Fall Market with Mary McDonald

Fall Market this year was amazing. Whether it's WestWeek or Fall Market, Market days have always been such a great opportunity for us to spread our wings and show the industry something new and exciting. This year, we invited Mary McDonald to our showroom for a presentation on the happenings in her design universe. From filming Bravo's Million Dollar Decorators to traveling the world working on amazing projects, Mary was kind enough to put some time aside to not only give us an insider scoop on her life, but also help us revamp our front showcase window! At first glance, many of our clients always felt that Moura Starr is about the glitz and the glam. Though it is partially true, we love our crystals and high gloss, the furniture still has the unique ability of smoothly melting into any interior design style. With different finishes and textiles, the furniture takes on an entirely different personality. Working with Mary was an opportunity for us to show everyone another side of Moura Starr. Like many of our clients, they love Moura Starr furniture's shapes, profiles, and craftsmanship. We LOVE IT when they put their own twist to the furniture.

Here, Shelley and Mary decided to go with the Herrera Table (preview from the Shelley Starr Home collection) featuring an stainless steel trimmed acrylic base with a golden ceruse top. This game table is paired with the Luna Chair in a rich linen blend (and the chair swivels!)

Our Galliano Cabinet is showcased here in a custom champagne base lacquer with an opal high gloss finish.

The Romanee Coffee Table was debuted with pour glass shelves and a stainless steel frame. This Fall Market, we debuted the new bronze frame with a combination of a shagreen leather top shelf and a deep brown ceruse base shelf.

These FANTASTIC accessories were brought in by Mary McDonald herself! We actually have a picture of Mary with the carved wood glasses frame - we will upload that soon enough! Overall, Fall Market was wonderful and we couldn't ask for a better turn out. The showroom was packed and there was such a great energy there with Mary. Couldn't ask for a better PDC Fall Market event!

Esquire Apartment 2011 | Shelley Starr for HUGO BOSS

Esquire Apartment 2011 from Esquire Apartment on Vimeo.

Last year, the Esquire Bachelor settled in the Hollywood Hills with panoramic views of Los Angeles. Though the the 60 mile-radius views of Los Angeles provided a vast and glamorous backdrop to star-studded events, this year, the Esquire Bachelor decided to settle down in a more understated and rooted neighborhood - New York City. In hopes of finding a unique venue for hosting his guests for various charitable causes, the Esquire Bachelor found his new home in Brooklyn's DUMBO neighborhood. Centered in a historical yet emerging neighborhood, the $25 million penthouse of the DUMBO ClockTower Building is now home to Esquire's Ultimate Bachelor Pad for 2011. Since 1993, the magic of the Esquire Apartment has been the result of bringing together a wide range of expert designers and craftsmen. Esquire pairs world-class interior designers with its advertisers to create unique rooms that not only bring the brand to life, but also infuse the Esquire spirit and philosophy of Man at His Best into each space.



Our very own Creative Director, Shelley Starr, was invited to design the Great Room for HUGO BOSS, a loyal Esquire Signature Space sponsor. The great room, on the primary floor of the loft, was a challenge. The design had to be elegant and luxurious, but it had to show restraint and focus to balance out the strong architectural elements."When I first walked into the loft, my first impression was that the space is very theatrical," continues Starr," Although it is extremely modern with 16-foot ceilings, the clocks give the place the feeling of an era gone by." Shelley brought life to this space by dividing it into three living areas with a central seating area that grounds and serves as a focal point for the space.


Central Seating Area - features the Be Look Sectionals, Romanee Coffee Table, Lily Side Tables, and Kudu Table Lamps



Music/ Entertainment Lounge Seating Area - features the Epoca Floor Lamp, Kalup Chaise, and Custom Silk Rugs from Aga John Carpets


Tequila Bar Lounge - features a custom designed tequila bar for Don Julio Tequila, Art Deco arm chairs and cocktail table from Anna Hauck

In contrast to the hard angles of the space, Starr chose round sectionals that are low in profile to allow views through the space and the clock windows to the New York skyline. Materials include soft taupe suedes, dark gray mohair on Art Deco chairs, exotic Macassar ebony wood, ivory details, and rugs that are as silky as a mink coat. Over-scaled blinds outline the awe-striking height of the space and clock windows, while minimizing the existing low windows.

