Inside a Fashion-World Star’s Chic Milan Aerie

Sam Cochran
·5 min read

“Precious for me is the worst form of luxury,” says Alexander Werz. “Luxury is something you need to live with, something you need to use—every day.” Certainly, he’s one to know. A longtime veteran of the fashion industry, Werz has, for the past decade, directed the international expansion of Karla Otto—a leading public relations and branding firm with crème-de-la-crème clients that include Chloe, YSL, Calvin Klein, Marni, and Oscar de la Renta.

It’s a career that has brought him around the world and back many, many times over. “I have been a restless bird,” notes Werz, who was just named Karla Otto’s co–chief executive officer this past winter. “I usually never stay more than three days in one place.”

Like all of us, however, Werz has found himself staying put these past months, the pandemic having halted his peripatetic ways. In his case, it’s turned out to be a happy, productive pause—an opportunity to hit reset and enjoy his new Milan apartment, a plant-filled oasis in a modernist building off the Piazza della Repubblica. It was work that led him there. “When I joined Karla Otto, I started to come even more to Milan,” recalls Werz, who, at the time, lived primarily between Paris and London. “It became my dream to live here. I love Italy—the architecture, the colors, the food. Nowhere is the art de vivre more inspiring.”

Arched openings frame the dining room, which displays family heirlooms including Meissen porcelain and a 1920s Italian chandelier; the table and chairs are vintage Kai Kristiansen.
Arched openings frame the dining room, which displays family heirlooms including Meissen porcelain and a 1920s Italian chandelier; the table and chairs are vintage Kai Kristiansen.

His wish list included great bones—1950s or ’60s, to be exact—with great light and great floors. (“Here in Milan, you are obsessed with marble, terrazzo, wood.”) And it needed to be comfortable but not vast. “I live alone,” he notes. “It’s good to live alone but not good in a too-big apartment.” After visiting several listings, among them buildings by Gio Ponti, he experienced what he describes as a mamma mia moment. Ushered through a Lucio Fontana–designed lobby and up the elevator, Werz arrived on the seventh floor to find a sun-dappled apartment that had previously been transformed by Milanese maestro Renzo Mongiardino. Just like that, he says, “I fell in love.”

Working with local architect Giorgia Longoni, a repeat Karla Otto collaborator, Werz set about refreshing the interiors—preserving Mongiardino’s cheerful pilasters, arches, and alcoves but updating the systems and cladding the walls in new moss-colored silk. “Green is very Italian,” he notes. “Everyone looks great in green.” Three bedrooms became two, making way for a leather-tiled platform on which to do his daily exercises and a walk-in closet inspired by American Gigolo and The Great Gatsby, two favorite movies. The kitchen, meanwhile, was reorganized to the German-born signore’s satisfaction, with meticulously planned white cabinetry and a central marble table at which to dine and work. And his en-suite bathroom was lined in a richly veined gray marble reminiscent of the local landmark and perennial source of inspiration Villa Necchi.

Inside a Fashion-World Star’s Chic Milan Aerie

In the Milan kitchen of Karla Otto CEO Alexander Werz, Sicilian tile accents white cabinetry in the kitchen; the stools, light fixture, and bespoke marble table are all by Giorgia Longoni.
In the Milan kitchen of Karla Otto CEO Alexander Werz, Sicilian tile accents white cabinetry in the kitchen; the stools, light fixture, and bespoke marble table are all by Giorgia Longoni.
The dining room displays family heirlooms including Meissen porcelain and a 1920s Italian chandelier; the table and chairs are vintage Kai Kristiansen.
The dining room displays family heirlooms including Meissen porcelain and a 1920s Italian chandelier; the table and chairs are vintage Kai Kristiansen.
In Werz’s bedroom, the bed and wall-mounted light fixture were designed by Giorgia Longoni, the table lamp is by Maria Pergay, the sofa is by Josef Hoffmann, and the collection of art includes works by Robert Mapplethorpe, Martine Franck, and Henry Moore.
In Werz’s bedroom, the bed and wall-mounted light fixture were designed by Giorgia Longoni, the table lamp is by Maria Pergay, the sofa is by Josef Hoffmann, and the collection of art includes works by Robert Mapplethorpe, Martine Franck, and Henry Moore.
Inspired by Villa Necchi, Werz lined the bathroom in graphic gray marble.
Inspired by Villa Necchi, Werz lined the bathroom in graphic gray marble.
A De Sede Non Stop sofa divides the living room, creating a series of seating areas.
A De Sede Non Stop sofa divides the living room, creating a series of seating areas.
The low metal bookshelf was custom made to hold Werz’s vast collection of magazines; the planters and greenery were designed by Derek Castiglioni, who added botanical accents throughout the apartment.
The low metal bookshelf was custom made to hold Werz’s vast collection of magazines; the planters and greenery were designed by Derek Castiglioni, who added botanical accents throughout the apartment.
A vintage Joe Colombo lounge chair mingles with Kai Kristiansen armchairs and array of other treasures in the living room.
A vintage Joe Colombo lounge chair mingles with Kai Kristiansen armchairs and array of other treasures in the living room.
Alexander Werz, co-CEO of Karla Otto, sits on the terrace of his Milan apartment; the tiles are leftovers from the Palazzo Butera in Palermo, and the stools and table are by Derek Castiglioni.
Alexander Werz, co-CEO of Karla Otto, sits on the terrace of his Milan apartment; the tiles are leftovers from the Palazzo Butera in Palermo, and the stools and table are by Derek Castiglioni.

Whereas the abundant planters and greenery reveal the hand of Derek Castiglioni, the celebrated Milanese landscape designer, the eclectic furnishings reveal Werz’s own style evolution. “I am German by education but a bon vivant by trade,” he says. As such, family heirlooms (Meissen porcelain, gilded mirrors) mingle with vintage treasures by the likes of Joe Colombo, Pierre Paulin, Kai Kristiansen, and Josef Hoffmann. Snaking through the living room, meanwhile, is a Non Stop sofa by De Sede, an iconic piece that Werz has coveted since childhood, when he grew up not far from the company’s factory. It helps carve the apartment into a series of conversation spaces—perfect for entertaining intimately or for a crowd. “If you have an apartment like this, it’s about creating a generous feeling. People who come must feel welcome.” Gatherings range from seated dinners for 15 to parties for many more, with a big buffet in the dining room. But as Werz points out, the rooms work just as well when it’s only him. “I can work in my bedroom, in the dining room, or in the kitchen. I can sit on three different sofas. I take my coffee on the terrace. I exercise. I cook a lot.” In other words, no preciousness here. Says Werz: “I like an apartment that lives—you need to make it livable.”

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest