Inspirational Living: The Art of Collecting | The Collection of Michelle Smith

David Kleinberg is one of the most respected and celebrated names in interior design. Over a 35-year career with projects around the world, Kleinberg has created a body of work that is wide-ranging in style yet always modern and sophisticated in sensibility and highly attuned to each client's lifestyle.

Kleinberg started his career in New York at Denning & Fourcade and Mara Palmer before honing his talents during a 16-year tenure at the venerable Parish-Hadley Associates. In 1997 he left to start his own firm David Kleinberg Design Associates, which today employs 20.

Kleinberg is a member of the Interior Design Magazine Hall of Fame and has been honored with the Albert Hadley Lifetime Achievement Award by the New York School of Interior Design. He was first named to Architectural Digest’s 'The AD 100' list in 2012 and has been a member of Elle Décor’s A-List since 2011. Kleinberg's work has been published internationally, and his monograph Traditional Now: Interiors by David Kleinberg was published by The Monacelli Press in 2011.

Kleinberg lives in New York City and East Hampton, New York, where he serves on the Board of Directors of both the New York School of Interior Design and GMHC – a New York City-based non-profit and community-based AIDS service organization.

Reed Krakoff is an award winning fashion designer and creative director whose career spans nearly three decades. Most recently he held the title of Chief Creative Officer of Tiffany & Co., overseeing all Design, Marketing, Store Design, and PR. He is the only person to hold this title in the company’s history.

Along with his wife Delphine, they have collected Fine Art and Design for nearly 30 years. “Houses That We Dreamt Of,” Published by Rizzoli, contains images of 7 of their homes decorated and design by the couple. Additionally, Reed has authored books on Ron Arad, Mattia Bonetti, And Claude and Francois LaLanne.

Sarah Medford is a writer specializing in design, art and visual culture. She is a contributing editor at WSJ. Magazine and a regular contributor to Architectural Digest and Departures. Based in New York City, Medford has reported for almost three decades on trends in collecting and innovators in the creative arts, from historical figures like Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Helen Frankenthaler and Pierre Jeanneret to contemporary ones including Antony Gormley, Ilse Crawford, Thomas Heatherwick and, most recently, Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn of Salon 94 gallery.

Thaddaeus Ropac founded his gallery in 1983 and has galleries across Europe, in London, Paris and Salzburg, and an expanding team in Asia. Specializing in contemporary art and representing over 60 artists, the gallery supports and showcases the careers of some of the most influential artists today with a wide-ranging programme of over 40 exhibitions curated at the five extensive and historic gallery spaces each year.

Thaddaeus Ropac also represents a number of renowned artist estates and continues to build on their legacy, as well as providing curatorial expertise, acting as consultant to major museums and public institutions and advising private and corporate collections. Active in both the primary and secondary markets, the gallery also represents its artists at all major international art fairs. The gallery also runs their own publishing house, producing catalogues and books to accompany exhibitions, contributing to new scholarship and a wider art-historical discourse by inviting prominent art historians, curators and writers to collaborate.

Carol Woolton is a jewelry historian, editor, stylist and was the first jewelry editor of Tatler Magazine followed by British Vogue for over 20 years, where she remains as Contributing Editor. She graduated in journalism from the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, London and has contributed widely to magazines, newspapers and online supplements around the world including The Financial Times, Vogue China, Vanity Fair, Air Mail, American Vogue and the Daily Telegraph. She curates jewelry exhibitions and is the author of five books covering the broad spectrum of antique and historic jewels to contemporary styles. She mentors and promotes young jewelers and designers critical to the future of the industry and is a founder member of the Leopards charity, established in 2016, to preserve the expertise, innovation and design excellence in jewelry as well as identifying and nurturing young talent.