By Cristina Cuomo
Photography by Marili Forastieri
CRISTINA CUOMO: What inspired Inscape?
KHAJAK KELEDJIAN: During 2008, the recession, I started doing meditation and yoga. I wanted to go somewhere, a physical location, where it’s calm, efficient, secular, modern, contemporary—an “inscape”—and I couldn’t find that in New York. I sold Intermix in 2012 to The Gap and decided to fill a void in the marketplace. When apps were taking off, I created an app as well. I wanted to put everything under one umbrella.
installation by artist Paul Villinski of dozens of butterflies made out of
recycled cans. The sculpted butterflies flutter with a breeze.
CC: What’s the science behind Inscape’s philosophy and technique?
KK: We don’t have our own; we’re not like TM, where we have a particular meditation. What we have done is worked with all the well-known teachers, yogis, on curating different types of modalities of meditations. We’ve put all the apps in one unique voice, so this way there is consistency for people who are coming to the physical studio and listening to the app. If you’re not able to fall asleep, or you left your office and need a quick afternoon lift, you can do an app in under five minutes. They all have the same background sounds, so they play off each other. Within each app are different techniques, different practices: Some are focus-based, some are mindfulness-based, some are mantra-based, some are soundscapes, some are body scans.
the end of the month, and their two daughters, Dalita and Ava.
CC: You have a quite modern, simple, clean aesthetic and sensibility. Having been the founder of Intermix, at the forefront of curating fashion, and now moving into this wellness base, your home really reflects your professional path. Tell me about the design of your home.
KK: The architect, Shigeru Ban, won a Pritzker Prize a couple of years ago. I fell in love with the house from the moment I saw it. For me it’s like a little sanctuary. When I bought the trees around me, they were like 15 to 20 feet in height; now they’re twice that size. It has a design that works very well in the wintertime and in the summertime. It’s not just a summer beach house, it’s summer and winter. I actually spend more time here in the winter than I do in summer. September through October and May through June are my favorite months here, because it’s quiet and relaxing. There’s less traffic. The house has different zones—the living room, if you notice, it has two sections. One section is a little bit more playful, and another section is a little bit more flowy. The windows open all the way, so you don’t know if you’re inside or outside.
the home, conveying sleek simplicity and earthy calm
CC: In addition to meditating, what other daily or weekly practices do you use to maintain a sense of balance and well-being at home?
KK: Yoga, for sure. That’s my default six days a week, anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour and a half. Sometimes on a Sunday if I wake up really early, I can go for two hours. I like cycling, rowing, sometimes running, swimming. Indoor, outdoor, I need to do it. I started kitesurfing eight years ago. I just went kitesurfing a month ago, and my posture, my flexibility, everything is just better. Ever since I started doing yoga, in the past 10 years, every workout I’ve done is better.
