We hope you know what “camp” involves, and by that, we don’t mean tents and canoes. It’s officially known that we are still in awe of this year’s Met Gala and the outre fashion on parade has been made clear. For those who were not into the Met Gala, they marked the opening to “Camp: Notes on Fashion”, the annual Costume Institute exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The camp is a cultural term that embodies “the essence of camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration”, with a style that’s laden with chutzpah, humor and go-for-it glitz. And now it’s time to bring that camp vibe in the interior design, even though nothing beats Art Nouveau for its campy theatricality.
In the world of interior design, there is no shortage of camp and that’s for sure! Let’s start from Ken Fulk’s life-size black bear and giraffe-laden grand halls and staircases to Sasha Bikoff’s whimsical spaces, Jonathan Adler’s unabashed embrace of kitsch, etc.
Now, we have spread our arms to hug some bold designers for their style to an unapologetic straddle, and that’s between the good and bad taste.
As you can see Camp is an elusive sprite, a shape shifter that means different things to many different people. The photo above is a corner of Jonathan Adler’s dining room in New York. Also, very dramatic interiors are Camp. Auntie Mame’s house and it is the gold standard of camp decor.
So when it comes to decorating, a campy room has all the elements that make you laugh or think twice! So that’s why the humor involved is the key ingredient of every room. That’s why Tony Duquette comes to our mind, because he is one the father of recycling and re-purposing in design as well the master of immense creativity.
This one above is Harry Heissmann‘s Kips Bay Bedroom.
When you see all those campy interiors, we know what exactly goes through your mind – over-styled. But guys that’s what camp actually is and that’s it! It does feel like when you drink too much and say you are “over-served”. It also might imply tongue-in-cheek but if it’s done right it’s tongue in chic.
You have seen the rooms that don’t even look like dining rooms or bedrooms but with the camp interior everything changes. Share your opinions with us, no matter how strange they might be.
