Despite a wane in the curated “Instagram aesthetic,” hotels and restaurants still often must rely on vignettes that guests will be inclined to photograph, post, and tag as part of their organic — and free — marketing strategies. But for New York-based Islyn Studio, the aim is to lift these guests out of their digitally oriented lives entirely, and — even if for a brief spell — focus on the sensorial value of the space they’re in. “We reject trends and ‘Instagram moments’ in favor of timelessness,” says founder Ashley Wilkins. “Our hope is that our audience is so immersed in the moment, they forget to look at their phones.” 

After completing a BFA in Interior Design from the Ringling College of Art and Design, Wilkins got her career start at the Puccini Group in San Francisco, then moved to New York City and worked at Atelier Ace, the in-house studio of Ace Hotel Group. “It was a brand so rooted in itself, it didn’t need to chase trends or perform for the market,” she says. “That experience sparked a lightbulb moment.” Wanting to break rules, pursue meaningful partnerships, and think beyond aesthetics, Wilkins began conceiving her own studio. And during a year working concurrently as a contractor at Rockwell Group and as a freelancer — which involved “waking at 6AM, working past midnight, saving money, networking” — she laid the groundwork for what would soon become Islyn Studio. An opportunity to work on a 50,000-square-foot food hall in New Mexico was the springboard she needed to bring this dream to life — one that she was adamant would support other women in the design industry and allow them to thrive and grow, too. “I wanted to build the kind of studio I never had access to, one that supported women, where careers could grow across decades,” says Wilkins.

Each Islyn Studio project starts with a no-holds-barred exploration. “We ask: ‘What would a Japanese Ryokan centered around forest bathing feel like in Big Sur?’ Or, ‘What if the compact efficiency of a sleeper train cabin — designed for rest and privacy — were reimagined for solo travelers in the heart of New York City?’” Wilkins says. The latter prompt took form as Now Now, a hotel in NoHo where 180 compact sleeper cabins similar to those in Japanese capsule hotels offer no frills, but plenty of fun design accents. In the earth-toned lobby, self check-in stations are positioned between striped archways, while the rooms feature custom furniture in warm materials that optimize every last square inch. Also in NYC, Islyn Studio designed the new restaurant Brass and its adjacent Tusk Bar inside the Art Deco Evelyn Hotel, in collaboration with owner Nick Hatsatouris. At Tusk, dark wood paneling, sultry lighting, and a taxidermy ostrich set the mood, while diners at Brass are enveloped by muted green walls that frame custom murals, and enjoy the live music from a pianist positioned under a skylight.

The project that best represents the studio’s design ethos, according to Wilkins, is Uchiko Miami Beach. This chic restaurant is a world apart from typical South Beach, but reinterprets some of the city’s best-loved design tropes in unexpected ways. Take the bar built from chunky green glass blocks, or the host stand wrapped in raffia fringe — altogether blending Japanese minimalism and tropical modernism into a unique aesthetic. “The design speaks to Miami not through an expected showiness, but through restraint, texture, and tension,” says Wilkins.

Now, the designer and her all-female team are beginning to expand the studio’s scope to include residential interiors and product design, and also conceptualizing their own boutique hotel brand. In each of these projects — existing and future — Wilkins hopes that their customers will “return, if only for a while, to a state of wild wonder before we lived life through a screen; a time when experiences weren’t curated for sharing online, but for telling stories later, wide-eyed and in person.” But, let’s face it, guests probably won’t be able to resist posting photos of such eye-catching spaces to their IG feeds, too.

Brass and Tusk Bar

Uchiko

The Now Now