American architect Peter Marino is known for wearing over-the-top black leather ensembles that remind many people of the Village People. He stands out in the crowd at art events like the Paris Biennale but he is a serious professional. After graduating from Cornell (on a full scholarship) he worked at the prestigious firms of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; George Nelson; and I.M. Pei. In the late 1970s, Andy Warhol became a Marino client; Marino renovated his townhouse on the Upper East Side and the famous Factory at 860 Broadway. In the 1980s, he designed Barneys department stores (17 of them) and went on to design boutique shops for designers including Calvin Klein and Louis Vuitton.
Marino is married to costume designer Jane Trapnell (Beverly Hills 90210, Kate & Allie), whom he met while they both worked at I.M. Pei’s New York office. (She as a French translator). She is described as having “blood as blue as it is possible to be in a country without an aristocracy.” And Marino says of his wife: “She wears couture and little pearls, and is in all these exclusive clubs I’m not allowed into.” They have one daughter, Isabel, who is in her twenties. Peter Marino will be interviewed on 60 Minutes (April 2, 7pm, CBS).
