Today New York Social Diary House visits the Manhattan home of Cindy Gallop, ad woman extraordinaire and founder of the "pro-sex, pro-porn and pro-knowing the difference" movement MakeLoveNotPorn. Gallop purchased the space, formerly an YMCA, in 2003, enlisting designer Stefan Boublil to create "something dramatic"—"When night falls, I want to feel like I'm in a bar in Shanghai," she told New York in 2006. And dramatic is what Boublil achieved, adding black carpeting, black-gloss walls, custom pieces for Gallop's most curious collections of taxidermy and shoes, and plenty of space for her erotica paintings and sculptures. It's so cool, in fact, that it got the ultimate endorsement: Nelly, Diddy, and Usher shot their "Nasty Girl" video here. 16 truly phenomenal details, here:
1. In tribute to fashion designer Tom Ford, Gallop arranged a Gucci motorcycle helmut next to one the "anatomically correct" bustiers Ford designed for YSL.
2. Here's a "stuffed mongoose being strangled by a cobra," found at a Chinese street market. Gallop paid $20 for the statue.
3. True trompe-l'œil: a concrete teddy bear, from NYC's Affordable Art Fair.
4. The sofas are upholstered in faux chinchilla fur.
5. On the dining room table, there's a ceramic pistol vase stuffed with fake flowers.
6. Pendant lamps by Tom Dixon add to the nightclub, disco-esque vibe.
7. Dining room chairs resemble the Dior chair, designed by Christian Dior, but they're knockoffs.
8. Hard to see from this vantage point, but the opening stanza of Rudyard Kipling's "The Ballad of East and West" was screen-printed on the daybed's pink silk fabric.
9. One of Paul Richard's nude. Hanging on either side (not shown) of the painting are postcards handmade by Danish artists.
10. Full leopard skins—heads and all—were a gift from Gallop's parents, who bought them at a UK auction.
11. Take it away, New York Social Diary! "Jade sculptures depicting different sex positions from the Shanghai flea market stand atop the window ledge."
12. Gallop's taxidermy collection includes a pair of ducklings.
13. Peter Gronquist's gold alligator, which Gallop termed the "Guccigator," "keeps watch over Cindy's posh shoe collection."
14. Another work by Paul Richard shoes Gallop with her ex-boyfriend.
15. Another Gronquist sculpture, this time of a Chanel-clad AK 47
16. And, of course, the words "Peep Show" in bright neon lights. Why not?
· Cindy Gallop [New York Social Diary House]
· Where the Boys Were [NYMag]
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