Founded by Cameron Smith in 2009, this Los Angeles showroom is a designer’s dreamscape, punctuated by ever-changing yet equally covetable collections. From vintage furnishings to antique artworks and primitive artifacts, it houses a rotating medley of objects crafted by celebrated artisans and anonymous makers alike. And much like its assemblage, its origins offer a fundamental lesson in the art of composition.
As with most inspired ideas, Galerie Half was born of a mix of vision and practicality. “I was pulling pieces for a few clients who didn’t want to hire an interior designer because they didn’t want things to be flashy or stereotypical,” Cameron recounts. “It was perfect, because I didn’t want to be an interior designer—the idea of trends has always turned me off.”
The next pivotal stage of the business came when he brought on Mark Goldstein to partner with him in 2009. “Meeting Mark changed everything,” Cameron says candidly. “He really believed in what I was doing. He saw what I could see.” With Mark on board, Galerie Half soon expanded and moved to the epochal 6911 Melrose Avenue address. Fast forward a decade and a half, and Galerie Half now occupies 20,000 square feet of space across three buildings on Melrose, though 6911 still acts as the primary showroom. To this day, each of the gallery’s collections is hand-picked by Cameron, and his approach remains the same.
“I attribute that to my mother—she was an interior designer, and I grew up going to auctions with her,” Cameron offers. “She’d always ask me to go off and find my favorite piece, bring it to her, and then explain why I chose it. I do the same thing today: I just look for objects that I would want to have in my own house. It makes the selection much more pure.”
