A Face from the Past: Billy McCarty

William "Billy" McCarty was once a bright young thing in the world of decorating.  Hailing from Miami, McCarty's career as a designer took off in Swinging Sixties' London, where, after briefly working for the great David Hicks, he opened his own design firm and landed such high-profile clients as the Marquess of Londonderry, Kenneth Tynan, and Vidal Sassoon Salons.  It was also in London where McCarty began affecting a British accent- at least, according to what I have read.

In 1971, McCarty raised his profile further- especially in America- thanks to both his first-prize win in the Burlington House Young Designer competition and his debut collection of fabrics and wallcoverings for Kirk-Brummel.  Titled "Noble Savage", the collection, which you can see above- that's McCarty standing among his designs- was a modern riff on American Indian motifs.  With names such as "Hopi", "Geronimo", "Shawnee", and "Seminole", the prints were McCarty's attempt to "give people another viewpoint into Indian designs.  I think one's eye has been dazzled by the super-plastic pop art thing, which is a definite chore to live with.  The idea here was a softer, more fluid look."  Looking at these designs forty-plus years after their debut, I'm not really sure that I would call these prints soft and fluid.  However, I suppose that if one compares them to the riotous patterns that were so popular in the late Sixties and early Seventies, one could say that McCarty's designs were not quite as harsh. 

Whether McCarty designed subsequent collections, I'm not sure.  But McCarty's design work was featured often in Architectural Digest during the Seventies and Eighties.  Take, for example, the London flat seen below.  Published in 1976, the home displayed a sophistication and a maturity that refrained from appearing too serious thanks to a profusion of patterned walls and ceilings.  But as he did with the rest of the décor, McCarty took a disciplined approach to pattern, choosing more or less one printed fabric per room.  The result is a home that is spirited, yet dignified, too.

As compelling as much of McCarty's work was, it was his personal life that also gained the designer attention.  As a young man in London, McCarty embarked on a relationship with the wealthy art collector, Douglas Cooper, who had previously been involved with Picasso biographer John Richardson.  Cooper eventually adopted McCarty as his son, a move meant to ensure that the designer would inherit Cooper's vast estate.  It also resulted in the designer changing his name to Billy McCarty-Cooper.  Sadly, around the time of Cooper's death in 1984, McCarty-Cooper learned that he had contracted AIDS, a disease to which the designer eventually succumbed in 1991.  Fortunately, his work lives on, at least in the pages of decades-old issues of Architectural Digest. 

*Click here to see a previous blog post that features McCarty's work during his David Hicks days.

McCarty/Kirk-Brummel photo and quotation from House Beautiful, June 1971; London flat photos from Architectural Digest, March/April 1976, Michael Nicholson photographer.

Unforgettable Fabric

I have a mind like a steel trap. Or, the memory of an elephant, depending on how you'd like to say it. It's something that has vexed various boyfriends through the years. Because let me tell you, if they said something that didn't sit well with me, I never forgot it. And I never let them forget it either. Not that I endlessly nagged them about their lapses in decorum or chivalry. No, I filed it away in my mind and then brought it up when and only when it seemed appropriate...like in the heat of battle.

Well, the steel trap has come in handy again, though this time not in a romantic entanglement. This time, it helped me piece together photos of a really chic use of corduroy. I was flipping through Architectural Digest International Interiors yesterday and read the chapter on a London townhouse decorated by Billy McCarty, an American designer residing in England who, the book noted, had once worked for David Hicks. There was an accompanying photo of the home's entrance hall in which the walls were lined in beige wide-wale corduroy (fabulous.) The chapter's text also mentioned that McCarty used the same corduroy for matching draperies that boasted 14 inch wool fringe. My first thought was "Where is the photo of the curtains? I want to see the curtains! Why do articles and books mention something intriguing in a room, and then they don't include a photo of it!" But then it came to me. Hadn't I seen a photo of wide-wale corduroy draperies in one of David Hicks' books? I consulted David Hicks on Decoration--With Fabrics, and voilá, there they were. Too bad the photos aren't in color, but you still get the idea. And that 14-inch bullion trim? While I'm not so crazy about it, I know that I'll never forget it.

Corduroy Curtains Version 2.0

Remember my post from a few weeks back in which I featured these fetching corduroy curtains designed by Billy McCarty, the late designer who at one time worked for David Hicks? Well, Ashley Hicks was kind enough to comment on the post, writing that the curtains' borders have been reincarnated in some of Hicks' recent work. The curtains were to be thrown out by the new owners of the home seen above, but fortunately their decorator gave them a stay of execution and decided to keep them. She was kind enough to later give them to Ashley Hicks, who has used the trim on his "Lonely Guy" sofa and in his London bedroom. I recently read the Hicks article in the latest issue of World of Interiors, and I never made the connection between the decoration on the sofa and the McCarty designed curtains above. What a great way to recycle those curtains, don't you think?



In this image of Hicks' "Lonely Guy" sofa, you can get a good look at that geometric trim. It's nice to finally see the trim's color. (This photo, taken in Hicks' Oxfordshire home, is from his website.)

Simon Upton's photo from the January World of Interiors shows a different view of the sofa and trim.

Military Might

Every few years, the military look makes an appearance in fashion. Sometimes it's the cut of a jacket or coat that is reminiscent of a soldier's uniform, while in other seasons it might be a far more literal interpretation with clothes adorned with epaulets, braiding, and other embellishments. Peacoats I can do, but if a jacket has military gewgaws all over it, then that's a trend that I usually don't partake in.

But what about the military look in furnishings? Again, I'm on the fence on this one. Campaign furniture and tented rooms? A wholehearted "yes" and "yes". Embroidery and braiding on furniture and soft furnishings? Well, maybe. I guess it's the embellishments that trip me up. But I'm reconsidering my opinion after reading an August 2004 World of Interiors article. In it, furniture was upholstered with various military style details like metallic embroidery and trimmings that look like an officer's uniform. Take the sofa at top, for example. It's quite different from the average sofa, and it wouldn't look out of my place in my study. And while some of the more intricate embroidery is too grand for my own home, it might be a nice finishing touch in the right surroundings.

While I might not go as far as saying "I love a chair in a uniform" (with apologies to Gang of Four and their early 1980s hit of a similar title), I think that I could be coming around to regimental details. You just won't catch me wearing epaulets anytime soon.




Metallic embroidery by Layla Moussa.



The back of this chair is reminiscent of an old military waistcoat.



Don't you think that the design of the sofa throw pillow resembles a military medal?




The metallic braided embroidery on both the bed canopy and the bed spread reminded me of military details. This bed is at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire.




Again, this bed's embroidery is evocative of military uniform embellishment. At Château de Haroué.




One would expect military, Empire style details in Josephine's bedroom at Malmaison. The intricate embroidery on the chairs is stunning.




Curtains and bed hangings in Napoleon's bedroom at Château de Compiègne.




I've shown this photo before; the braided trim on these curtains by Billy McCarty looks like something you might see on a solider's shoulder.


First three photos from World of Interiors, August 2004, Tobias Harvey photographer; #4 from The Finest Houses Of Paris; #5 from Interiors by Minn Hogg; #6 from Private Splendor: Great Families at Home; #7 and #8 from Empire Splendor: French Taste in the Age of Napoleon; #9 from David Hicks on Decoration--With Fabrics..