AD PRO - The Joys of Collaboration

A weekly dispatch from Architectural Digest's Editor in Chief.

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Dear AD PRO Community,

One of the perks of my job is getting to talk about beautiful things with some of the smartest designers, architects, manufacturers, and retailers in the world. This past Tuesday, I had the pleasure of doing just that with Waterworks CEO Peter Sallick and two designing couples who have created products for his trendsetting company, John and Christine Gachot of Gachot Studios and Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch of Roman and Williams. Peter zoomed in from his home in Connecticut, John and Christine were in their NYC office, and Robin and Stephen were at their house in Montauk, a place they’ve dubbed the “laboratory.” It was an ideal group to discuss the creative process and collaboration, the latest installment in AD PRO’s ongoing Expert Eye series.

Most Waterworks products are conceived in-house. In fact, Peter has only turned to outside designers four times over the years. John and Christine’s “Bond” collection debuted about a year ago, while Robin and Stephen’s—“Atlas”—has been available for nearly a decade. Peter emphasized that these two collections were conceived to be “classics” — meant to stand the test of time — unlike most of the pop-up collabs we see these days. In what he looks for in collaborators, Peter explained: “There are times when we want to extend ourselves into new places. We want to capture the spirit of ideas that we see out there in the world, and we need to refresh ourselves.” That’s a lesson we can all take to heart.

The designers, too, value the lessons they take away from such exchanges. “Peter knows design in general,” John noted. “So, there was a good conversation that went well beyond plumbing fixtures.” And Robin stressed the importance of taking the creative journey together. “We always start with a fundamental guiding principle or philosophy,” she said. “It could be a material, a place, an idea…. If you’re all guided by that North Star and you all believe in that, you can create something amazing.”

Well, they all surely have done that — and I learned a lot from listening to them talk about how they got there. I hope you’re tuning in, too!

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