Solo & BK: Solange Shows ELLE Her Brooklyn Lyfe... Showcases Her Hip BK Pad....

Solo rocs Madewell (she's the face), while hanging with Julez in their dinning room.

Solange gave ELLE's Julie Vadnal a tour of her Brooklyn home, which as expected, is eclectic and artistic, just as she (Solange) is.  

Solange has really jumped into Brooklyn life.  She has become one of Brooklyn's most sought after DJs.  Brooklyn art, from local artists, adorns her walls.  And she has become quite the party thrower.  

Solo and her Brooklyn Crew are reminiscent of the Warhol gang,  with a hip hop soul twist (and minus a few vices).  Julie Vadnal reports:  

Also on the Solange welcoming crew, an ultracool set of NYC musicians, designers, writers, and artists she’s invited over tonight for cocktails and one of her signature “rowdy, to the wee hours, roll up the rug” dance parties. Knowles met Caroline Polachek and Patrick Wimberly of Brooklyn band Chairlift at their Bonnaroo show a few years ago; she encountered the braids-to-their-knees fashion-designer Okpo sisters, Darlene and Lizzy, while out shopping; and connected with circle-spec’ed Florence & the Machine producer Dev Hynes in the recording studio. Rounding out the crowd are two of Knowles’ childhood best friends, who lived on her block back in Houston.

Solo and crew in her home office.

Check out a few excerpts from the interview, where Solange reveals all things Brooklyn, Art and of course her family life. 

On her move to Brooklyn:

When 26-year-old fashion It Girl Knowles—who can somehow mix colors, patterns, and high-low designers in a way that’s frenetic yet chic—and her music-video-director boyfriend, Alan Ferguson, moved to Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, a year ago from what she describes as a “sunshine 365, tepee-in-the-backyard” L.A. existence, they single-handedly upped the neighborhood’s already-astronomical cool factor.  

B influenced the move:

Even though it was her superstar sister who’d been prodding her for six years to move to Brooklyn, setting up here allows her to stay close to family—Beyoncé and baby Blue stop by for family dinners, and Solange uses Bey and Jay’s TriBeCa home to get ready for events—while establishing a life that is refreshingly distinct from her older sister’s spotlight. 

On picking her own destiny:

She walks Julez to school every day, is an Opening Ceremony shopper who pairs Marni with Missoni, and deejays fashion fetes for Ferragamo and Tiffany & Co.  Solange also lends her candy-sweet soul singing to hipster-approved indie bands, including Of Montreal, and is working on a third, ’80s-inspired album of her own. Her much-blogged-about taste recently caught the eye of Madewell fashion director Kin Ting Lee, who chose her as the face of the brand’s fall campaign. Says Lee: “She looks amazing in pretty much everything.” 

On her design style:

In her top-floor brownstone, the decor is just as eclectic as her wardrobe. “I had a moment when I looked at my closet and I was like, ‘Whoa, I really don’t have any basics,’” Knowles says. “And with my house, I wanted to find a balance of having great colors and patterns but also a really livable, warm, serene space.” So she chose neutral basics—a clean-lined blue sofa, all-white bedding, gallery-white walls—and accessorized them with Moroccan rugs (“We bought two when we were there because they’re gorgeous and super cheap!”), embroidered pillows, a neon orange Tom Dixon coatrack, and art found on trips to Marfa, Texas, and at one of Recession Art’s regular NYC exhibitions. 

On being a hostess and entertaining:

“My motto is ‘Just keep it chill.’ ” Starting with the music, which tonight is a mix of Toni Braxton—Knowles mans the iTunes, naturally, making even ’90s jam “You’re Makin’ Me High” fresh again—Cam’ron, A Tribe Called Quest, and Lil Wayne. She starts the volume low, humming below the party chatter about bands, blogs, and Julez’s soccer skills, which he’s happy to demonstrate. “He’s usually the life of the party,” Knowles says, laughing, before ushering him off to a sleepover. 

Usually Knowles cooks family style, but tonight she’s asked friend and Grizzly Bear bassist Chris Taylor, who happens to have a cookbook in the works, to make a few of his specialties: rosé-soaked peaches, prosciutto-wrapped cantaloupe with mint, shiitake toast, and steak-tartare crostini. For dessert, Taylor’s prepared goat cheese with Beaujolais-soaked cherries on toast, but by the time that makes the rounds, the sangria pitchers are empty, Kelly Rowland and Lil Wayne’s “Motivation” is on repeat, and Knowles switches her silk blouse for a multicolored bra top, kicks off her shoes, and lets loose on her living room’s dance floor. 

Work from Brooklyn artist, hang prominently on her walls.

Solo and Julez in her bedroom.

Refinery29's Piera Gelardi, Chairlift's Polachek, and Knowles; jewelry designer Jill Martinelli
and husband Wimberly; designers Darlene and Lizzy Okpo;
 Jassine Chrisphonte, rapper Ingrid "IB" Burley, and Saada Ahmed.

Head over to  ELLE to read the full article and see more pix.

--Princess Carter

Source:  ELLE