In The Pink

In the Pink (2006)

From the 1930s to the 1960s, Dorothy Draper was the most famous decorator in America. A pioneer businesswoman and expert colorist, she used her trademark cabbage-rose chintz and neo-baroque plasterwork to create innovative and cheerful interiors for apartment houses, hotels, restaurants, theaters, department stores, and private homes. The first interior designer to insist on taking control of every element of a hotel project – from the menus and matchbooks to the barware and braid on the bellhops’ uniforms – Draper built her reputation as a “promotional stylist” on properties such as the Hampshire House in New York City, Arrowhead Springs in San Bernardino, California, Quitandinha in Brazil, and the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Weaving together words, memorabilia, and more than three hundred photographs, many never before published, In the Pink traces the career of the woman whose idiosyncratic style, indomitable spirit, and inventive designs have become an enduring legend.