Rafael de Cárdenas: Taste, Craft, and the Accidents That Built a Studio

What happens to taste when algorithms stop us discovering anything unexpected? In this episode of Compelling, host Katy Wellesley-Wesley sits down with New York-based designer and creative director Rafael de Cárdenas for a wide-ranging conversation on the forces shaping culture, luxury, and design right now. Rafael traces a non-linear path from Calvin Klein to architecture school and, ultimately, a multidisciplinary studio practice spanning interiors, architecture, art advisory, and brand work. Along the way, they discuss everything from pop culture to the development of personal identity.They also chat about The Hoffman Process and what it changed in Rafael’s leadership, alongside a frank look at politics, Americanness, and how the ‘no rules’ philosophy of America can give rise to both Warhol and Trump. (00:00) - Welcome to Compelling (02:54) - Growing Up in New York and Finding Subculture (07:44) - Calvin Klein, Fashion, and Learning Brand Precision (09:24) - Architecture School and the Pull of Alternative Worlds (11:00) - Accidental Beginnings and Early Projects (12:56) - Interior Design as Drag and Reinventing Space (21:16) - Gen X, JFK, and the Shift to Postmodern Culture (24:15) - Algorithms, Aspiration, and the Culture of the Lowest Common Denominator (27:43) - Europe, America, and Making Sense of Politics and Identity (36:06) - The Hoffman Process and Leading with Vulnerability (54:04) - Dream Projects, Flash Mobs, and Wonder as a Way of Living Rafael de Cárdenas: Rafael de Cárdenas is a New York-based designer and creative director, and the founder of Rafael de Cárdenas, Ltd., an interdisciplinary studio working across architectural and interior design and creative direction. Since 2006, Rafael’s practice has spanned residential and commercial projects as well as brand-led work, with recent coverage including a 2025 Architectural Digest feature on a six-storey Manhattan townhouse renovation.Visit Rafael de Cárdenas, LtdKaty Wellesley Wesley: With over 18 years of leadership across galleries, foundations, and startups, Katy has built a career shaped by curiosity and a drive to explore new ideas. She spent a decade at leading commercial galleries—first at Gagosian, then at Pace, where she was Director of Exhibitions in London. She went on to lead the Villa Lena Foundation in Italy as Director, before joining the founding team of ROKBOX, a pioneering environmentally focused art logistics startup, as Sales Director. After relocating to Paris six years ago, Katy developed a strong interest in the intersection of art and luxury. To deepen this focus, she recently completed an Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation, a joint program between ESSEC Business School and Parsons School of Design. She now works as a consultant to brands, artists, foundations, and collectors. Among her clients is the legendary art publisher Cahiers d’Art, where she heads Commercial Partnerships.Compelling is proudly in partnership with Cahiers d’Art.Compelling is produced in collaboration with Cahiers d’Art, the iconic Paris-based art publisher founded in 1926, home of the Catalogue Raisonné of Picasso and most recently the Frank Gehry Drawings Catalogue Raisonné. At the heart of it's publishing program is the Cahiers d'Art Revue, one of the most significant and longest-standing annual art publications of the last century. In 2026, Cahiers d’Art will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of major publications, projects and exhibitions in collaboration with leading global institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the MoMA in New York City and the Musée Picasso in Paris.Visit Cahiers d’ArtArt direction by Eddie Harrop StudioWebsite and Production by Story Ninety-Four