Fashion Forward: inside the homes of fashion designers, models and editors
Ahead of London
Fashion Week, we revisit our favourite homes in London belonging to the fashion
crowd. From a slender period conversion on a cobbled street in Stoke Newington
to a light-filled loft above the hustle and bustle of Soho, plus a glammed-up
three-bedroom penthouse that’s currently for sale, these are interiors from the world of
fashion that have all the style of a runway show.
Fashion editor Holly Swayne’s compact Stoke Newington Flat
You’ll be surprised to hear that, for fashion editor Holly Swayne, living in a small flat that leaves little room for a wardrobe is a good thing: “I much prefer it – it’s edited to the more classic pieces I really love.” She and her boyfriend, George, bought their home via The Modern House in 2017 and have since made the most of the space available through their nifty use of storage. Naturally, this included adding shelves into an alcove in the second bedroom for Holly’s shoes, as well as a clothes rail made by Brighton-based furniture studio Little Deer.
Model Emma Champtaloup’s family home in north London
Model Emma Champtaloup also sees the benefits of a clear-out: “It’s so liberating! Even just going through your wardrobe, going through your utensils, going through your pantry, whatever it is, and getting rid of anything unnecessary or unused.” Having left everything behind when she and her husband, Jack, moved to their family home in north London, she then followed in the footsteps of countless fashion designers, artists and writers who have borrowed from the past to create something new. Together with interior designer Hollie Bowden, Emma scoured markets and antiques shops for one-off pieces of furniture and design objects. “It was a treasure hunt!” she says.
Fashion designer Mallika Chaudhuri’s renovated home in Harlesden
Being a fashion designer, it’s no wonder that Mallika Chaudhuri took the lead when it came to adding splashes of colour, materials and extra-special details to her family home in Harlesden. While her husband, architect Sean Ronnie Hill, focused on the design and structure of the ground-floor flat they share with their two daughters, she was behind more decorative touches like the floral wallpaper and pink tiling in the bathroom. “For me, the texture and colour was really important,” says Mallika. The refurb also included a custom-built garden studio, with electric-blue double doors, where Mallika works on her fashion label Indoi.
Creative director Alex Eagle’s Soho loft
Alex Eagle’s home is a testbed of sorts. “A lot of what we sell in my shop enters my life through my home first,” says the creative director, who owns a fashion and homeware boutique, as well as a concept store that marries fashion with art and culture. She used to be sorry to see things go but she’s also conscious of not overfilling her home with odds and ends. As well as ample light, her loft space features just the right amount of furniture. “I’m attracted to simple things in fashion and furniture,” she adds, explaining that, for her, it’s all in the details – “how the furniture comes together or the way a garment is cut”.
Fashion designer Bella Freud’s apartment in Television Centre
Fashion designer Bella Freud collaborated with Maria Speake, co-founder of architectural salvage company Retrouvius, on the interiors of this three-bedroom penthouse, currently for sale via The Modern House. The elegant apartment sits at the top of The Helios, a circular structure at the core of the former home to the BBC, Television Centre.
Bella is known for her irreverent clothing designs, which take sombre ideas about the subconscious (yes, she’s that sort of Freud) and reframe them in a playful fashion context, and this apartment is the same. In an otherwise minimalist bathroom is a leopard-print rug and a tip of the hat to Marcel Duchamp (the loo is tagged, like the artist’s infamous urinal, with “R. Mutt, 1917”), while one of the bedrooms features cherry-red walls and a matching carpet.
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