Unless you happen to live in a nest tucked away in a remote corner of the rainforest, you have undoubtedly taken sides in the recent kerfluffle involving singer Kelly Clarkson and the elusive animatronic bird she attempted to purchase in Brooklyn. This high-profile retail misadventure is merely the latest flight of fancy bringing avian decor soaring back into the contemporary design discourse. From high-end fashion runways to celebrity home tours and interior design studios, feathered motifs and bird-inspired objects are experiencing a massive cultural resurgence, capturing the imaginations of tastemakers and design enthusiasts alike.
The phenomenon was recently underscored during an Open Door home tour of Julianne Moore’s meticulously curated New York apartment, produced by Architectural Digest. The video features the Oscar-winning actor cooing affectionately over a ceramic egg holder by the French ceramics studio Four, which she adorned with a miniature vintage bird figurine given to her by her mother. “She knows that I love birds,” Moore explained during the tour, pointing to the delicate egg holder as a prime example of how small details really matter in a compact, urban living space. The intimate moment quickly became one of the most commented-upon aspects of the home feature, generating widespread social media reactions from fans who jokingly expressed that they had not been able to think about anything else all day, or who poetically yearned “to be cradled by the Julianne Moore egg tower.”
We have not seen such an overwhelming saturation of avian motifs in popular culture since 2011 and the early days of Etsy, an era famously immortalized when Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein famously declared that they would just “put a bird on it” in their satirical sketch comedy series Portlandia. More than a decade later, the trend has returned with a significantly more sophisticated and high-fashion pedigree.
Earlier this month, Chanel’s Spring presentation captured the fashion world’s attention when models walked the runway beneath an elaborate installation consisting of 95 wood-and-paper illuminated bird sculptures. The breathtaking vision was brought to life through the collaborative efforts of scenographer Richard Peduzzi and artistic director Matthieu Blazy, cementing the avian motif as a high-art statement piece for the upcoming seasons.
Meanwhile, the interior design market is preparing to welcome the November launch of Kelly Wearstler’s new "Perch" collection of glassware, her latest collaboration with the design brand Serax. The anticipated collection features a series of glass vases, bowls, and serving dishes, each elegantly topped with a sweet little bird perched as if it had just landed. “There’s something poetic about a bird that has just arrived,” Wearstler has noted of the collection. “It asks you to slow down, to be present.”
Of course, birds are not always universally embraced as harbingers of peace and tranquility. Even apart from the ruffled feathers and public drama surrounding Kelly Clarkson’s Brooklyn shopping trip, bird decor can be notoriously polarizing within the professional design community. Interior designers often find that clients fall strictly into one of two camps. “You learn early on in a project whether clients are pro-bird or anti-bird,” says Allene Little, co-founder of the New York City-based residential design firm Kaufman Little.
Her design partner, Suze Kaufman Freedman, who is firmly and enthusiastically pro-bird, spent considerable time considering various avian-inspired wallcoverings ranging from luxury purveyors like de Gournay to Lulu and Georgia when she was recently decorating her own apartment in Brooklyn Heights. Freedman noted that she had been deeply inspired by Alberto Giacometti’s plaster albatrosses, which had previously captured her attention during a Jean Royère auction at Christie’s. “I wanted something that would bring that sense of whimsy,” she explained of her design aspirations for the space.
Although Freedman ultimately did not place a bid on the museum-worthy Giacometti pieces at the auction, she later serendipitously discovered a set of Giacometti-inspired papier-mâché birds while browsing through a West Elm catalog. “They were designed for a nursery, but the color made them perfect for a more sophisticated space,” she recalled of the budget-friendly find. “And I think they were like $45.”
She subsequently had an art professional mount the papier-mâché figures on silver prongs in a high, dramatic corner of her living room. Fanciful and whimsical—and considerably more accessible than authentic Giacometti sculptures—the corner installation serves as a gentle reminder that while a designer or homeowner may set their heart on a particular piece of high-end bird decor, there is rarely any need to get overly worked up about tracking down the exact original. As far as the broader design world is concerned, there are always other birds in the sky.
