Palm Beach raised designer, India Foster, has a fresh, eclectic approach to interiors. Comfortable, livable environments punctuated with individuality are her hallmark. Stimulated by traditional decoration and new concepts, India relentlessly travels the world in search of inspiration.After receiving her Baccalaureate from Franklin College in Switzerland, working for Fox Television in New Zealand and Los Angeles, she studied interior architecture at UC Berkeley and started her design career working at the esteemed San Francisco firm, Tedrick & Bennett.
Now at the Palm Beach office of her mother’s renowned design company, Leta Austin Foster & Associates, she is designing projects and liaising with architects, landscape designers and contractors across the country. Her projects range from a lake house in Harbor Springs, to a bungalow in Palm Beach, to a farmhouse in Aiken, to a Park Avenue apartment, to a villa in Hobe Sound, to a Victorian mansion in Marin.
Which talent would you most like to possess?The ability to mind read.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Well I just bought my first house: built in Spanish style, circa 1924. I have designed it and currently live in it and I couldn’t be happier.
What is your most prized possession?
My dog, Rocky, and my cat, Loki.
Who are your style icons?
William Morris, Jean Michel Frank, Billy Baldwin, David Hicks and, of course, my mother, Leta Austin Foster.
Who would you most like to collaborate with on a project?
My sisters. How crazy is it that we never worked on anything together?
What books are currently on your bedside table?
Well, my bedside table actually is a stack of books and they include: Hawaiian Modern: The Architecture of Vladimir Ossipoff, Where the Wild Things Are, Christopher Dresser: A Design Revolution, Banksy: Wall and Piece, Wiener Werkstatte, Mao: The Unknown Story, The Howard Marks Book of Dope Stories, Tender is the Night and Ficciones.
What is your favorite luxury in life?Surfing. Without a doubt surfing….and all the myriad travels that go with it.
Who would you most like to meet and how would you spend the day?
I wish I could have spent the day with Naguib Mahfouz at his favorite café in Cairo.
Which iconic interior decorator or architect do you most identify with?
John Stefanidis. He’s one of the best and most versatile designers I know.
How would you describe your style?My personal style includes using organic, green resources to create a space in which the client feels comfortable and at home. I don’t believe in suffering for interior design in the same way that I don’t adhere to the newest fashion craze and believe in suffering in 5-inch heels—it’s all about comfort. I like classic shapes, but I also like adding my own touches with vibrant fabrics and new materials.
What inspires your creativity and designs?
First: The space to be designed, the surrounding environment and the client's personality(s). Second: The things I see in my travels whether it’s the way the waves crash on a beach in Mozambique or spectacular gardens in France—these thing really inspire my designs.
Profile by Ronda Carman
