Just out of college, Alfredo Paredes was designing window displays at a men’s clothing store in Washington, D.C., when a life-changing opportunity came his way: an invitation to join the team working on the Ralph Lauren flagship in the historic Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo House on New York’s Upper East Side. In February of 1986, he pulled up stakes for Manhattan and designed the visuals for the new outpost. “I just knew what they were looking for. I could understand, and then I could create. I could make it happen. I have a vision, and I run with it,” he tells host Dennis Scully on the latest episode of The Business of Home Podcast.

Within two years, Paredes was named Ralph Lauren’s vice president of store development and creative services; he ultimately stayed with the company for 34 years, designing its stores and restaurants across the globe. “Ralph’s like a dad. My relationship with him was almost psychic: I didn’t have to talk a lot; we didn’t have to communicate a lot about what he was thinking—I understood,” he says. Throughout his decades at the brand, the designer’s role continued to expand: “It’s like an MBA in design. When I was 33, I took over the home design studio. He’s like, ‘I want you to do home and store design and creative. You can do it. You’ll figure it out.’”

Having moved up the ranks, ultimately becoming executive vice president and chief creative retail officer, Paredes decided to leave the company after his first child was born. He felt the atmosphere had become more corporate, with less space for creativity, and felt the pull to explore something new. “It was hard because my identity was completely embedded in the company and having that relationship with Ralph,” he says. “I love the company, and I love the people I worked with, and I loved everything we were doing, but my body clock was telling me that I needed to go.” He took a year off, then started his own firm in 2020, which now takes on projects across the country.

As the firm’s leader, Paredes had to put himself out there like never before. “I was inside a huge, beautiful company, right? Validated every day by [Ralph Lauren]. I was well taken care of. It was about him, right? And when you’re out on your own, you’re like, ‘Now I have to go up front, and now I have to start explaining myself. What is [my] story going to be?’” he says. “Someone said to me, ‘You’re one of the best-known unknown people out there. … Everyone’s seen your work. Everyone. It’s been all over the place.’” He began the process by growing his social media presence—something he wasn’t allowed to do at Ralph Lauren—and hired a PR firm to put his name out there. To firmly establish his point of view, he also used his own homes to populate his first monograph, Alfredo Paredes at Home, which debuted this spring.

Elsewhere in the episode, Paredes talks about why he searches for quality over quantity in both his team and the projects they take on; how he has expanded his firm’s reach to include product collaborations with the likes of Patterson Flynn, Kravet and EJ Victor; and why he chose to take a broader lifestyle approach in his new book.

Crucial insight: When Paredes was first approached by EJ Victor to collaborate on a furniture collection, he had to shift his mindset from the Ralph Lauren look to his personal vision. To get in tune with what he wanted to say visually, he used his East Village apartment for inspiration. Throughout the process, he learned that one of the keys to a successful line was to stay true to his own style but make it palatable to a sufficiently wide audience. “It wasn’t too edgy. It wasn’t rocket science. It’s things that I like and things that I think the market will like,” he says. “People really liked it, and I knew that it was universal enough.” He also picked up a few other tidbits: “Don’t get too esoteric. Make sure [the pieces are] made in America. … I kept [the product line] a more eccentric assortment that felt right to me and kept it natural.” He has since expanded his furniture line, and is debuting a showroom at 313 Space at Spring High Point Market this weekend.

Key quote: “Someone asked me when did I realize I was successful. I said, ‘When I got hired at Ralph Lauren at 23 years old.’ The world opened up. What I walk away with is [that] with Ralph, you have to think big. There’s nothing small. So think big. See a complete vision. We can’t get excited about a button—you have to look at the whole thing and then feel confident that you’re going to figure it out. You’ll make it happen. I really operate like that. It’s positive manifestation.”

This episode is sponsored by Ernesta and Hartmann&Forbes. Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The Thursday Show

Host Dennis Scully and BOH executive editor Fred Nicolaus discuss the biggest news in the design world, including the latest on tariffs, a housing update, and what The White Lotus and Severance say about design culture. Later, design journalist Julie Lasky and designer Ghislaine Viñas share their highlights from Milan Design Week.

This episode is sponsored by Jaipur Living and Chelsea House. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.