Marian McEvoy's Magical World

"I might be the only person you and I know who has a place card desk!"

Meet Marian McEvoy, aka Gust the Poodle

"Who is this Mr. P's?!?" mused Marian McEvoy, the legendary design icon formerly the European editor of Women’s Wear Daily and W in Paris, founding editor of ELLE Décor, and editor-in-chief of House Beautiful. "Somebody else who is as fanatical about place cards as I am?!?" Marian divulged her ritual of starting each dinner party with place cards. She draws each one and handwrites the names of each guest. (It's a coveted souvenir!) She considers who among them would best enjoy being seated next to each other and how to make the next 2 hours enchanting. Place cards or name cards are her welcoming gesture, conveying to each person that they will be treated beautifully. What seems effortless and filled with spontaneous alchemy is, as you can imagine, not left to chance. She considers every detail and artfully pampers each person who crosses her threshold. This is the magic of Marian.

At Mr. P's, we, among her cult following, were obsessed with Marian's oshibana (pressed flower compositions) and illustrations which sparked a collaboration of place cards, note cards, menus and more. When we finally approached Marian about a collaboration, she answered, "How could I say no to that?"