October 12 Issue 336 thehillmag.co.uk

Jamie Oliver is on a mission to teach west Londoners to cook as Recipease opens in Notting Hill

Luxurious new interiors from the award-winning designer

KellyHoppen

10pure & simple

home accessories

The INTERIORS ISSUE• Decorating inspiration

from supermodel Elle Macpherson

• The hottest new furniture trends from Bethan Gray

local life

14 The Hill | October 2012

First lady of design

T he same day that I’m due to speak to Kelly Hoppen, the news breaks that we’ve just weathered the wettest summer for 100 years. At Hoppen HQ, this fact has gone unnoticed. Come rain, snow, hail or sleet – the

sky could be falling, and frankly there’s no doubt in my mind that this tireless designer would still be hard at work creating chic furnishings and easy-on-the-eye interiors in her trademark palette of calming taupes and soothing neutrals.

The incredible work ethic is all the more disconcerting given the fact that Kelly doesn’t look a day over 36 – which is in fact the number of years she’s been in the business. On paper, she’s 53 years old, spends an inordinate amount of time on planes and is a step-grandmother four times over. (For 15 years Kelly was married to Ed Miller, father of actress and new mum Sienna Miller as well as fashion designer and mother-of-three Savannah Miller.) But in the flesh, Kelly is a force of nature who exudes vitality.

Having started her business at just 16, Kelly’s celebrated interior design studio has not only created homes for a host of international high fliers including the Beckhams and Elton John, but also commercial clients such as Rhodes W1 Restaurant, boutique hotel Murmuri in Barcelona and most recently LUX* Belle Mare in Mauritius.

“We’ve really built the business massively in this recession,” she reveals. “We’ve got a good 40 projects we’re running – in Taiwan, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Israel, Beirut, Verbier, New York, a lot in London again, Los Angeles, Barbados. So we’re busy. There’s a hell of a lot going on – and it’s good!”

But these private commissions for luxurious

homes in exotic corners of the globe are only part of Kelly’s day job. The reason hers is a household name across the country is that she’s also one of Britain’s most successful entrepreneurs. The ever-expanding Kelly Hoppen product lines include wall art, fabrics, paints, wallpapers, candles, room scents, bed linen, furniture, bathroom fittings, shutters, blinds and home accessories. Plus she has joined forces with QVC for her Home Design range which includes her luxurious bed linens and cushions, allowing even more shoppers access to her exquisite designs.

Upcoming launches include a new range of bathroom taps for Crosswater, a new collection of vintage-inspired furniture, and a new range of lighting in black metal and crystals at Maison & Objet in Paris. Later in the year she’ll also unleash a separate, pricier range of lighting made from Swarovski crystals and Murano glass. “The scale of the lights is going to be beyond extraordinary,” she laughs. And in a similar theme, the new Pearl 75 yacht outfitted with interiors by Kelly sets sail at the Southampton Boat Show this month.

For someone who thrives on new challenges, the Pearl 75 clearly got Kelly’s creative juices going. “That was such a brilliant opportunity,” she says of the floating home-from-home. “The difference on a boat is it has to be incredibly practical. Every single space that you can possibly find has to be storage, even under your feet. You can’t have any sharp corners in case it sways and you fall, and everything has to be stuck down. But the whole thing is just so tranquil and wonderful. I can’t wait to get down there, to dress the yacht and then unveil it.” Given her hectic schedule would she ever indulge in a Pearl 75 cruise herself? “I definitely will,

Renowned interiors queen Kelly Hoppen MBE has left her stamp on celebrity homes, luxe hotels and designer yachts across the globe and her design domination shows no signs of slowing down, discovers Shannon Denny

October 2012 | The Hill 15

Relx in style on Kelly’s leather taupe Chesterfield three seater sofa

16 The Hill | October 2012

you bet! And I’m definitely going to have a glass of champagne on there when we launch it.”

In another exercise of stretching into new directions, her first kitchen – a critically acclaimed collaboration with Smallbone of Devizes – has just touched down too. “I’m so excited,” she says of the modular designs which include shelving accented with chain mail, a light box unit for showing off a piece of art and a dresser inspired by Piet Mondrian. “There are loads of combinations, because I’m all about texture and layering. I love it. I designed it for myself; I think a lot of fashion designers design clothes for themselves that they would wear, and I always think that’s good.”

