Jessica Salter
Dame Anya Hindmarch's pieces are instantly recognizable for their fun and frivolous designs, and practical elements that help you to organize your home and life stylishly. Having launched her business in London in 1987, it's since grown to a globally renowned brand with personalization, organization, and, of course, style at its heart. Her eye-catching designs, practical solutions, and commitment to sustainability have won her doting fan bases worldwide. Anya Hindmarch went on to launch a knitwear collection with Uniqlo in 2023 and was awarded a damehood at the King's Birthday Honors in 2024 for her services to fashion and business. Here she shares the things that make her happy and fuel her creativity.
1. My Happy Place
2. Intimate Gatherings
When friends and family gather I have an obsession with a very narrow table; when the plate of the person opposite you nearly touches yours. If you are all really close, you are all having one conversation and that intimacy helps bring people together. Our Christmas table decor ideas will involve a gingerbread house squeezed onto it somehow, lots of satsumas, and chocolate coins. It is messy and noisy, but brings me so much happiness. It’s a moment to shut the door, light the fires, and shut out the world.
The Anya Cafe in London; Anya loves filling her Christmas table with bowls of satsumas and gingerbread
3. Global Experiences
We do quite a lot of ambitious travel as a family, and I love going to places where you can learn. I haven’t been, but I am desperate to go to the Adrere Amellal Eco Lodge in Siwa, Egypt. They celebrate local craftsmanship, the rooms look beautiful, and it has no electricity. A complete switch off with candles and starry skies – my idea of heaven. And for old-school charm, nothing beats The Carlyle in New York.
4. Being Stylishly Organized
I am a self-confessed organisation nerd. Life just works that bit better with systems. It’s why I started the Labelled Collection, a range of functional bags, cases, and pouches which have a space for everything and embossed labels which make things easy to find.
5. Japanese Style
I have a love affair with Japan. I love the amazing respect and behaviour that people have, as well as their style. I love working with the team at Uniqlo on our collaborations, as well as the team at Itoya when we brought their iconic stationery store to London for the first time with our Itoya x Anya Hindmarch collab.
6. The Art of Combining Color
A Dictionary of Color Combinations by the Japanese artist and kimono designer Sanzo Wada, who produced this in the 1930’s, is a source of joy and inspiration for me. There are some amazing unexpected color combinations in there, like aubergine and teal with bright yellow.
7. A Classic Black Tuxedo
I have a Claire Waight-Keller Chloe era black velvet tuxedo in my wardrobe that is the gift that keeps giving. I always wear it with my crisp packet clutch for fun nights out.
8. The Scent of Morocco
I discovered a little perfumery called Madini in Tangiers years ago, which is hundreds of years old. I love its little roll-on bottles, all the fragrances smell amazing, it is really an exceptional place. There perfumes remind me of lovely times in Morocco.
9. Train Journeys
I’m very happy sitting in a window seat with a cup of tea on the train. I find train journeys really useful time for creative thinking because they are licence to switch off from the rat race for a bit and stare out the window. We have a tiny cottage in north Wiltshire, where we go every weekend. The surrounding landscape is so beautiful with deep cuts of valleys and brooks that run through it. It’s a balm for the soul.
10. Graphic Prints
As a present for my 50th birthday, my team gave me an artist's proof by the graphic designer Margaret Calvert, who, along with Jack Kinneir, designed all the road signs in the UK. The picture is of the road sign Men At Work, but she painted a skirt to turn it into Women At Work, which I think sums up running my company. It hangs proudly in my home office.
Anya Hindmarch's Essentials for Living Joyfully
Anya Hindmarch's eye designs are so iconic, and this sparkly clutch makes such a statement for Christmas and party season. It's the perfect size for your cell, a lipstick and a few other essentials with a handy wrist strap, too.
These books by Japanese kimono designer, Sanzo Wada, is a constant source of inspiration for Anya, with 348 different color combinations, based on his original 6-volume work from the 1930s.
These mini travel perfumes will fit perfectly in one of Anya's Labelled makeup bags and with notes of velvet woods and spicy amber it will transport you to her beloved Morocco.
In a deep burgundy hue and quilted pattern, this embossed makeup bag will be perfect for popping in your luggage for trips away, while keeping everything beautifully organized.
Anya loves to squeeze a gingerbread house onto her Christmas table and if you haven't time to make the real thing, this handcrafted ceramic version will make a lovely addition.
Anya's obsession with Japanese culture led to a collaboration with Japanese stationery brand Itoya. This is one of the pieces in the collection which features Anya Hindmarch's iconic embossing and comes in cobalt, red and black.
My Life in 10 is a series of interviews with tastemakers in the world of design and hosting that reveal their essential rules, rituals, and objects for beautiful living – from entertaining essentials they can't host without, to inspirational travel destinations and treasured pieces from their homes – to help you to live beautifully, too.
