Billy Cotton, interior designer for blue-chip artists

In his twenties, Billy Cotton arrives in Manhattan in the early 2000s, sipping cocktails containing an overabundance of youth, marijuana, and amphetamines, as fire devours his Chelsea apartment and with him his feelings for the future.

In his twenties, Billy Cotton arrives in Manhattan in the early 2000s, sipping cocktails containing an overabundance of youth, marijuana, and amphetamines, as fire devours his Chelsea apartment and with him his feelings for the future.

The fire confirmed his worst fears. "I always thought my life would fall apart somehow," Cotton said. He slowly gathered the pieces, settled in a series of makeshift places, and relied on the sand to deal with them. But he could hardly imagine how his life would form.

Cotton, 40, is now quickly becoming a sought-after interior designer with an enviable roster of art figures, including Cindy Sherman, Mirabelle Marden, and Lisa Yuskawaji. "I'm an artist, but I also think he's an artist," said Yuskawaj, whose Manhattan apartment has been converted into a gray sanctuary, a serene backdrop for his art collection. "He was a teacher to me. He changed me, so I focus more on quality."

On a recent Monday, Cotton sat in his whitewashed studio on West 26th Street, a room filled with Eames chairs, Italian market tables, and colorful art from his friends, and reminisced about his zigzag hike. She has various odd jobs as a waitress, Selling decorative ornaments at John Derian; destroying fake blankets, pillows, and artwork for Domino's magazine; and ceramics designed for tables and furniture bespoke - before reaching the pinnacle of the journey of self-discovery.

Appreciated for its unimaginative and subversive aesthetic, styles can range from homemade (think Ralph Lauren's glitter cottage) to austere chills in strategic colors. "I have no style," he likes to emphasize. Of course, he wouldn't even think about forcing it.