25 Most Stylish Bostonians of 2009 -- Monica Ponce de Leon and Nader Tehrani

Ages: 43 and 46

Occupations: Principal partners, Office dA Architecture; Ponce de Leon is also dean of Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan; Tehrani is professor at MIT, School of Architecture and Planning.

What similarities do you see between the practices of fashion design and architecture?

Tehrani: Actually, there are very direct relationships between the sartorial craft and our work. The Obzee Fashion Headquarters in Korea, Casa LaRoca [in Caracas] - all of the techniques employed for these buildings are things you would know from tailoring, like darting, and pleating, and upholstery.

De Leon: In a lot of our work, we have looked at techniques of tailoring as a means of understanding how to design and transform a space.

You designed one of the city’s great green buildings, the Macallen. Do you have any favorite eco-friendly fashion designers? De Leon: Do you know the work of Linda Loudermilk? She’s fantastic. I taught a course on architecture and sustainability, and one of the case studies we looked at from a product design perspective was her. What she does with fabrics is just amazing.

How would you describe your personal style?

Tehrani: That’s a very simple answer - I have five black shoes, five black pants, five navy pants, five white shirts, five blue shirts, and my Weimaraner outfit - it’s gray on gray on gray.

De Leon: I would say classic modern.

How would you describe the other’s style?

De Leon: (laughs) I would say updated preppy ’80s. I do like his haircut a lot actually.

Tehrani: Well, she has changed a lot over the years. She’s taking some pretty significant risks with florals these days. I won’t comment anymore.

Do you dress differently based on the space you’ll be entering on a given evening?

De Leon: That’s a great question. Usually not, but there have been certain rooms that I know are going to have a particular color or particular lighting or a particular scale. . . . When I have those rooms in mind, I’m more excited to choose one outfit over another. If you know you’re going to be in that hall that you love or that dining room that you love, then you’re inspired to wear something special.