"More than just the sum of its collections, the brand embodies a lifestyle," says Mark Brashear, Chairman and CEO of HUGO BOSS, the Americas," HUGO BOSS encompasses adventurous, spirited, international high fashion while being grounded in exquisite tailoring, materials, and classic styling, particularly in its men's suiting. Starr's design for the great room succeeds in bringing the HUGO BOSS brand to life for just that reason: it is appropriately elegant and understated, while incorporating unexpected and exotic details." 

DESIGN DIARY

The Esquire Bar Design | Shelley Starr for Don Julio 70 

"I felt honored when they approached me with the request for a special Don Julio 70 bar. After learning more about the Don Julio company and their tequila making process, I knew that this bar had to be nothing short of smooth, sophisticated, and one of a kind. With the bar, I let the wood take charge of my design. I created a patchwork of stacked shearing slats that include open pore, distressed wood, paired with gold ceruse, and a granite like texture to give it depth. To give it more drama (as if it needs more), we hung our floor-to-ceiling Bloom Chandelier, made of Swarovski crystal, next to the bar to echo the translucence of the Don Julio 70 bottle. I am thrilled with the way it turned out, and excited to be a part of Don Julio's release of their new ultra premium tequila debuting this fall. "

- Shelley Starr, Founder & Creative Director

DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT

As seen in the Esquire Apartment, here some of the favorites from the space!



The KALUP CHAISE is sleek and packs a contemporary punch with its clean lines and polished chrome carbon steel framed x-base.


The EPOCA FLOOR LAMP is oversized and could add a unique touch to any room. This lamp, with its high-gloss ceramic glaze finish and chic form, is a must-have accent piece. 


A showstopper! The TAO DINING TABLE features a unique base accented by a clear crystal top. In one continuous line, the base draws the eye across and through this piece bringing a wow-factor to any dining room.

Moura Starr's Rising Star

A shared vision to provide definitive singular furniture for every living space in the home breathes life into the partnership between a talented Brazilian design team and manufacturer, and an American distributor.

After spending eight years building her upscale home furnishings retail and manufacturing business into a highly successful enterprise, Shelley Badauy just naturally assumed that she'd reached the top of her game: stores on both U.S. coasts, a factory producing top-notch, high-end, much in demand furniture and a loyal client following.

That is until she took a stroll down a street in Sao Paulo, Brazil one day.

What she saw was innovative, perfectly crafted furniture that would become the new heart of her business.

"I'm one of those types who only wants to deal with the best," Badauy, thefounder of Atmosphere (today Moura Starr), notes. "And this furniture definitely fit that description. It was very different from what I'd been doing up until that point, but in the few minutes it took for me to go into that store in Sao Paulo and see these pieces, I knew my whole business model would be taking a new turn."

In short order, Badauy tracked down the design team responsible for the furniture. Graca Kazan and Luis Mario Moura, who together had been running their own furniture manufacturing interest M. Brazil - for 6 1/2 years. The gifted designers were virtually unknown outside of their country.

For Moura Starr it was a winning partnership. To take their business to the next level, Kazan and Moura needed a business partner to steer them in marketing and distribution. Because M. Brazil had its own factory, as well as products destined to become spectacular hits with Moura Starr's upscale U.S. audience, the outlook for a winning partnership couldn't have been brighter.

The Perfect Partnership
Moura Starr is the now exclusive distributor for the M. Brazil line in the U.S. in its stores in New York and Los Angeles.

Visit www.mourastarr.com to view gallery or products.

