EVEN AS LENNY KRAVITZ GOES ON TOUR IN SUPPORT OF HIS ELEVENTH STUDIO ALBUM, HE JUGGLES ADDITIONAL IDENTITIES AS FINE ARTIST AND ACCLAIMED MANHATTAN  BASED INTERIOR DESIGNER

BY TIA KIM

Alluding to figures like Leonardo da Vinci, who seemed to perform effortlessly and consistently in a diversity of fields, the term “Renaissance man,” though thoughtful sounding, is so often misapplied that its meaning has come to be virtually absent. That’s a pity, because it actually quite accurately describes the remarkable evolution of Lenny Kravitz, from wildly talented if slightly sex potish pop star of the late 1990s and early aughts (including Grammy Awards for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance four years in a row from 1999 to 2002) to fine artist and principal of his own interior design firm.

Crosby Street, is the corporate creative mind behind select wallpaper for Brooklyn-based Flavor Paper, furniture pieces, door hardware, even a chandelier for Swarovski and a Rolex watch, along with apartments, night clubs (including l’Arc in Paris), hotel suites for SLS South Beach, and other interior design projects. His largest-scale commission to date is the recently completed seven-story, 38 unit building at 75 Kenmare Street in Nolita. In creating its interiors, Kravitz combined, as he put it, “equal parts rock and roll and coveted modern sensibilities.”

In yet more canny co-branding, Kravitz partnered with Moët Hennessy owned champagne house Dom Pérignon on an ad campaign pitched as a “meeting of two icons.” One ad featured flickering lms of Kravitz playing the piano at West Hollywood’s Westlake Studios alongside glasses of Dom, spiced by captions like “inner re” and “inspiration comes full circle.” (“I have friends who like to have people over, and it’s centered around opening a bottle of champagne and celebrating life…just because it’s Tuesday,” said the rocker in another video.)

Those with a taste for the original, musical Kravitz will be pleased to note that, in support of his September 7-released Raise Vibration album (his eleventh studio disc), the 54-year-old singer-songwriter will be on a nationwide tour, including a stop at the United Palace theater in Manhattan on September 27.

Lenny Kravitz
United Palace / 4140 Broadway, Manhattan
unitedpalace.org