Stateside style meets British charm in fashion designer Viggy Hindmarch’s London home

“I was thinking, we could get someone to do a sense or a tarot-card reading,” says London fashion designer Viggy Hindmarch. We’re sitting in her English-garden-inspired dining room, with Chippendale-style bamboo chairs and latticed walls, while she contemplates the possibilities for entertaining. The founder of the luxury womenswear brand says, “I don’t just invite people over for dinner. I like to give them something to do, rather than have more drinks and more food. They love distractions.” wiggy kit.

A purposeful vein, especially when it comes to hosting, runs through the entrepreneur’s world. Christmas is at her home in the Bahamas, where she invites a group of friends and family to gather on her beach-facing veranda to sing carols; On Easter, it’s sports day; And at dinner parties there are quiz and games nights. “They become very competitive,” she says.

Designer Philippa, nicknamed Wiggy as a child, wandered along the Thames with friends and dreamed of buying an exclusive red-brick Georgian property, a four-storey house in a hidden area of ​​west London by the river. At the time, it was owned by textile designer Cath Kidston and was already delightfully decorated, “You can’t imagine her house looking like that,” a bold coral with a drawing room. Hindmarch managed to purchase it in 2017, waiting seven years before refurbishing.

“I’m glad we waited, because we might have made mistakes,” she says. “I don’t think I would have understood how important it was for my daughters to have their own bathroom, or that, really, you don’t have guests over in London, so allocating your biggest spare room to visitors who never come is a bit silly. We’ve given that to our eldest daughter, along with a lovely little cabin room for friends to stay over occasionally.” Hindmarch now lives there with her husband William – brother of accessories designer Anya Hindmarch – and their two teenage daughters, Scarlett and Marina, as well as Winnie the dachshund.

“This house is my identity,” she says. “I think the most important thing about it is how it makes you feel. And the secret to entertaining is scene-setting. When we have friends over, we immerse the house in darkness. We have fires burning, we’re playing music, there are candles burning everywhere…”

Even the well-stocked bar in the corner of the dining-room is filled with stylish surprises, including his favorite Floc de Gascogne aperitif (“like sherry but sweeter”); King’s Ginger (“It Blows Your Head Off”); And the ingredients for the Paloma cocktail required for that.

“I don’t like cooking, I like people,” she says. “As long as the food is good—ribs and chips with salad, or roasted chicken—the guests are happy; they’re more interested in conversation than what’s put in front of them. That’s what I tell myself, anyway.”

Hindmarch’s label, which he founded in 2015, has become a favorite of the fashion crowd, despite its relatively boutique size. He believes his inspiration behind this was seeing his father’s financial struggles during the recession in the 1990s. “You know, circumstances have not always been easy for me,” she says. “My parents had lost a lot from their situation (at the time). From then on, I had this understanding that I had to make my own luck. I never went to university. No one else could help me.”

After attending performing-arts school, she worked in retail and became obsessed with fashion. Her brand, born out of a desire for versatile resortwear, has evolved into a year-round collection of built-to-last staples, including practical features such as adjustable sizes on trousers and dresses, as well as distinctive prints, which Hindmarch designs herself. A self-starting philosophy also informs her approach to her home interiors. Hindmarch originally hired a leading London interior designer, but soon began realizing it herself. The result is a bold approach to design and color (see the Gettysburg Gold color by Benjamin Moore in the drawing room) and a distinctive East Coast sensibility, which she attributes to spending several years in New England and North Carolina as a young woman.

The combination of prints and attention to room dressing and joinery are all hallmarks of American style, based on an intuitive sense of living well. “I wanted my house to be like an American, like a British country house,” she says in her airy drawing room. One Man’s Folly: The Exceptional Houses of Farlow Gatewood (See more about Gatewood’s Southern Gothic home in Georgia Here) and each titled by the Decorating Master Mark D. Sykes.

Timeless yet distinctive garments play a central role, as they do in her fashion brand. Antiques come from Decorative Collective and Maison Artifact – “shopping for antiques online relaxes me” – while artwork, such as the Bruce Ingram collage above the fireplace, provides a contemporary touch.

“For a year, we lived in an apartment overlooking the construction site. Our dining room was filled with boxes, cookbooks — like I said, I don’t cook — and Peloton,” she says. “I’m curious how the way we’ve decorated will encourage me to entertain more and in a different way. It’ll be nice to invite people over again – you really get to know a person when you experience their home.”

This article was originally published in the December 2024/January 2025 issue harper’s bazaar uk. Interior design by Wiggy Hindmarch; Photography by Simon Brown; Written by Claire Brayford; Hair and makeup by Terry Capone at Stella Creative Artists, using Leonore Grell and Westman Atelier; Floral Styling by blooming house.

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