CLASSIC-TCHAD Magazine - LA Underground - June 2010

Shelley B. Starr Designer and Founder of Moura Starr. 

To meet Shelley Starr is to fall in love. Elegant, charming and strong, Ms Starr is a leader in home furniture design. Her internationally recognized luxury brand of home furnishings is as timeless and beautiful as the designer herself. To walk into a Moura Starr showroom and speak to Ms. Starr is to be surrounded by the sublime. 

I interviewed Shelley Starr in her showroom in Los Angeles in the prestigious Pacific Design Center on Melrose Avenue. Entering a long black corridor to the main reception desk, lighted by crystal chandeliers, I felt as though I was entering an elegant home and I wanted to move in! A perfectionist with a keen sense of detail, quality, craftsmanship and balance in her design, Ms Starr’s home furnishing designs are unique. We sat down on a black linear corner sofa that was both austere and comfortable. Covered in a black velvet corduroy I felt myself slowly nestling in, my hand wanting to continuously stroke the fabric like the soft, silky coat of a cat. And I purred inside. A black lacquer and glass coffee table completed the vignette. It was round with a difference. Though stationary and solid in colour the table had movement and flow like a tide pool. When ask about the inspiration for its design, Ms. Starr, with a glint of passion in her blue eyes, recalled how she was in the dessert and drew the lines of the table in the sand. When I remarked on a dinning table in the showroom window with the raw and rustic look of a tree cut through the center, she gave me a window into how she experiences the world. When looking at a waterfall one day she watched the water cascading between two rocks and saw the design for a table. “I see structure everywhere I go”, she remarked obviously delighted by the world around her. “I love the use of fine materials and the idea of creating something without limitations…which is why Moura Starr is so unique and unlike other furniture companies.” Ms. Starr’s inspirations are her experiences, her travels around the globe and what matters to her in her life now, today. Since first meeting Ms. Starr in 2006 in New York City at her SOHO showroom her design has evolved, yet is unmistakably distinguishable as her own. Defined by both a construction of the materials she uses and the natural beauty of the materials themselves, one foiling the other as they overlap creating sideboards and tables, beds and chairs. Each time one looks at a piece one notices something new in the details: the texture of leather on wood; a fur hide juxtaposed to gleaming steel; the slats of wood like an accordion cascading over the hard lines of a black lacquer coffee table in the shape of an “L”; the manner in which a sofa gently curves back inviting you to sit down. Like Ms. Starr herself the designs of the furniture are at once complex and very simple, strong, yet subtle, daring yet modest, masculine, yet with moments of a light demure femininity that is as momentary as the whisking away of a strand of hair from her mouth or the feather pattern whispering in the fabric of a hard lined chair. 

Ms. Starr left business school to travel, explore and embark on her personal journey to becoming a designer. Her foray into the world of design had a very home spun and modest beginning. She started by sewing pillows on her living room floor. With little money she was only able to purchase six fabrics. In order to stretch her “portfolio” of pillows she hand dyed the fabrics in several colours. Fourteen years later with 267 employees worldwide Moura Starr owns its own manufacturing, distribution, import and export business and the showrooms: two in New York City; one in Los Angeles; and one in Jeddah. All the furniture is handcrafted at the Moura Starr factory. 

Ms. Starr’s rise in the design world has not been without her challenges, defeats and struggles. With uncompromising independence, drive and a sense of responsibility Ms. Starr’s growth of the Moura Starr brand is like that of Howard Roark, the protagonist in Ayn Rand’s 1943 novel, The Fountain Head. As an individualist, refusing to genuflect to a culture of collectivism, Ms. Starr has found herself struggling against society as she refuses to go with the “norm”. Yet, growing an evergreen brand never comes without struggle. The Moura Starr collection is a luxury brand with a classic look. Though evolving each piece is a collectable work of art that transcends trends and eras. Moura Starr is the haute couture house of home design. 

