Last spring Charlotte Moss, the interior designer, author and New York society figure, opened a namesake home furnishings shop on a prime Upper East Side block, just off Madison Avenue. Occupying an entire town house and set up to resemble a grand private residence, it has been a hit among Manhattan’s well-heeled, a place where swan of the moment Lauren Davis registered for her recent wedding to Andrés Santo Domingo and where a set of four hand towels goes for a cool $525. But Moss’s adventure in retail hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing. A few months ago, she says, she made some “tough decisions” and fired at least two employees who she felt weren’t up to snuff. “I have very little tolerance for people who are lazy,” says the fluffily coiffed 57-year-old, who speaks with the soft drawl of her native Virginia but delivers her words at a rat-a-tat-tat New York pace. “There are people who are get-it-done people, and there’s no bitching or moaning about it. Then there are people who think they are doing you a favor, and I can’t handle that. If you’re going to stand out, you gotta do something, and it’s called work, W-O-R-K!”
Over the past decade, Moss has done just that, building a name for herself as the Martha Stewart for the upper crust. She has written five books on decorating, with a sixth, A Flair for Living, set to be published by Assouline in the spring. She has eponymous collections of luxury china, fabric and linens; she’s developing carpets for Stark and a line of fragrances for Agraria; and, in addition to the five-story shop, she still runs her 22-year-old interior decorating business, working on multimillion-dollar homes from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to East Hampton. Along with her husband, financier Barry Friedberg, she’s also a major supporter of the Parrish Art Museum, UNICEF, Operation Smile and the New York City Ballet, of which Friedberg is chairman of the board. In April Moss will cochair the ballet’s spring gala, a high-water mark in Upper East Side social circles.
A detail of Moss’s home
At the couple’s home, a 1920s brownstone filled with 18th-century French furniture, chinoiserie and floral prints, Moss is known for hosting elegant dinner parties, which often culminate in her guests gathering around the cozy fireplace in her backyard garden. She’s also a pro at assembling what her friend Deeda Blair describes as a “modern salon.” Last year Blair and fashion designer Ralph Rucci attended an evening chez Moss that was inspired by Pauline de Rothschild. First, they heard a lecture by design expert Mitchell Owen on the life and style of the legendary tastemaker; then they sat down to tables decorated in the Rothschild manner, with Indian-style printed tablecloths and multiple flower arrangements.
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