Home Is Where His Art Is

Photo: Edward Wilkerson

Renaissance man Edward Wilkerson’s professional career has always been grounded in the fashion world. Two years ago, he came full circle and rejoined his mentor Donna Karan at Urban Zen. Wilkerson first met Karan when he was hired at Anne Klein back in the 1980s. He was a high-school student and landed a summer job at the fashion house after Karan and Louis Dell ‘Olio took over following Klein’s death in 1974. He went on to work at Calvin Klein, then joined Karan when she launched her own company, Donna Karan New York, in 1985 (along with the rest of her founding team, including Xiomara Grossett, Jane Chung, and Istvan Francer). When asked what Wilkerson’s title is at Urban Zen today, Karan says, “He doesn’t have a title. I always call Edward a partner. It’s a collaboration, about growing and working together. Edward knows more about me than I do.” Wilkerson is also an artist (one of his watercolors is seen here) and a photographer. He recently had a show of his own works at his home in East Hampton, which is now on the market — he has his eye on a new property that he plans to reimagine in an iteration of the black-and-white palette he loves best.

Wilkerson’s passion for fashion has nurtured his other loves: travel, art, and photography, all of which have been reflected in his homes over the years, from a midtown-Manhattan high rise, to a Fort Greene brownstone duplex, to the serene oasis he has owned in East Hampton for the past 13 years. His library, seen here, has shelving from E Wood in Brooklyn and features some of the photographs he has taken on trips to West and East Africa, Bali, Haiti, and India. Photo: Edward Wilkerson

The living room in Wilkerson’s beach house sports Deco élan with Vladimir Kagan’s Serpentine sofa in front of one of Wilkerson’s black-and-white paintings. The chandelier was found on a trip to New Orleans. The teak screens are from Bali, and the carpets are from Morocco. Photo: Edward Wilkerson

One of Wilkerson’s tablescapes features a pair of Elsa Peretti candlesticks, a West African tray with a bowl filled with jewelry designed by Karan and Haitian artists Pascale Théard Creations for Urban Zen, and a Moroccan tagine pot. Photo: Edward Wilkerson

Wilkerson created a gallery space at home where he rotates his own photographs, seen here. The hanging light fixture is from Fontana Arte, and the sculpture is a West African fertility statue. The chair in the corner is from West Africa. Photo: Edward Wilkerson

The pool house features a daybed from Design Within Reach, loaded with Kuba Cloth pillows. The carpet is something Wilkerson says he “had to have” when he saw it in a shop in Vienna. The large coconut wood vessels in the corner are from Bali. Photo: Edward Wilkerson

“The guest room,” Wilkerson says, “is an homage to my friend, the decorator Michael Del Piero, who has a shop in Chicago called Good Design. I walked into her shop, and we hit it off immediately.” The white books are from Good Design. The black-and-white ink and acrylic painting is by Wilkerson. Photo: Edward Wilkerson

“This property was my dream,” Wilkerson says when describing his home overlooking Gardiners Bay. “I like the fact that I have zones that correspond to different moods.” Here, in the master bedroom, he has set up a serene area with two vintage chairs he found at Needful Things in Sag Harbor. He recovered them in Maharam black stretch wool (replacing the original green Ultrasuede). The area rug is from Madeline Weinrib. “Basically, I can be in Paris, I can be in Bali, I can be in Africa. I can be anywhere I want. I call it traveling in my own home.” Photo: Edward Wilkerson

“My outdoor space is Bali,” Wilkerson says of the patio, seen here at dusk. The table and tabletop are from Urban Zen. The umbrellas are from Tuuci Umbrellas. Photo: Edward Wilkerson

The pool with a view toward the pool house at dusk. Photo: Edward Wilkerson

Donna Karan and Wilkerson at Urban Zen in Sag Harbor. “Design is design,” Karan says. “Whether you are designing a toothbrush or an evening gown, a designer is a designer, and I think Edward redesigns the way people look. He doesn’t just give them something, he evolves them, and I think that is something we share together. He still has such passion and that is rather unique. He and I believe it’s not about what is new but what has soul, and you see it in his work.” Photo: Edward Wilkerson

"Edward is like my Bill Cunningham," Karan says of the cache of photographs Wilkerson has amassed over decades of their shared friendship and professional history together, a few of which can be seen here. Courtesy of Edward Wilkerson.

"Edward is like my Bill Cunningham," Karan says of the cache of photographs Wilkerson has amassed over decades of their shared friendship an... more "Edward is like my Bill Cunningham," Karan says of the cache of photographs Wilkerson has amassed over decades of their shared friendship and professional history together, a few of which can be seen here. Courtesy of Edward Wilkerson.