A Fashionable Life: Erica Pelosini and Louis Leeman In Los Angeles
For the longest time, Erica Pelosini Leeman, the pint-sized style star known for her eclectic fashion mix, always thought of herself as a New Yorker—dressed to the nines, wearing statement heels, riding downtown in a yellow taxi, and strutting about Fifth Avenue with an effortless urban attitude.
This all changed in 2014, when she walked into the pristine surroundings of Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, where The Last Sitting’s famous set and Marilyn Monroe’s beauty were immortalised by photographer Bert Stern for Vogue in 1962. After a six-month stay here, the allure of LA had become undeniable, and Erica realised that she wanted to call LA home. Perhaps, the modern-day Hotel Bel-Air helped sell the California dream with its pink stucco façade, glistening swan lake, the Wolfgang Puck restaurant, and sensuous interiors restored by Alexandra Champalimaud. “The synergy between the arts and film industry here is so infectious,” Erica muses. “Spending my childhood between the historical centre of Florence and the Italian countryside, I have a penchant for the big city life, while still being close to the sea.”
High up in the Trousdale Estates on Beverly Hills was where Erica and her shoe designer husband Louis Leeman found the perfect gem for their abode: a 1961 mid-century stunner designed by Richard Neutra. Overlooking the ocean on the left and the famed Hollywood sign on the right, the couple’s Beverly Hills home is an ideal mix of laid-back simplicity and urban sophistication. “Our old apartment in Paris was complete with lavish elements such as a grand staircase, vintage sparkly chandeliers, gilded mirrors, and diagonally interlaced Versailles parquet flooring,” Erica says. “But when we thought about California, we saw ourselves cozying up in a quintessential Californian home with a ’60s vibe.”
And so they did. Upon entering, the designer furniture in the living room takes centre stage, as if it were taken straight out of an iconic textbook on modern chairs for the design enthusiast. A pair of Florence Knoll sofas in light muted grey floral motifs exude understated luxury, while a white Barcelona pouf, also produced by Knoll, encapsulates Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s most famous aphorism: “less is more”, which succinctly describes the couple’s home. “The best thing about Los Angeles is the eternal sunshine,” Erica enthuses about the morning glow streaming through the extensive floor-to-ceiling glass windows in the living room and kitchen. These very windows open up to a little pool patio, which Erica calls “a little piece of Italy”. Here, she has lemon and olive trees all lined up, as well as the sweet scent of lavender and rosemary wafting through the air, amid the breathtaking view of the hills—all of which are subtle nods to her Tuscan roots.
Every morning, Erica sits by the pool, planning her next big project. Currently, she is producing and starring in a docuseries titled Total Models with E! Entertainment, slated to air in February 2018, alongside models Nadine Leopold and Devon Windsor. This comes naturally as she’s art directed Farfetch’s film series The Unfollowers in 2015, where influential names in the fashion industry such as Michel Gaubert and Vera Wang have shared their inspiring stories.
Hailing from a family of artists in Florence, Erica’s passion for fashion started when she was only 5 years old: “I was walking for Giorgio Armani and I realised I wanted to dictate the exact look I wanted to wear, and how my hair should have looked,” Erica laughs. Years later, Erica found herself walking through the glamorous doors of Vogue Japan in a full Prada look for her job as a fashion assistant. “The stylist looked at me and immediately said, ‘You’re not in a fashion show, Erica!’ I knew that having a role behind the scenes was hard work, but it has also given me the opportunity to travel the world with tons of trunks, steaming hundreds of dresses!” she professes. Combining her past of assisting Sissy Vian at Vogue Japan and presently as editor-at-large at L’Officiel magazines, Erica has worked with the top names in the industry including Victoria Beckham, Kate Winslet, and Jessica Chastain.
When Erica isn’t walking the streets of Milan and Paris in any one of her over-2,000-pair designer shoe collection, from Brian Atwood to Nicholas Kirkwood, the tan skinned beauty lives a high-end automobile-centric life, with an obsession for vintage cars. “The first I’ve ever driven was a Ferrari Testarossa. Now, I love taking a spin in my 1967 Mercedes-Benz 230SL Pagoda along the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway. Top down, clear skies … it doesn’t get better than this anywhere else,” she insists.
Other times, Louis and Erica relish in visiting the local farmers market in the morning for fresh produce to make their signature spaghetti pomodoro. In the comfort of their home, the couple often play host, having intimate gatherings and watching the golden sun rays slowly drop over the horizon with their closest friends. “I love entertaining and having my friends over for special occasions during Thanksgiving and Christmas. They start as small dinners, but end up becoming small parties. That’s when my chef gets angry!” she says, teasing her better half.
As a vehement visual storyteller, Erica carries her keen eye for style and design with every undertaking, more so when working side by side with her husband on their recent foray into women’s shoes. “We started the Louis Leeman empire with a simple fascination with legendary ’60s rebel tailor Tommy Nutter, who led a revolution on Savile Row with his first boutique,” says Erica. “Our story was to create handmade shoes with a twist, for gentlemen from all walks of life to wear. So, this expansion into women’s shoes is very natural.”
Original Article from Harpers Bazaar