Hillary and her boyfriend Jonathan have only lived in their Williamsburg apartment since May—she relocated from L.A. just a year ago—but they’ve already made it very much their own. “I used to think renovation was impressive, but then I realized it only takes one day to do one thing,” she says. If her dinosaur wall doesn’t inspire a crafternoon, nothing will. The material that Hillary used to make her headboard is the exact same canvas she used in the pouch she designed for us. See and buy the limited-edition Of a Kind exclusive here.   “I made the headboard a month or two ago. I wanted to use this fabric for it because I needed something that was neutral but not.”      “This chalkboard along the wall happened because I thought I could retile something. I took out a whole wall in the kitchen and had a huge hole, and Jonathan said I couldn’t go to bed until I was done and it was cleaned up. So I made him get a piece of wood, but we couldn’t get a piece that covered the whole thing—so we got a chalkboard to cover it up.”     “That’s horsehair. I bought it because I might make horsehair things, but I don’t know yet. Everyone tells me to change the water in the vases, but my best friend and I are like, ‘No! Look what’s happening to it! The colors are amazing!’”    “I name everything in my house because I had a lot of pets growing up but I don’t in New York. All the cowhides have names. That’s Jeffrey.”   “I painted that print, so I made a laundry basket.”   “It’s kind of a joke that I say that I like to play with dinosaurs every morning. Now all my friends buy me dinosaurs. I decided to paint them white and do an installation. I started naming the dinosaurs, but that was too much. So now they have numbers.”   “This is the office bookshelf. I got this birdcage in Pennsylvania—my grandma lives there. I got those nails in the vase at Home Depot, and the rest was part of a bouquet someone gave me. I just made that—I don’t know why. But I like it. And that fox trap—it’s my grandpa’s. I basically stole all his junk.” Images courtesy of Jonathan Hokklo, who is a fantastic photographer and also Hillary’s boyfriend. He has a very beautiful Tumblr, too.

Images from the Collina Strada fall lookbookThough nobody is ever hoping to have a one-hit wonder career, Hillary Taymour, the very cunning designer behind Collina Strada, is particularly focused on creating styles that you’ll still want to wear in five years. “You need to establish loyalty and a fan base—like you’re creating for that same customer over and over again,” she explains. These are three labels she respects for their emphasis on timelessness. Jil Sander“It’s very Tilda Swinton, you know what I mean? It’s very well-respected among an older generation, but someone my age can still appreciate it. It’s super refined. You could pull something out from ’96 and wear it today—and probably be able to tell that it’s from Jil Sander.”Hermès“One person makes each bag—that’s it. It’s a process that doesn’t exist outside of that company. Even if you’re getting quality, you’re not getting that kind of quality. I think it’s really respectable what they do.”Rachel Comey“Most newer brands are trying too hard, but Rachel Comey is doing a very classic-contemporary look that’s minimal at the same time—she’s not doing crazy stuff. You’re not going to be able to wear most things designed today next season—or next year, since the seasons don’t really matter anymore—but her stuff is really classic.”

“My dad’s a gynecologist, and my mom is a horse lover. I knew how to ride horses before I could walk,” says handbag designer Hillary Taymour, who was so serious about the sport back in the day that the Olympics were a realistic possibility. That saddle-filled and fiercely competitive upbringing has affected the way she approaches both the aesthetic and entrepreneurial decisions behind her polished-yet-relaxed line of leather and canvas bags, Collina Strada. Here, she draws the connections between riding and designing: “I was maybe two. And I have on Minnie Mouse socks.”  On working hard for the money: “Growing up, I went to school at 6a and got out at noon so I could go ride, every day. We’d drive an hour to go to the best trainer. Then, there was a six-week horse show in the desert that we went to, and I’d have a private tutor. My mom was a like a stage mom for horses. I rode other people’s horses for them when they were at school. I got paid for that, so it was kind of like a business. And going to horse shows is like $3,000 a weekend—you’re either serious, or you’re not. You have to understand money and what that means.” “That’s me when I’m eight. That chin strap is so huge.” On learning to work with leather: “I know a lot about leather—how it gets worn in and how to treat it. I had an Hermès saddle growing up and custom-made boots and all that shit. I definitely learned how to make leather look nice. I had to polish it and take care of it. I think it gave me a little bit more of a classic aesthetic.” “I got to get all the cool outfits. I’d say ‘I’ll go to this horse show, Mom, if you buy me a new jacket—I want a gray one.’” On keeping things classy: “Because I was surrounded by all those conservative people—I was the one trying to wear little sparkly belts under my riding jacket and getting yelled at by my trainer—I definitely learned that there’s a taste level involved with becoming a household name. There’s a reason that Ralph Lauren is a household name—no matter what, you associate class with him. There’s give and take between being trendy and being tasteful.” Photos courtesy of Hillary Taymour