If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what famous people add to their carts. Not the JAR brooch and Louis XV chair, but the stain-remover pen and the tongue cleaner. We asked artist, designer, and Financial Times columnist Luke Edward Hall about the poppy seeds, vintage matchsticks, and garden sandals he can’t live without.
I actually bought these the other day. I’ve been wearing a pair of woven Birkenstocks for a couple of years, but I wanted some that I could wear in the garden this summer. The EVAs are made in a flexible, lightweight material, and I think I’ll be living in them because they are waterproof, which might come in handy when we’re watering our vegetables. I think what I’m drawn to most about them is how simple they are — you can get them in lots of different materials and colours. It’s quite a plain design, so they really do go with everything.
We’re getting really into our garden at the moment, and therefore have cultivated something of a kind of plant and seed addiction. We stopped off at Darsham Nurseries in Suffolk on the way back from a party a couple of months ago, and we picked up a few packets of seeds but they have an online shop, so you can also buy them if you don’t live nearby like us. How fab do these poppies look? Such incredible colours!
I have known about John Derian for a while now. He has these three really fab little shops in New York in the East Village. He’s mainly known for his decoupage, but he also sells all sorts of things in his shops, such as furniture and vintage textiles. But I always bulk-buy matches from him when I visit, because they add an extra shot of colour and charm to every room. [Editor’s note: This price is converted from dollars.]
My bathroom shelves in the countryside are loaded with boxes of Santa Maria Novella soap, because they smell wonderful and the packaging is so divine. One of my favourites is their almond soap, which has a delicate fragrance and feels very nourishing.
I’m a big fan of Rowing Blazers — we collaborated on a small menswear collection a couple of years ago. I also love the glittering, gorgeous work of Slim Aarons, the American photographer whose work is featured in the collaboration. I think it’s such a genius idea: putting Aarons’s soft, faded photographs on shockingly colourful T-shirts and hoodies. I want to jump into the glorious image on this T-shirt. [Editor’s note: This price is converted from dollars.]
I hoard old and rare art and design books, novels, and magazines, and Beaux Books is one of my favourite hunting grounds. I love the look of this 1984 Olympic special edition of Interview, with photographs by Bruce Weber.
I love a giant 1970s jacket lapel, so this Gucci jacket really does it for me. I think I particularly like Gucci because it’s very playful and quite romantic, and that’s often how I think about my work, too. And I like how they bring in references from different eras and decades. This is a very ’70s shape. It has these perfect brass buttons, and I adore the icy grey colour of the material. Plus, I love really, really big lapels.
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