Written by Robert Leleux | Photographed by Patrick Cline | Art Directed by Michelle Adams

From Our Archives

Julia Leach—Chief Creative Officer of Athleta—crafted a tranquil retreat on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, offering readers a glimpse into the serene space she once called home.

In the airy top floor of a small apartment building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Julia Leach, founder of the lifestyle brand Chance, has made her home for the past five years. “I hear the rain on the rooftop, and the space is flooded with light,” she says. “The apartment feels quiet and tucked away, and, yet, it’s in the midst of New York City. It’s an altogether idyllic place.” 

The fashions of Chance are at once high-spirited and worldly-wise, an aesthetic that’s reflected in the home of its founder. From her apartment’s raw, handsome bones—including beamed ceilings, hardwood floors, and soaring built-in bookcases—Leach has created a dwelling that’s both cheerful and urbane. A pensive color scheme of navy, brown, and eggshell allows her extensive library and art collection to shine: among the drawings and photographs that hang on Leach’s walls are pieces by photographer Nan Goldin and artist Elliott Puckette. Her furnishings tend toward the low-slung and sleek, such as the living area’s Palmer chairs and a deep, angular sofa discovered at Steven Sclaroff’s White Street boutique, while her bedroom possesses a quality of understated luxury that conveys, with terrific succinctness, an atmosphere of romance and femininity. 

“Throughout the apartment, I wanted to maintain a balance of the feminine and the masculine,” says Leach, whose kitchen pairs striking Yves Klein blue paneling with supple Charlotte Perriand stools. The question of balance seems central to Leach’s style. Raised in both Minnesota and the Dordogne region of France, her aesthetic is strikingly continental, yet resolutely American. “It can be so challenging to find a place to set up house in New York,” she says, “but here, I feel that I’ve found my oasis.”