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| Mica Ertegun and Chessy Rayner, known as MAC II |
The elegant interiors of Mica Ertegun and Chessy Rayner, known as MAC II are associated with chic New York apartments of the 1970th. Billy Baldwin, a friend of Chessy's, had a simple but sophisticated style and he was the first to use raffia or straw on furniture. The team started putting it on walls and on tables.
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| Mica Ertegun and Chessy Rayner, known as MAC II |
Chessy Rayner was quoted saying "We like to mix things up... Our rooms don't have a period look, and not everything has to be a million bucks. What the rooms typically do portray is a simpler, cooler way of looking. They're not too frilly or busy... The less you have, the better good things look. " In an 1997 interview Mica Ertegun said "If you have good taste, you can find good things anywhere. The Internet has made it so much easier. You can get things quickly and inexpensively. But I would never buy something special, like a carpet, on the Internet. You have to see it in person." Mica prefers when clients take an interest in the design of their home. Only they can give their home a personality. "Everybody has taste. Sometimes it's good; sometimes it's bad. If it's bad, I try to change it a little bit." These two started their business in 1967, working out of Mica Ertegun's house. Today Mica carries on the work, having lost her beautiful and talented business partner Chessy Rayner to cancer over 10 years ago.
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| Ertegun with her husband, Ahmet in 1975 |
MICA ERTEGUN's social circle has encompassed the Kissingers, Oscar de la Renta, and the likes of Aretha Franklin to the Rolling Stones whose careers were set ablaze by her late husband, the music mogul Ahmet Ertegun. But interior design is where this style-setter has left her most definitive mark. Her style: Laid-back elegance combined with ethnic touches.
Mica was born in Romania, but in the 1940s she became a refugee and ended up on a chicken farm in Canada. Even poor, she tried to make her home attractive. "If you have taste, you can always put something together." she said. Mica moved to New York after marrying her husband in the 1960s. She enrolled in decorating school and met her good friend Chessy Rayner, who had worked for Vogue and they started MAC II together.
Following are photos from a project of the late Chessy Rayner. She did up Mrs. Nan Kempner's wardrobe.
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| Nan Kempner Closet. Design Chessy Rayner, 70s |
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| Nan Kempner Closet. Design Chessy Rayner, 70s |
The curtained closet is opened with italian stringing, a chaise covered with an Indienne print, a Nogucchi lamp combined with a Russian chest and a French Aubusson carpet.
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| Nan Kempner Closet. Design Chessy Rayner, 70s |
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| Nan Kempner Closet. Design Chessy Rayner, 70s |
A chinoiserie desc is draped in jewelry.