As it happens, Kelly has a culinary expert in her own family; her daughter Natasha Corrett is a chef, cookery book author and creator of the Honestly Healthy range of foods. Did Natasha help with the Smallbone work? “No, because she always argues about that,” Kelly says with a good-natured smirk. “She’s always like, ‘You’re so bloody impractical when it comes to a kitchen!’ But, funny enough, I’ve actually started cooking more since her cookbook came out. The other day I opened up to the wheat-free pizza and it said, ‘This recipe is for my mum.’ I got all sort of tearful! But she just makes it all look so easy; she’s brilliant.”

Kelly is a great supporter of young talent and she says: “I love young kids when they get motivated and they make something of their passion, I just think youth is the future and I have to support people. I’m constantly trying to mentor people, and I think the Prince’s Trust is fantastic.” Through the charity Kelly is lending her support to young designer Fay Martin. She’s also an ambassador for the Government’s GREAT campaign working with UK Trade & Investment to promote Britain. “When you’ve got all these opportunities, if you can still get up and do it, you might as well get up and do it!” she laughs.

Not surprisingly, all these commitments leave very little space in the diary to redecorate her own Notting Hill home. “I used to do it all the time,” she says. “But to be honest the past two years I have done nothing but be on a plane travelling back and forth to Asia, and working really, really hard.” This doesn’t prevent her large collection of high-profile friends from begging for advice though. “Melissa Odabash the bikini designer, I did her kitchen for her a while ago,” Kelly says by way of example. “I’ve just been too busy to do the rest of her house. We were on holiday and she was like, ‘You’ve got to do it, you’ve got to do it.’ She finally wore me down, so in my lunch hour yesterday I drew it up for her.”

‘I can’t wait to get down there, to dress the yacht and then unveil it. I’m definitely going to have a glass of champagne on there when we launch it’

Faux Silk Button Detail Filled Cushion £21.50, QVC

Leather Taupe and White Linen Square Armchair

Cushion with Moo Band

Cushion with Cross Ivory Band

Kelly’s designed the interiors for the new Pearl 75 yacht

October 2012 | The Hill 17

Kelly on...COLOUR“I obviously use a lot of taupe and all the neutrals. I think they’re very grounding and spiritual.”

BED LINEN“You spend most of your time in bed, and it’s the closest thing to your skin, so it’s got to be high thread count. Nothing below 500, and again, neutral.”

FLOORING“I love wood floors and I love mixing wood with stone and marble. My whole system of designing is on a grid, so I do a lot of inlays where the access points are.”

KITCHENS“I think the problem is a kitchen is all very hard surfaces so it’s cold. At the same time it’s the heart of the home so I’ve tried to create the little black dress of a kitchen, so it can be used in various ways. Perfect for kids running around, but flip the light to look different for entertaining at night, or for cooking with bright lights.”

PAINT“I love paint and I normally paint all the ceilings, walls, everything the same colour. My favourites are greige, taupe and white. But then I’ve got some amazing colours for accent walls. My feng shui master, Richard Ashworth, comes twice a year to my studio, so now one of the walls in my office is Dragon Red.”

As well as being a fan of Melissa’s swimwear emporium in Ledbury Road, there are several nearby haunts she can’t stay away from – E&O, Mediterraneo, 202, Daylesford, Matches and Beach Blanket Babylon top the list. “And then there’s the market – I love Portobello, so I try to support the market as much as I can.”

Before setting up home and office in the neighbourhood, she worked from a studio in Olympia and lived in Chelsea, but the diversity and spirit here suits her. “I absolutely adore Notting Hill. There’s something great about it. It’s everything you want it to be; it’s very New York, it’s very Paris, it’s very street, it’s very real. When I walk down the street I bump into people I know. It’s cosy, it’s lovely. I’m really happy living and working here.”

Tremendously patriotic, Kelly doesn’t hesitate when asked to reveal her career pinnacle to date. “Getting my MBE from the Queen was my proudest moment.” But the recognition didn’t for a moment encourage her to consider slowing down. “I’ve always said until I stop enjoying it I’ll continue.” So what’s next for Kelly? “I want to do a film or a film set – something moving. When I saw Tom Ford’s film [A Single Man], I so got it. It was like me looking through a lens behind him. And I just thought, ‘I can do that.’” Except surely she’ll have to put a project or two on hold? Kelly is unfazed. “Everything slots in when it’s meant to,” she tells me. And coming from a woman who’s effortlessly slotted in so much already – from underfloor storage in a luxurious yacht to a friend’s interior design plans in a lunch break – who could doubt her? }

Visit kellyhoppenretail.com, qvcuk.com and smallbonekellyhoppen.com

Set of two Paisley Design Velvet Cushions, £19.75, QVC

Velvet Single Button Centre Cushion, £27.50, QVC

Jubilee Chair Vintage Black and Chainmail