PRESS & media

“Visual Therapy,
it’s life changing”

“The shopping
wave of the future”

“The best personal shoppers”

“Closet Whisperers”

“Wardrobe Wizards”

As with most successful partnerships, Joe Lupo and Jesse Garza balance each other out. “I’ll have some crazy idea that’s high in the clouds, and Joe will make it a reality,” says Garza of the dynamic behind Visual Therapy, the fashion- and brand-consulting firm the men founded in 1995 after moving from Chicago to New York together. Early press coverage—including an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where Garza had previously worked as a freelance stylist—helped the business grow, and now, with three books, countless clients, and an interiors division, VT Home, which Lupo launched in 2014, the firm is a one-stop styling shop.

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In a long and storied career, American architect Paul Rudolph was perhaps best known for his modernist Florida beach houses and the Art and Architecture Building at Yale, his Brutalist masterpiece. Years later, he turned his attention to a full-floor New York apartment brimming with natural light. The dwelling’s exposed ductwork, can lights, built-ins, white-painted wood floors, Formica finishes, and dramatic fireplace read almost as the Platonic ideal of a late-20th-century Chelsea loft. Recently, Manhattan-based interior designer Joe Lupo’s longtime clients went in search of an ideal abode of their own—something large enough to accommodate their growing family and lighter and airier than their current home. Enter the Rudolph place: “When I saw it, I said, ‘Oh my God, this is it!’” says Lupo.

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What if someone told you to picture a home just like Cate Blanchett, wrapped in slinky satin and cashmere, and lounging on a generously proportioned sectional? Would you be able to see the 20-foot-long silk-and-wool Alexander McQueen carpet from The Rug Company that spans the living room’s two seating areas? Could you envision the softness of the color palette, feel the textured seagrass wallpaper, or sense the subtle curves that echo throughout the space? That concept, the idea that personal style sends a message to the world, is something Joe Lupo thinks about often. As the co-founder of Visual Therapy, Lupo began by styling wardrobes before expanding into interior design under the label of VT Home. He believes the things we choose to surround ourselves with, just like the things we wear, say a lot about who we are.

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