Ivana Milicevic brings glam-girl style to her Broadway Hollywood loft
MOVIEGOERS might recognize Ivana Milicevic as the hot chick from the 2006 James Bond flick, “Casino Royale.” She was the villainess screaming her lungs out at knifepoint.
At home, thank goodness, Milicevic is a little more chill. You’re likely to find her lounging poolside or organizing a late-night party for the new neighbors. A resident downstairs calls her the Broadway Hollywood’s de facto social director.
“This is where the cool kids live,” says Milicevic, relaxing on her vintage sofa covered in a golden grosgrain silk. Actor Stuart Townsend owns a place upstairs; Jamie Foxx was renting the penthouse for a few months.
When Milicevic bought her 1,000-square-foot space last summer, she had a specific vision for her home. “It had to be sexy,” she says.
She hired Rob Montalbano, a set decorator, and Kelly Cole, the former owner of the vintage T-shirt shop and gallery Lo-Fi on Fairfax Avenue, to create a rock ‘n’ roll space with a feminine twist -- a glam-girl parlor where guys could feel at home too. Think bamboo bookcase powder-coated in high-gloss red, and comfy Louis XV-style chairs upholstered in well-worn saddle leather.
“We wanted to take this cold, modern, masculine loft space and give it to her in a fun, feminine, French way,” Cole says.
Montalbano and Cole went for a full-on sensory experience, using unconventional upholstery in unlikely places. The faux wood veneer on the kitchen cabinets has been covered in pearly white Naugahyde, giving the kitchen enough glamour that one wonders how much cooking actually happens here.
What could have been a giant eyesore -- the epic concrete pole smack in the middle of the floor -- is now the loft’s statement-making centerpiece, wrapped in snakeskin-embossed leather and laced up like a corset.
You’ll see animal print throw pillows, a sheepskin rug, crimson lighting cast everywhere. Cleverly deployed brass beads dangle from the bathroom sink countertop to conceal Milicevic’s toiletries, but the pole remains one of her favorite design elements.
“It’s great for being thrown up against,” she says with a laugh, before adding, “I’m totally serious about that.”
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