The Fabulous Interiors of Sasha Bikoff

As an undergraduate, Bikoff trained in fine arts at George Washington University in Washington, DC, finding inspiration in the city’s museums, architecture and European character. But her studies came to life upon moving to Paris to study abroad for a year and a half at AUP. “The gates opened, and what I was learning in the classroom took on this magic because I was living in it.”

Paris was Bikoff’s playground for the convergence of fashion, art and design. Living near the Musée d’Orsay, she walked down Rue de l'Université on her way to school, passing galleries, vintage stores, and antique dealers, and soaking in influences from Monet and Art Deco to 1960s French Space Age. “It was the best time of my life: when I came into myself and found everything that I loved.”

Bikoff brought all these ideas back to her painting and drawing in the studio at AUP, where her unique vision emerged, driven by this eclecticism and her knowledge of ceramics and materials. “It gives my work a little bit of edge. It feels collected and layered as opposed to a showroom with a floor plan.” Across her work, she sees herself as a storyteller, with antiques playing an integral role. “They give a home a sense of intellect and worldliness,” she says. “It’s the journey behind the pieces that make a room special—not just how they look.”

After graduation, Bikoff returned to New York, gaining experience in the art business and client relations as a sales assistant at the prestigious Gagosian Gallery. But her creative instincts demanded an outlet, and in 2014, at just 25, she launched her design firm. Her first project was remodeling an apartment in The Dakota, the storied Gothic-style residence on the Upper West Side. As Bikoff says, “the rest was history.”

A pivotal moment for Bikoff came in 2019, when Versace invited her to collaborate, making her the first female American interior designer to work with a major European fashion brand. She designed a collection for the lauded fashion house—a long-standing source of her inspiration— for Milan’s annual Salone del Mobile, the world’s largest furniture trade fair. In its first time opening its doors to the public, Versace exhibited her work at its headquarters, Palazzo Via Gesù. Bikoff’s fantastical collection drew upon Richard Avedon’s iconic image of supermodels in pastel metallic miniskirts and mohair crop tops. She blended Versace’s signature joyful neon with the electric palettes of Miami and other influences, including 18th-century French Rococo and 1970s French Modernism. Bikoff has gone on to partner with museums, restaurants and retail stores worldwide.

These days, Bikoff is writing a book—part coffee table book, and part “how-to.” As a mother of two little boys, she also has her eye on the children’s design market, where she sees an opportunity for more uplifting and creative furniture. She jokes that maintaining a glamorous space with young children is “definitely a challenge….” At the end of the day, she believes “things are meant to be lived in.”