Why Lauren Santo Domingo was ‘awestruck’ to join Tiffany Home: the incoming artistic director promises to bring ‘authority and authenticity’ to the NYC jeweller’s homeware range – interview

May 28 , 2023

Lauren Santo Domingo talks to Style about joining Tiffany Home as artistic director and about making beautiful homeware for the important milestones in life. Photo: Tiffany & Co.

Style caught up with the former Vogue editor and co-founder of luxury retailer Moda Operandi at the revamped Tiffany store on Fifth Avenue in New York, recently baptised The Tiffany Landmark

LVMH’s new baby Tiffany has always made homeware as well as jewellery – a category that has only grown since the pandemic, and Santo Domingo is keen to capitalise

When Tiffany & Co., the storied American jeweller acquired by luxury group LVMH in 2021, appointed Lauren Santo Domingo as artistic director of Tiffany Home, those familiar with her work felt this was a match made in heaven.

The former Vogue editor and co-founder of luxury retailer Moda Operandi is known for her impeccable taste, both when it comes to her widely admired personal style, and the beautiful events she hosts at her New York home and her Paris apartment.

Lauren Santo Domingo at the 2023 Met Gala, on May 1, which this year was themed “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty”. Photo: Getty Images/AFP

Make-up free and clad in a striped boyfriend shirt and a pair of tailored slacks, she looks like the epitome of whispered luxury when we meet her at the Tiffany store on Fifth Avenue in New York, recently baptised The Tiffany Landmark after an extensive refurbishment.

“I was awestruck for this opportunity but it’s something that feels very natural,” says the 47-year-old. “I’m at a place in my life where this is something I can do with a certain amount of authority and authenticity, and I have a fondness and a real affection for this iconic brand so it’s a total honour.”

At a time when concepts such as etiquette and propriety seem to be going by the wayside, Santo Domingo is one of those rare modern-day society swans who actually believe in them, while also understanding that they need to be adapted to how people live in the 21st century.

“When I was young, there was a lot of pressure to have the proper etiquette and do things in the correct way, to get everything right. So I wanted to ... take out all the guesswork and all the uncertainty,” she says.

“We want people to know that with everything that we offer they can confidently set the most beautiful table, however you’re putting it together and adding your own style and flowers and making it personal. You cannot make a mistake – everything is foolproof.”