Your Favorite Fashion Website Now Has an Office to Die For

Here at Apartment Therapy, we’re big fans of Man Repeller, the online destination for smart, quirky fashion and smart, addictive writing about life, culture, and everything else. Last year, founder Leandra Medine partnered with Decorist to redesign her NYC home — and this year, she worked with Decorist designer Chloe Redmond Warner to transform Man Repeller’s New York offices.

We got an exclusive look inside the beautiful new space, and a chance to ask Leandra and Chloe a few questions about the design of the space, their favorite places to work, and how to create a workspace that inspires.

Apartment Therapy: What’s your favorite part of the new office design?

Chloe Redmond Warner: For me the conference rooms really sing — I think the furniture with the finishes turned out so well, and then you layer on the art by Ana Leowy and it’s such a chic and functional space.

AT: What’s your starting point for a new project? When you’re just beginning to design a space, how do you get really inspired?

CRW: I pore over images, I try to find inspiration that feels appropriate and fresh and relevant, I pin up tons of things and see what actually makes me feel inspired, then follow that thread.

AT: What advice would you give to readers who are looking to create a workspace that’s both calming and inspiring?

CRW: Do a realistic accounting of what you actually do at work—are you on the phone? On the computer? Meeting with people in groups or one-on-one? All of the above? Carve out moments where each of these activities is supported; a private space for phone time, an ergonomic non-glare desk for the computer, and comfortable corralled spaces to meet. Something extra to consider is having good coffee and water capabilities in-house. A Jura coffee maker is expensive but it’s 10x better and more eco friendly than pod machines. Aesthetically, go with making it beautiful—life is too short to spend all day in a space that doesn’t make you happy.

AT: What’s your favorite place to work? Is there a particular spot where you feel creative, inspired, where you really feel the flow?

Leandra Medine: I love working from lounges at airports, hotel rooms, on trains… there is definitely something about travel and removal from my routine that makes writing seem and feel much more romantic, it changes the tone I take and the perspective approach that I employ to whatever I am working on. I also really prefer to work in natural sunlight/during the morning hours when I’m caffeinated and feeling invincible as such but the truth is, there are no ideal circumstances for a craft like writing and sometimes you’ve just got to buckle the heck down and DO IT.

AT: What have other people said about the new office space? What do you like best about working there?

LM: The response has been distinctly goal affirming in that almost everyone has expressed how much they want to work from here, which is great because you’re all welcome! Kind of. Within reason. …Call me and we’ll work something out.

AT: What makes this a uniquely Man Repeller kind of place?

LM: It was really concepted and developed with our community in mind, with the spirit we espouse through the site of this collection of distinct characters, all of whom are different and unapologetic about who and how they are (and therefore we all have different working styles as well and that is where the flexibility to do whatever works best for a specific team member comes in) but who are linked by this umbrella of a philosophy and ethos called Man Repeller.

For the Man Repeller office design, Decorist partnered with Bed Bath & Beyond, with select furniture from Cost Plus World Market. The shelving in the fashion closet is by California Closets. Decorist Celebrity Designer Chloe Redmond Warner of Redmond Aldrich Design designed the space.