Allegra Hicks

This multitalented design maven is cut from a different cloth

You design everything from home furnishings to fashion, but you started in textile design. How does that sensibility translate into fashion vs. home décor? In fashion, the colors are strong and the patterns converse with the body. In interiors, the fabrics are complementary to their surroundings. They are background for furniture, and colors are more subtle and evocative, almost like a watercolor. They frame the setting. You started in the interior-design world. Is that still your primary focus? Textiles are, and always will be, my primary focus. They are my 
creative vocabulary, they reflect the way I think, and they are the way I communicate my ideas. What was your first job? I worked in New York as an assistant to the painter Donald Baechler. There is so much design under the Allegra Hicks label. How involved are you with each piece? I am 100 percent involved in every aspect of my business, from the first sketch to the finished product. What is true style to you? Style is being true to yourself: not to be a victim of fashion but to be a good editor of it. It’s about feeling inherently at ease with what you wear and how you live. What is your go-to outfit? J Brand jeans, one of my shirts and Capri sandals. Both of your parents were creative while you were growing up. How did that influence you? My parents were—and are—extremely influential. I was taught how to look at things, and from an early age I was exposed to museums, beautiful music and literature. What did your parents want you to be when you grew up? Simply happy. Do your daughters wear your fashion line? Angelica, my eldest who is 18, loves my clothes and wears them. She cuts the hems and makes them very short though! Ambrosia, who is 14, wears bits and pieces, especially the short caftans. When and where are you most inspired? I am inspired when I travel, when I am not on a deadline and when my creativity guides me without a purpose. You were born in Italy, lived in New York, and now call London home. Describe the city through color. London is like water. It is gray-blue, smoky ice, deep greens, and pink blossoms. If you had the chance to go back in time and talk to your 25-year-old self, what would you tell her? It’s not what you do, but how you do it.
For more on collections by Allegra Hicks, go to allegrahicks.com, therugcompany.info and westelm.com