Tales Of Endearment
As Old as the Wind
There are some people who act cuckoo because they think it’s cute, or because they’re bored with their real personalities, or because their friends are perceived as such. And then there’s people who genuinely live on another planet, people who see unicorns on a daily basis and think that swimming with dolphins should be the ultimate, if not the only, goal in one’s life – Duh! Anne Koch is such a person. A genuine love child, drifting on the clouds of a humanity you and I are not aware of, and will never be aware of, touching skies we don’t see because they are pink and orange and all the colors of the rainbow at once sometimes. Anne Koch is such a person. And I want her to rub off me, and all of us. Even if just for the next three measly minutes.
“My apartment was all pink last year!” she laughs when I ask her about the grey curtains. “Italian Vogue shot it then. But I got bored with it and painted it grey. I call my house ‘The Grey Horse’.” Damn, how did I miss that, I think. I love pink.. Anne’s mid-town duplex is not as magical as her fairytale temperament suggests. There are no trees growing from the ceiling or muddy blue footsteps corroborating the presence of extraterrestrial life. It’s quite practical in fact: walk-in closet, living room with couch (no TV), shelves for work stuff, dining table with a functioning lamp, frames on the wall, laptop, Iphone, AC, assistant. Pretty normal I would say. Except for her bedroom, a mini-loft that royally overlooks the floor beneath. It’s like a mythical, elevated fortress from which she can dangle, or dethrone, or even float on good days. Before she sleeps she’s engulfed with lights and books and mirror balls for optimal REM.
Born to Dutch parents who traveled the world after she was born in Atlanta, Anne doesn’t feel “from any one particular country”. Mostly she feels “from a distant planet as yet undiscovered.” She’s as “old as the wind” she says, and permanently lives “in another era, never the present”, especially when it comes to clothes. “I am obsessed with the 80s, geometry and angles,” she gushes. “I adore hats, and any thing on the head. I rig up my own concoctions, but mostly wear hats my sister makes. She’s a milliner.” Anne has “many, many jobs”. For one she’s a set designer – I’ve seen her work in Teen Vogue – and an artist – for our shoot she takes me to see her installation at a gallery in Chinatown – but her primary job is “to elevate people’s energy”. Which undoubtedly motivated her recent stint in acting. “My brother Bastiaan Koch and I co-wrote a short film,” she glows. “I am very excited about this! As a performance artist, you get used to being in the public eye, so this was just a step forward in the right direction.” But that’s not all. “My silk bedding line’s new collection is coming out in the Fall: Anne Koch by Kumi Kookoon, sold at ABC Carpet & Home in New York City. And Fashion week is almost upon us! I love working with Jen Kao. It is always so different and new.” So where does Anne Koch see herself in five years? It’s so very simple: “Documenting marine animal life in Corsica.” Duh!
