STORIES / RA AT HOME
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
An article that sheds light on Raquel’s use + love of vintage treasures + secondhand finds throughout her Taos property
MANY FEATHERS RANCH
“I have a lot of patience for the process. There is something exciting and whimsical about allowing each step of the process inform the following step. I call it ‘emergent designing’. How you do one thing is probably how you do all things so this approach echoes into all aspects of my life as a designer.” - Raquel Allegra
Images captured by Kate Russell for Wall Street Journal
Thank you to editor Kristen Bateman + Wall Street Journal Off Duty
ALITTLE OVER a year ago, when Raquel Allegra decided to buy an 8,000-square-foot second home in Taos, N.M., the fashion designer was set on decorating it almost exclusively with previously owned pieces. “There’s just so much available in the world,” she said, “and they’ve had a life before they came to me, which is important to me.” So began a wide-ranging hunt: on Craigslist, on the Nextdoor app and at shops near her home in the Topanga neighborhood of Los Angeles. “I got my friends in a van and filled it up and sent it all out to Taos.”
“We’re a brand that’s inspired by vintage clothing. My relationship with things that already existed is one that informs my process. I value items that “have a soul”. It’s precious in part because we love it - it’s a point of view. Whether it’s interiors or clothing my process has been a relationship with things that exist already.” - Raquel Allegra
Bringing this house back to life was one of the bigger challenges
I’ve experienced.
There were a thousand big and little things that were calling for attention and fixing. The bones, the house itself and the land had captured my heart and I was 100% ready and committed to whatever that required from me. When I’m in, I’m IN. Taos is a strange and magical vortex. Some days the whole crew would show up and some days no one would. And so I really learned how to roll with the punches in a new arena. Not unlike being a clothing designer and having to problem solve new challenges and unexpected twists on a daily basis.
"When I’m looking for pieces, It’s important to me that they have a soulful feeling. As if they’ve already lived a noteworthy life. If they cold only speak and share their story." Raquel Allegra
