Former fashion journalist, Interior Designer Co-Founder of Casa Angulo
and Creative Director at Ceremonia based in NY.

Jennifer Paccione Angulo is a creative director, interior designer and former fashion journalist. Growing up in New York in an Italian-American family
the multi hyphenated creative draws inspiration from her travels, translating into her work and style.

Known for her wardrobe and formidable taste in interiors, we sat down with Jennifer to find out more about her recent travels to The Dominican Republic.

I went to the Domenican Republic about a year ago for the first time and fell in love with the climate and beautiful nature. The sea is breathtaking! The culture, especially as it pertains to food, is really full and rich here as well.

Where to Stay:

This time I am staying in Punta Cana, however last time I stayed in Cabarete. I really enjoy Cabarete as there is more to do, to see. You can visit different cafes and shops in town and walk some of the busier streets. Punta Cana is great for pure relaxation!

Where to Eat:

Vagamundo Coffee & Waffles is a really cute breakfast/lunch spot in Cabarete. It's indoor/outdoor and has such a relaxing atmosphere. Their food is really fresh and delicious. The Honey Company is a great cafe as well.

What to See:

There is so much to see in the Dominican Republic, especially from a nature standpoint. Parque Nacional El Morro is a scenic national park that sits quite high above sea level, offering really profound views of the sea. Playa Cabarete is a beautiful beach to pass the day on. They have lots of restaurants and bars along the beach too which are great for grabbing a bite around sunset-hour.

I definitely get most of my inspiration when travelling, especially when exploring new places. I also love to take a piece of each place I travelled home with me in the form of an object or textile, so that l can rediscover that inspiration again, through my own home. Aside from that, I find a lot of visual inspiration in films.

Currently New York is experiencing transitional weather so I was very excited to pack for a tropical destination! For me, when it comes to style, I always pay closest attention to colour and print, as well as silhouette. The structure of a garment, and more so how it fits you, is so crucial to "good style" in my opinion. I try to avoid too many trends and focus on timeless pieces that will carry through the seasons over the years. When travelling, I typically stick to my usual style - I never pack something that I wouldn't ordinarily wear during my day-to-day back home.

Definitely! I think I see this most through colours, prints and patterns. In both interiors and fashion, I am really very particular about colour and even more so about prints. I am always very drawn to brands that do colour very well and carry that notion onward through their prints and patterns. I do a lot of colour theory within interior design; whether that's choosing the right hue for paint colour, or conceptualising where to pop in accent prints in upholstery. A lot of times, I work to find synchronicity and cohesiveness between room colours within the homes I design, so that each room has its own personality, but as a collective still feels part of the same home. I take this approach for my closet too, I've noticed. I absolutely love colour but can be very particular about which colours I wear in terms of my own wardrobe.

Two summers ago we took a road trip together from New York to Florida. Along the way, we visited Charleston and Savannah. It was a first for both of us, so we were already really inspired and there were a lot of historic homes and designs to soak in while we explored. We were very creatively charged on that trip and had a lot of time to talk while on the road! My husband, who is an architect, was working for a firm in Manhattan at that point and I was just beginning to dip my toes into interior design- something that both my grandmother and my mother studied. Everything felt very full circle when we decided to start our own Interior Architecture & Design firm a year ago. It has been really rewarding thus far and we feel so grateful to be surrounded by incredible clients who trust us. We have an exceptionally talented team of Latin American designers, based in Spain who support every project we take on- from a creative research development standpoint to the actual designing and rendering of Casa's visions.

We're working on a lot of exciting projects right now including our first commercial project; the Ceremonia flagship in SoHo, New York. This project has been especially fun, as I've worked on this from two different approaches, both as an interior designer, but also as the Creative Director of Ceremonia. Conceptually, it was really exciting for us to draw a lot of inspiration from Latin American architecture and design - from Mexican Modernism to Cuban colonial texture and architectural elements.

We are also in the design and development phase of several larger-scale residential projects in New York

I think on a very holistic level, the idea of consuming less frequently, but higher quality is something that translates from my work into my personal life. We've seen this movement away from fast-fashion and I think the same is starting to shift for fast-furniture. Intention and sustainability go hand-in-hand for me. When you are intentional with what you bring into your home, or your closet, or what materials you choose to use, you are practising a form of sustainability in slowing down and actually assessing the longevity and purpose behind something.

It has definitely been one of the strongest sources of inspiration for me throughout my life, that's for sure! I have always found that I draw a lot of my creativity from my years living in Milan as a journalist and spending those summers on the Italian coast, and at the same time, draw just as much creativity from the Italian-American Sunday dinners with my family growing up. Italy is also where I met my husband, where we began dating and where we later became engaged, so the place itself holds so much nostalgia for me. Some of my favourite films and shows to reference visually are Italian. The adaptation of Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend on HBO features
really beautiful visuals.

We are actually expecting our first child at the very end of this summer so l am really excited about this next chapter! In terms of career, I currently feel very grounded in where l am in this present moment. I am looking forward to expanding my creativity in all areas to continue to produce work that I feel proud of, connected to and aligned with.