About

about christina sullivan roughan

Design Beginnings

Interior designer Christina Sullivan Roughan experienced the earliest stirrings of the career that was to come as a child growing up in central Massachusetts. Resourceful and creative, she would canvass the neighborhood seeking playmates with whom she could stage variety shows on picnic tables, using old draperies and dresses from her mother’s closet.

“Even at that age I loved glamorous things, things that sparkled, exquisite details,” she says. “I enjoyed making things pretty.”

At 10, she took her show indoors, rearranging the furniture in her bedroom – moving the bed, re-locating the mirror and bulletin board -- and alternating between periods when her four-poster was covered in its 1960s pale lemon-yellow and orange canopy, and when it was not. Once she even rearranged the furniture in her parents’ living room.

So it was no surprise, when, after college and a course of study at the Paris Fashion Institute (during which she admired textiles as well as fashion), working in retail boutiques and antique shops during college summers, and years poring over the pages of Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar, her application to work as an intern in creative services at Ralph Lauren was accepted. Her job was a textile junkie’s dream come true: archiving and cataloging the fabrics, silhouettes, and ornamentations of vintage garments – a Lucite button, a Civil War waistcoat -- for use as inspiration by designers in forthcoming designs.

Career

Little did the young part-time archivist (who was moonlighting as a window dresser at the much heralded Galeries Lafayette and polishing her skills at Parsons) know that she had already put her grand career plan in motion.

From that position she went on to spend a total of 10 years at Ralph Lauren on and off, part of the time in-house in Polo Stores Development and part of the time as a consultant overseeing the launch and installation of RRL stores throughout the United States, while working as the head of her first eponymous firm, Sullivan Design. Among her other responsibilities for Ralph Lauren were the international launch of Polo Jeans in Israel and throughout Asia, and the installation of the RL store at The Greenbrier in West Virginia and the RL Men’s store in Southampton.

And there was another twist in the plot. While she was still consulting at Ralph Lauren, a long-time mentor came calling. She had a high-profile client in need of a redecoration. Roughan, who was still Sullivan at the time, took on the project and it led not only to several more luxury residential projects, but also retail showrooms for Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, and Takashimaya.

In between these pursuits, Roughan was recruited by Tommy Hilfiger to serve as the Visual Director of Store Design, designing and implementing eight free-standing stores, monthly window changeovers, and showrooms.

Still shy of 30, the up-and-coming designer made a bold decision. Intent on expanding her business she formed Tocar, Inc and took on a partner. For 12 years, the co-founder ran the firm, expanding its portfolio of projects to encompass high-end residential commissions in the Hamptons; New York City; Fairfield County, Connecticut; Philadelphia’s Main Line; Park City, Utah; London, Oceania Cruise Lines and Starwood. She even completed several boutique projects, including a luxury yacht.

An active volunteer in the Fairfield County community, Roughan is a member of The Junior League of Greenwich. She lives with her husband and two daughters in a 200-year-old house in Weston, which is, no surprise, in a constant state of renovation.