Home is very important to Ms. Starr, not only as the embodiment of powerful design that fills a space and gives it completion, but also as a mother of a young daughter, Sophia, and wife. Home is where Sophia and Ms. Starr work on late night art projects; where Ms. Starr enjoys cooking while her husband fixes a cocktail; where she bakes something for her daughter. Family surrounds Ms. Starr, from her mother as friend and confident to her gorgeous husband whom she adores, to her little princess Sophia who is the obvious shining star in her life. It is not easy balancing a life with so many demands: wife; mother; businessperson; designer; woman. Her secret is to compartmentalize her time and concentrate on one piece at a time. To spend time with Ms. Starr is to know that she is hard on herself striving to always be the very best and proud yet modest about her accomplishments. Yet, like her design there is always something that you miss at first glance. Behind the beauty and strength is also an innocence that is the spell of her charm. A giggle about treating herself to a new handbag (and the screwball comedy that went along with the purchase), her faith in the world, her loyalty and humble admiration for other people’s being, whether it be patience through love or success in the worlds of business and art. 

Both Moura Starr and its founder Shelley Starr are one-of-a kind that demand admiration. 

Sandra Caryl 
LA Underground January 2010.
http://www.mourastarr.com/press_selected.php?id_press=109

Getting to Know: Shelly Starr

By Boutique Design News


Shelly Starr is a young and innovative entrepreneur and the brain behind the Moura Starr brand. Moura Starr is an international furniture and manufacturing company that has the unique distinction of being completely green. With environmental soundness such as that, it’s no surprise that the brand attracts celebrity fans like Jennifer Aniston and Queen Latifah. Shelly’s company is a testament to her quality of work and here we’ve got the inside scoop of the woman heading this successful, international company of her own.


Q&A

What do you do?I run five companies. I am the creative director and head of product development for Moura Starr and I oversee all aspects of the company.It was a chaise lounge.


What was the first thing that you designed?
It was a chaise lounge.

Who are your idols?They always have been and never can read enough about:Jackie Kennedy OnassisCoco ChanelGrace KellyAudrey Hepburn

If you could do anything else other than design, what would it be? I would love to open a small restaurant and be head chef. If I could sit and cook for people all day that would be my dream.

Where do you go for inspiration? I go home with my family and go for drives with my husband and wherever we are, I pull my inspiration from the talks we have. It’s really internal and about what is going on inside of us.

What do you love about your life? 
I am a mother of a 3-year-old and love to spend every extra moment with her. I love how hard she can make me laugh. I love being a mother.

Promo

Shelley Starr Post Card with Sophia 

More designs

Montage Kitchen table designed by Shelley Starr

How many people like this kid's room I designed?

Designed by Shelley Starr

Moura Starr is Shelley Starr Design

 

The most stunning showroom was Moura Starr. This showed furniture, lighting, wallpaper, and fine art. Moura Starr designs, engineers and hand crafts every piece of furniture in their collection.-by John Shelburne

Room by Shelley Starr

Ultra Modern and Sophisticated.Ultra Modern and Sophisticated.

The Woman Behind the Company - Moura Starr

Shelley Starr

Welcome to Moura Starr and our pursuit of excellence in design. For years I have traveled the world, exploring and discovering the art and design of countless countries and cultures. It is from these journeys that I find endless inspiration and creativity.

By blending my passion for interior design, fashion and architecture, I have created a company that pushes the boundaries of the luxury home furnishings market. Each piece by Moura Starr is crafted by hand and custom made to become one-of-a-kind. Each design is driven by perfection; to use only the world's most luxurious fabrics and woods resulting in the ultimate expression of modern elegance.


Welcome to Moura Starr and my passion.

