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"  Photo: Jonathan Allen Designer Ralph Rucci has enjoyed an illustrious, 30-year career: He has dressed well-heeled style icons (like Iris Apfel), was given the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award in 2008, and is the only American in the past 60 years ever invited by France&amp;#039;s Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture to show in Paris. He&amp;#039;s also a painter whose work has been exhibited globally. Now Rucci can add furniture designer to his resume, thanks to a new home collection for Holly Hunt, which the duo celebrated with a shindig on a stormy New York evening. Held at Hunt&amp;#039;s Upper East Side showroom last night, guests were greeted by a pile of dripping umbrellas to one side of the entrance and a Rucci-designed octagonal table on the other, piled high with catalogs showcasing his 16-piece collection.    Photo: Angie West   Inside, scores of Rucci-clad admirers took in the bronze-tipped footstool, suede slipper chair, red-lacquered cocktail table, and high-backed sofas. While nibbling on beef tenderloin and yellowfin tuna hors d&amp;#039;oeuvres, guests were serenaded by the Dolce Vita String Quartet. Meanwhile, the man of the hour stood in the middle of the crowd greeting well-wishers who came to see his latest stroke of genius. &amp;quot;About two years ago, Holly Hunt approached me to do furniture, and I was totally intimidated,&amp;quot; the always-charming Rucci confided while sitting near the window on a sofa he designed. &amp;quot;But I keep files on everything I adore and one of the files is furniture, so I took a stab at it and began to sketch and doodle.&amp;quot;   Those doodles led to one seriously elegant collection, which effortlessly blends the Asian sensibility found in Rucci&amp;#039;s fashion with a nod to his favorite interior designers, past and present (think: Pauline de Rothschild, Billy Baldwin, Henri Samuel, Lorenzo Mongiardino, Joseph Graf, and Peter Marino). Their influence can be seen in the walnut-framed Pagoda sofa with movable, fabric-covered side panels and in the traditional Chinese pedestal base that&amp;#039;s been enlarged to accommodate a concentric wood-and-bronze diamond-shaped top. There is also the aptly named Rib Chair (Rucci&amp;#039;s favorite piece), each of which is hand-carved from a single mold and recalls his signature spine-baring runway creations. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s married to my sensibility in apparel and it doesn&amp;#039;t look like anything we&amp;#039;ve seen before, ever,&amp;quot; he said with pride. Indeed. Just don&amp;#039;t call it couture. &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t like to use that word,&amp;quot; he grinned. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s an artisan chair.&amp;quot; The Ralph Rucci for Holly Hunt collection is made-to-order (prices upon request) through the Holly Hunt showroom.    Photo: Angie West     Click here for live updates on the latest breaking fashion news. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/fashion/news/a22814/ralph-rucci-holly-hunt-furniture-collection/>