From the 1850s to the 1920s, purpose-built artist studio buildings with stacks of duplex apartments sprang up all around Manhattan. These apartments were originally intended as affordable housing and studio space for artists and their families, with communal amenities and modern conveniences. Double-height living rooms with north-facing windows not only offered artists the space to work, but also a setting for private receptions, where they could display their collections of curiosities, be observed in their natural habitat, and show off their latest creations. True to form, this studio apartment on Madison Avenue, enhanced with new coffered ceilings, reinvents the Victorian oddity with modern zebra stripes, faux fur, red cut velvet, and an oversized crystal dandelion chandelier for some unexpected flourish and sparkle. A galley kitchen with attached staff bedroom and bath were removed to make way for a powder room, butler’s pantry, and spacious eat-in kitchen with banks of windows overlooking Madison Avenue. The jewel box dining room channels its proprietor’s very own power fashion house. With Michelle Smith’s vision, and in the spirit of Milly’s colorful, flirtatious, and glam finery, luscious foliage wallpaper, patterned pocket doors and studded chairs by Gilbert Rohde reference Mid-Century Modern textile designs. The Venetian chandelier accessorizes it all with that indispensable ‘bling.’