When American fashion designer Jason Basmajian decided to remain in London full-time, he went on the hunt for a community with a New York vibe. Some 25 years in fashion had this tastemaker moving from his hometown of Boston to New York, Milan, and Paris with regular visits for work in Asia. “I was living previously in Mayfair, but it was not really a community,” he says, looking back. “I wanted a more vibrant neighborhood, and being an ex–New Yorker, I wanted to find a place that had life, diversity, and proximity to green space.” It turned out Kentish Town, in the city’s northwest, fit the bill and was close to the Eurostar railway station for his weekly commutes to Paris.

Basmajian’s extensive search turned up an industrial building that was in the process of being converted. The designer—drawn to the loft-like feel of the building and the very New York amenities, including a 24-hour doorman and a gym, unusual for London—put in an offer. Soon, he recalls, he was the owner of a brand-new apartment, the building’s first, “stepping over contractors and buckets of plaster.”

In the home office, the oak desk with bronze hardware was designed by Teresa Hastings and the desk chair is by Danish furniture designer Børge Mogensen. The bronze objects are Liaigre . The rug is Gabbeh tribal and the daybed is covered in Kvadrat velvet.

Stepping into this second-floor apartment, one is greeted with rows of industrial windows and an open-floor plan. “I bought a shell; the idea from the beginning was to create an open space with public and private areas,” he says. The apartment, originally a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, was converted into a two-bedroom, two-bath. Basmajian also removed a wall to create a media space off the main living space. With three exposures, high ceilings, and oak flooring, it’s a loft space with a decidedly grown-up feel.

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Basmajian, who has spent his entire career in fashion, has long been interested in bringing together lifestyle, art, and design. He worked as his own interior designer for this flat and has done other projects for family and friends. (He is also currently advising a new art fair and developing a hotel project on coastal England, an hour from London.) “I want the balance between chic and elegant and comfortable and practical; my style is understated,” notes the designer, whose work is marked by compelling shapes, textures, scale, and surfaces. “I want to create warmth in an interior, I want you to want to be in it.”

Having moved in about three years ago with his partner, Jamie Wolpert, an entertainment executive, Basmajian filled their space with various collections, including ceramics and photography. “I tend to like works on paper and all art with spatial relationship and architecture,” he says of his taste in photography. “I’m curious.”