DMTV Milkshake: Ashley Wilkins on Using Experience to Create Meaningful Spaces

This week’s DMTV Milkshake guest is Ashley Wilkins, Founder and Creative Director of NYC-based Islyn Studio. Islyn is a full-service design studio that creates spaces with meaning and intention—using experience as inspiration. Founded in 2017, the studio’s goal is to transcend the conventional hospitality genre (and beyond). From farm-forward restaurants to modern markets, Ashley and her team are helping bring people together to have experiences in spaces they’ll remember for a long time. Watch:

We recently featured their project, Sawmill Market, a Food Hall in Albuquerque. Upcoming projects include a natural wine bar, also in Albuquerque, and Fury, a Japanese-Italian restaurant concept in NYC. Beyond hospitality, they’ve completed a fertility clinic, Kindbody, in NYC that feels warm and comforting—not sterile or impersonal.

Rendering for wine bar

Kindbody clinic \ Photo: Artem Kupriianenko

Fury restaurant (rendering)

View Ashley’s DMTV Milkshake episode above, then check out the rest of the series here. Learn more about Islyn Studio at islynstudio.com.

Milkshake, DMTV (Design Milk TV)’s first regular series, shakes up the traditional interview format by asking designers, creatives, educators and industry professionals to select interview questions at random from their favorite bowl or vessel. During their candid discussions, you’ll not only gain a peek into their personal homeware collections, but also valuable insights into their work, life and passions.