There are those rare women you meet who possess both a natural earthiness, and a refined aesthetic sensibility. Allegra Hicks is one of those women who manage to effortlessly create beauty within every gesture. In addition to her personal style; chic, cultivated, bohemian, she is known for her textile designs and the exquisite way she transforms her visions into caftans, carpets and cushions, through her fashion and home collections, eponymously named, Allegra Hicks… “A visual poem” is how her interior design books have been described, both of which reside in my library, and she now shares the “internal voyage through a designer’s mind” with us, as this month’s KOTUR Muse.

Q: What’s in your make-up bag?
Chubby stick intense from Clinique, Terry de Gunzburg concealer and Elizabeth Arden hand cream.

Q: Do you have a beauty secret?
I’ve always been very careful with the sun and I make sure to put sun block on my hands. 

Q: What would be your desert island essentials?
A great sarong and a big hat. 

Q: What do you wear on a fat day?
A pair of black trousers, a beautiful shirt and an cool accessory.

Q: How would your female friends describe your style?
Eclectic

Q: What’s the most treasured item in your wardrobe?
A beautiful evening jacket / cape by Romeo Gigli from 1985.

Q: Is there anything in your wardrobe you should get rid of but can’t?
I’m actually quite good at getting rid of things I don’t need. 

Q: What do you never leave home without?
Lipstick

Q: Hot date night with your husband, what do you wear?
I would wear something he has given me.

Q: When home alone, what do you wear?
A caftan

Q: What do you wear to bed?
In the winter I wear one of my husband’s shirts, and in summer I wear a very light muslin slip nighty. 

Q: You’re the fashion police for a day, what do you ban?
Nothing! If worn well anything can work. 

Q: Have you ever worn anything you now regret?
Fashion and tastes evolve. There are things I have worn in the past I wouldn’t wear today but they were right at the time. 

Q: How high is too high a heel?
When you can’t walk in it. 

Q: How old is too old for jeans?
With the right pair of jeans never. 

Q: If you could live in any other time for its fashion, when would you choose?
The 1930s; I love the silhouette of the dresses and the proportion of the clothes. And I also love the 70s; the clothes are so free and cool.

Q: What is your most recent purchase?
A pair of trousers by Dries van Noten

Q: Can you judge a book by its cover?
Of course not! 

Q: What are your bad habits?
Good television series. 

Q: What’s your greatest extravagance?
Having married a Neapolitan!

Q: What are your guilty pleasures?
Chocolate

Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
That whatever happens in your life, your talent is yours and no one can take that away so you can do whatever you want with it. 

Q: What’s your favorite smell?
Rose

Q: What’s your idea of a great holiday?
The sea on a boat with my loved ones. 

Q: What are you most proud of?
Obviously my girls.

Q: What are you least proud of?
The times I got scared. 

Q: What is your pure bliss?
Freedom

Q: Who or what would you like to be reincarnated as in your next life?
I would like to be reincarnated as a giraffe. I don’t know how clever they are  but hey, I’ve always loved patterns….

Q: What would you eat for your last supper?
Salad of raw artichokes, with sea bass sashimi, cherries, and marron glaces. I know they don’t work as a menu…… but those are my favourite things!

Q: If you could meet someone from history who would it be?
I would have liked to meet Mozart. He was notoriously naughty and fun and was the most extraordinary genius. 

Q: Yes or no to a nip and a tuck?
To each their own. 

Q: Do you have a favorite purse or bag?
An evening bag of my grandmother’s. It is a very simple black satin with a jade and silver clasp.

Q: Do you have a favorite KOTUR bag?
Yes, it was given to me by my very close friend. 

Q: On a scale of one-to-ten, how good looking are you?
I’ve never been good with numbers! Some days I look better than others. 

Q: How would you like to be remembered?
I would like the people that remember me to be happy at the memory. 

Photo Courtesy of Caroline Gavazzi