic tile collection with New Ravenna, and a lighting collection with a Currey & Company. We’re obsessed.

We are betting that her partnership with Versace will stand the test of time historically as a design epiphany of sorts with its unconventional pattern and texture mixes. “The Versace collaboration came about from my Kips Bay staircase. Donatella saw it and she just loved it and was super inspired by it. I got a call one day and three days later I was on a plane to Milan to work on two collections with them. It was definitely a dream come true for me,” Bikoff reminisced. “My life revolves between Miami, New York, and the Hamptons – and I always felt like my alter-ego is in Miami. Versace has always been my favorite brand. When you wear Versace you feel glamorous and sexy, you’re the life of the party and that’s kind of how I view my interiors with the same mix of patterns and prints and color. That was literally a dream come true for me.”

The lockdown affected her business dramatically and she had to pivot and find a way to work and live in a turbulent time. “Everyone was in panic mode,” Bikoff explained. “I wasn’t able to enter into buildings in New York City for my projects as they were only allowing residents in. I really took this time to work on my creativity, to design furniture, draw, think about future projects. I took the time to really design and gather my creative juices. After a couple of months things really picked up and I found myself in Florida where I have a lot of projects going on. People here are really open to really splashy, creative, and personalized design where they are inspired by their spaces.”

She’s currently working on a hotel in Mexico as well as homes in Florida and Connecticut and a dermatology/plastic surgeon’s office. It’s a real combination of commercial and residential. Prior to Covid, she was working on mostly commercial spaces and she believes that that will come back dominating her work again once the pandemic is behind us.

Eco-chic, she said is important to her generation. Up-cycled items have been important to her from an early age with family referring to her as the garbage collector. “I’ve always been the one rummaging through heirlooms and wanting to display my grandma’s silver and china. I’m an old soul and I have a love for antiques and vintage. I love to imagine these pieces have a history and life to them.” If one digs deep into Bikoff’s work, the historical value will make itself known. In our talk, she makes note of designers from the ’80s, such as Stephen Sprouce’s neon graffiti prints and the vintage Louis Vuitton version. She continued, “I’m definitely most inspired by the ’80s because design was very connected to what was happening in society. I always wished I was at Studio 54 in the ’70s in New York City during the glam of that opulent period.”

When asked about trends that she’s liking, Bikoff sees a lot of interesting integrations to her work. “I’m really loving younger, contemporary brands that I’m super inspired by who look at the ’70s and ’80s which takes a more minimalistic approach to maximalism. I love that juxtaposition. It’s taking a simplistic space with a lot of conversational statement pieces. Or a really opulent space with more minimalistic furniture. For me, that combination is great. I love that people are incorporating more wallpaper, like in a powder room or a foyer. I also love going back to the classic, iconic novelty patterns and prints from brands like Clarence House from the ’80s that people are using now in more modern settings. For me it’s all about that mix.”

Did we mention that she’s a passionate Springs resident? The East End is where she takes pause, to think and be creative. “I’ve been coming out to the Hamptons with my family on Cobb Road, then Deerfield in Water Mill, then Ocean Road near the beach. Eventually I had my own place in the Dunes and now in Springs. I’ve been coming out here to the Hamptons my whole life. It’s my happy place. In Florida it’s all about the glamour. In the Hamptons, it’s about wearing hand-me-downs and surfing. I paddleboard and fish. It’s a place that has ignited my sense of creativity.”

Her favorite spots are many. “I’ve been in Springs for five years now and I’m a big advocate of it,” she explained. “I’m trying to get all my friends to move here. I’m always throwing parties on the beach and friends pull their boats up. My favorite haunts are the Springs Farmer’s Market and the General Store. I go to Balsam Farms every day and we have a trailer near Ditch Plains. We surf as a family in Montauk in the mornings. I love Bilbouquet in Sag Harbor and Duryea’s in Montauk. We usually go to Moby’s on Friday nights. My favorite beaches are on the Nappeague stretch because they’re a little more quiet. This is basically my life on the East End.”

It looks to be an exciting and very meaningful time for Bikoff. “I just built my home in Springs. It’s going to be in Architectural Digest this summer. I will be having my wedding there in August.”

At James Lane, we can’t wait to see Bikoff continue to grow her burgeoning career and life as a design maven. As a second generation denizen of the East End, Sasha Bikoff is living her best life — with flourish.

To learn more about Sasha Bikoff New York, visit www.sashabikoff.com.

Ty Wenzel

Co-Publisher & Contributor

Ty Wenzel, a recent breast cancer survivor, started her career as a fashion coordinator for Bloomingdale’s followed by fashion editor for Cosmopolitan Magazine. She was also a writer for countless publications, including having published a memoir (St. Martin's Press) and written features for The New York Times. She is an award-winning writer and designer who covers lifestyle, real estate, architecture and interiors for James Lane Post. She previously worked as a writer and marketing director for The Independent. She has won multiple PCLI and NYPA awards for journalism, social media and design, including best website design and best magazine for James Lane Post, which she co-founded in 2020. Wenzel is also a co-founder of the meditation app for kids, DreamyKid, and the Hamptons social media agency, TWM Hamptons Social Media.