Ian Schrager on Creativity
and Disobedience

We’re back for the second half of the season premiere interview with the legendary Ian Schrager, who has been innovating in the hospitality industry since the 1970s. In this episode, Ian talks about his newest hotel projects, EDITION and PUBLIC and Ian shares the secrets of his creative process. Plus, we answer listener-submitted questions.

Meet our guest:

Ian Schrager’s keen instincts for the mood and feel of popular culture were honed during the 70s and 80s, when he and his late business partner, Steve Rubell, created the legendary and groundbreaking Studio 54 and Palladium nightclubs. They soon turned their attention to the hotel business, opening Morgans Hotel in 1984, introducing the concept of the “boutique hotel” to the world.Part visionary, part social scientist, part businessman with a gift for seamlessly integrating art and commerce, everything Ian Schrager has accomplished chronicled the cultural narrative of that time and has been an unequivocal success. His projects became forever engrained in the fabric of city life and are as relevant today as they were when he first created them.With new openings of his PUBLIC brand, several luxury residential projects under development in New York City, a visual essay of Studio 54 with Rizzoli, a documentary film on Studio 54, a memoir, and 21 EDITION hotels around the world in the pipeline under his partnership with Marriott, now is the ideal time to acknowledge his 5 successful decades in the business. He has undoubtedly secured his reputation and iconic status not for celebrity’s sake, but rather for the significance and relevance of his work. He is and will always be, the original original.