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Under Amanda’s direction, the design brand expanded to include a retail shop, with two locations, including one in Naples’ Third Street South area. (Photo by Christina Bankson)
Amanda Lantz still remembers her favorite gift from when she was 8. “I got a chair and ottoman from Santa, and it was in a white bouclé fabric and bullion fringe. It was the best Christmas gift ever,” says the interior designer, who runs Naples’ recently opened Lantz Collective with her father, Barry.
Amanda’s intro to the industry was through osmosis. As a child, her design vet father frequently took her on business trips to the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. “I’d say, ‘Look for a blue floral,’ in the showroom at Kravet. She’d just kind of take off on her own and pull some fabrics,” Barry says. “I’d show her furniture, and I’d explain why this piece was better than that piece. She took it just as well as any client would have.”
A few decades later, Amanda, who also has a background in fashion, has taken the helm of her father’s business as president, dynamically expanding the brand in volume and reach. The latest initiative: growing into Southwest Florida. The pair brings chinoiserie, flamingo-hued furnishings and regal touches of the Palm Beach Regency style, combined with a gentler Midwestern sensibility, to their boutique, which debuted in 2021, in Naples. (Their Carmel, IN, outfit scored a spot on Architectural Digest’s list of best home decor stores in the country this year). In addition to stocking vintage, antique and contemporary homewares from more than 100 brands in their 12th Avenue South shop, they offer full interior design services from their new studio, nearby on Central Avenue. Repeat clients with homes in both cities made the Naples addition a natural evolution.
Amanda leads the interior design and architectural space planning projects and does all the buying, while Barry lends advice and original artwork (the designer traded his paint swatches for a paintbrush in 2008). The duo appreciates the opportunity to expand their repertoire for their Florida designs. “When we were thinking through what we wanted the shop to offer, I knew we wanted a lot of color, a lot of pattern. There are a million places to get a white sofa, a white chair,” Amanda says, adding that Naples aesthetes seem more playful in their aesthetic. “They’re more open to patterned fabrics.”
F abrics are a strong suit for the Lantzes. Barry launched a collection of evocative textiles with industry giant Kravet two years ago. The line shows off the best of Barry, the painter, and his penchant for brilliant hues, geometric forms and abstract landscapes, with forest green chenille, watercolor-like florals and tweedy canvas wallcoverings.
When tackling a design, the duo’s approach is synergistic and seamless. While Amanda’s style is more maximalist and Barry leans minimalist, both share a love for color. “I think we read each other’s mind when it comes to the design side,” Amanda says. Rare arguments about projects yield thoughtful outcomes, the two agree. And, Barry often creates art commissions for Amanda’s clients. “We are really completing everything for them,” she says.
The power of the Lantz brand comes from combining the wisdom of age and the unencumbered audacity of youth. “It’s sort of mixing older and younger ideas together, and you come up with this really great mix,” Barry says. “She brings fresh, and I bring more experience.” The two contribute a commitment to building strong relationships—something Amanda admired in her father from a young age. “[Clients] all just loved him and couldn’t make a decision without him. Those relationships became generational relationships—it wasn’t just that family, it was their children,” she says, adding that many clients have been with the Lantzes for decades.
In all they do, the Lantz Collective keeps family at the center. “He’s truly my best friend. He was way more than a father or a coworker,” Amanda says. Barry echoes: “I always call her my mini-me.”