Shelley Starr 

Shelley Starr is Moura Starr

 

Luxury Furniture and Lighting | Timeless Design | Elegant Modern Furniture | High end Home Fabrics, Leather, Wallpaper | Exotic Sustainable Woods.-Designed by Shelley Starr

SHELLEY STARR DEIGNS REBECCA SHERMAN’S HOUSES GARDENS PEOPLE

Star Quality. . . some designers have it, some don't. Shelley Starr's certainly got the name for it. And a look at her newest lighting and furniture collection for Los Angeles-based Moura Starr, which Allan Knight has just brought to his Dallas showroom, reveals enough razzle dazzle to pave the Milky Way.

Heavenly allusions aside, this is one glamorous and exciting new addition to the Dallas design scene that you don't want to miss. Shelley Starr, founder of Moura Starr, when she was in town recently to install her collection at Allan Knight

Shelly Starr, a California native, spent years modeling in Europe and Japan before turning to furniture design. Her love of fashion was a huge influence. "I look at materials and how things are made. A Chanel coat, a dress by Carolina Herrera -- the materials they use are magnificent and the cut is obviously exquisite," she says. "But it's the nuances that only the person wearing it will see that make it special, that elevate it. I always believed my furniture should do that."

She founded Moura Starr 15 years ago. Early on, all of her furniture was built in the company's factories in Brazil. She's now moved everything to California, where her furniture is built by hand by local craftspeople.

 "I've always been infatuated with antiques and mid century furniture. But I don't want to live in a room full of antiques, and I don't want to live in mid century modern room either. So I redefined the look (of the collection) for how we live today," says Shelley Starr.

 "We used to pass things down from generation to generation, but we've lost that in American culture," says Shelley Starr, who designs her furniture to be collected as modern day heirlooms. "It starts with the use of fine materials. Everything is 100 percent sustainable. There's a lot of hype around that word, but it's not that way in Europe or with us. We won awards for sustainability six years ago, before anyone knew what it meant...

 "...Sustainability is taking materials and knowing if our resources are limited, what will we do with them so they're not throwaway, like Ikea and Pottery Barn. There is a price to be paid for these cheap products because they deplete our resources," she says. "We build our furniture in a manner that will last. There is so little of that these days. If you think about it, who is making the future antiques of our day, the furniture to represent our time here?"

 "There is a fine art to what we create," says Shelley Starr, who's patented her process of veneering, which uses metal structure underneath to strengthen. "I'm able to build in fine lines this way. Our furniture is sleek and beautiful couture, not chunky and heavy."

Moura Starr's crystal tabletops have a signature liquid look, full of depth and shine, as if they are pools of water that might be disturbed if you place an object on the surface. Starr says this effect is produced by the many layers of lacquer underneath. "It's not the same at all as coloring glass, which has very little depth," she says.

"There's no such thing as filler in my line. As you can see, everything is thought through and has a strong purpose and reason to be included," says Shelley Starr, who notes that her design influences right now are classical lines, whether it's furniture or lighting.

"The interior design manager of Armani Casa, Joy Myler, called me the Chanel of furniture," says Starr, relating how Moyler told her that Armani Casa designers sometimes use Moura Starr pieces in design projects for certain celebrity clients and "friends of the house."

 "It was such a nice compliment," says Starr. "I know couture, I love beautiful clothing. It's not just what people see or the fabrics, it's how they feel when they wear the clothes. It's the same with furniture: the way a leg curves, the small details a person who owns the pieces comes to learn."

 "We are very customizable. You can take a cabinet and do it in crystal and lacquer, or add colored crystal fronts," says Shelley Starr. "We have leather, eel, and stingray, and so many different beautiful finishes. Mostly what sets us apart are the lines of the piece, every inch sets us apart, but it's not something you see right away. The client knows they've seen something special, but often they're not sure why."

 "I always tell our salespeople, don't sell our furniture. Just educate," says Shelley Starr, who sends customers away with a list of other top competitors for them to go see -- and compare -- after they've walked through her collection.

 "I tell them to go shop around. If we are still on your mind after you've seen what the rest of the industry has to offer, then we're the right one for you. I didn't start out in this business to sell furniture, I wanted to make amazing things."