WORDS BY PEARL HILL
It would be impossible to pin Ina Levy’s creativity down to one métier: she is simultaneously an accomplished photographer, an interior design aficionado, and none other than Vogue Poland’s editor-in-chief.
Just one click onto her website, or either of her Instagram accounts (@inalevystudio @i.lekiewicz.levy), tells us what we’re working with; Ina’s style is refined, sleek, tasteful, and discerningly curated. Yet, her visionary instincts were formed in an era preceding the age of long pored-over Instagram accounts and hyper-publicity. Rather, it seems she was born with her intrinsic eye for form and aesthetic, which the internet was yet to catch onto. Levy describes herself as "one of those children who tried every single creative outlet there was”. She hopped between various musical instruments, she dabbled in painting, and in a sweep of synchronicity she picked up a camera for the first time as a small child. Ina Levy cut her teeth on her parents’ polaroid camera in the early ‘90s, and she also fondly recalls taking photos on her grandparents’ soviet vintage film camera.
In Levy’s late teens, however, it became apparent that the zeitgeist amongst photographers was digital photography; after all, where technology innovates, fashions follow. Levy saw popular preference move steadily towards commercial and retouched photography. As her raw, hazy, and atmospheric portfolio can attest to, over-produced photography did not resonate with Ina. Thus, steered slightly away from photography — although never giving up the passion entirely —Levy found her professional footing in editorial. She launched her career with an internship at a magazine in Warsaw, learning the ropes and working her way up the ranks, before moving to London in 2016. She spent fifteen years in editorial, keeping photography close to her heart as a hobby. Eventually, she found that there is only so much creative control to be had as a stylist on a shoot, and she grew increasingly frustrated by the dissonance between concept and result. Thanks to some coaxing from her then boyfriend, now husband, Ina Levy took matters into her own hands. Getting behind the camera again, she carved out a recognised name for herself as a professional fashion photographer. Now, coming full circle, Ina flexes both her editorial and photographic muscles at the helm of Polish Vogue. And if Ina Levy’s credentials weren’t already impressive enough, she also expresses a keen interest in interiors.
“My father often bought furniture from antique markets,” she tells me, retelling their quests à deux to seek out vintage pieces, including a trip to France aged six to scour the brocantes. Now an adult herself, Ina heralds Warsaw for its antique markets, and America for its antique malls. Although, in this day and age, vintage shopping can also be done online. Thankfully, that’s at no cost to the charm of provenance, intriguing anecdotes, and curious encounters. Ina assures me that she has had her fair share of bizarre meetings to pick up pieces which she has magpied from Facebook marketplace. “I was once staying in New York and came across a bathroom cabinet whilst scrolling on my phone, which I immediately had to order to my hotel. I was subsequently faced with the dilemma of lugging it with me back to London. On another occasion, I was in Italy, when a set of three 1930s chandeliers caught my eye. I set out alone to meet the seller in a deserted parking lot, then carefully packed them into suitcases and brought them home,” — on what I can only imagine as a breath-held, fingers-crossed flight. In another instance, an interior design rom-com played out: one of Levy’s loyal Instagram followers, who was based in Amsterdam, picked up a much-desired Murano-glass chandelier on Ina’s behalf. He then passed it on to a friend of his who transported it on the Eurostar and ceremoniously handed it over to Ina at King’s Cross Station in an unassuming Ikea bag.
Levy’s fascination with interior design has certainly been influenced by working on a plethora of elaborate settings for magazine stories. “Shooting on location has helped me develop a clear sense of what I like and don’t like about a space.” In particular, authenticity stands out as one of her prerequisites for good design. Levy has a notable distaste for shooting on locations which seem too tailored or which look like a cardboard cutout set. “But I do love to create a cinematic atmosphere in my space,” she says. Ina’s own home is an 1862 Victorian townhouse which she has renovated over the course of several years — although, as she aptly points out, "a renovation is never complete,” and there are still developments and iterations being added. The room she is in now is the guest bedroom. It is a true feast for the eyes, composed of every shade of pink. I spy a dark-varnished wooden wardrobe, a tasselled pink overhead lampshade, and a Belgian 1940s wallpaper which sits at three-quarter height. Seeing her rich use of colour first-hand, I can’t help but think back to her childhood paintings, and wonder whether they possessed the same effortlessly cohesive boldness.
I am dying to know how she narrows down her inspiration into a coherent style. She reveals that, like any interiors fanatic, her phone is full of inso-pic photo albums and extensive lists of dream pieces, one of which she has recently hit the jackpot in finding: a much sought after baby blue art-deco bathtub which is being transported from Wales. She has visions of pairing it with blue walls inspired by the fashion designer, Erdem— to match her pink bathroom of course. Whilst inspiration is boundless, Ina, like all of us, must work to the constraints of practicality. Her artistic vision is often governed by a signature piece which she then builds around. For example, the rare occasion that a vintage wallpaper has remained in tact and is big enough to cover one’s walls is cause for celebration, and can certainly dictate a colour scheme. The blueprint for Ina’s living room was governed by a powder blue rug, replete with pink ribbons, which she found and had gracefully restored. I wonder what Ina is currently most excited about in the interiors world. She praises CC Moulton, whose gifting range she herself photographed. She commends the exquisite quality of their fabrics and their amazing colour palette — if her home is anything to go by, she is clearly an expert in this field. “CC Moulton never compromise on quality,” she assures me, which allows for the sought after antique look to be achieved without any risk of moth-eaten fabrics or decaying wood.
One of Ina Levy’s latest projects is her collaboration with SALON, in which she has curated a room of hand-picked pieces that she loves. As both stylist and photographer of the edit, this collection truly holds her signature. Levy’s vision stems from a striped yellow wallpaper, which was the datum for her selection of pieces from SALON’s extensive catalogue. Unlike Ina, you need not get on a plane with a spare suitcase, or meet up with any strangers, for she has lent you her unmatched eye in an exclusive SALON edit, ready to be delivered to your door.