DESIGN ENVY

We catch up with renowned designer and Nantucket by Design keynote Ashley Hicks

When the Nantucket Historical Association announced Ashley Hicks as one of the keynote speakers for this year’s Nantucket by Design Luncheon—along with life partner Martina Mondadori of Cabana magazine—industry leaders were elated at the prospect of the renowned designer paying a visit to the island. Trained at the Architectural Association in London and son to the late David Hicks—who was infamous for a number of accolades, including decorating the first apartment in Buckingham Palace for the former Prince of Wales—Hicks is known for his eclectic, yet nuanced taste that dabbles with bold colors and patterns. “[Martina] grew up in rooms by the great Italian designer Renzo Mongiardino, whereas I grew up in David Hicks houses,” he explains. “We will talk about the home we made together in Milan and how it embraces both these very different influences and updates them for today, while reflecting her personality and needs (it’s really home to her and her children—I am a guest there).” Here, Hicks discusses favorite projects, décor tips and what’s inspiring him now. Nantucket by Design, August 2-5, Keynote Design Luncheon, August 3, nha.org; ashleyhicks.com

Tell me more about how you started to design furniture and why you dove into this sector of design?

I started designing furniture 30 years ago because I wanted to make a klismos chair inspired by ancient Greek ones and had it made by carpenters in Rajasthan, India. About 15 years ago, I started making pieces myself, and that I really love. There’s something enormously satisfying about crafting your own pieces. I lack the skills or training for fine woodwork, but I experiment with carved resin, which works for me!

What is one of your favorite design projects you’ve completed this year and why?

Two pieces I made, very different but equally fun to do. One is a washstand for a bathroom in California, which I made in resin, carved to look like rippling fur, bronzed and with gilt bronze lions’ paw feet. The other is a huge painting imitating a grisaille tapestry, which I copied from a 1796 drawing by Baron Gros of a key moment in the French Revolution, crowded with figures in excited neoclassical poses [and] Marie Antoinette with a very elaborate hairstyle behind bars. This is now hanging in the all-gray room in New York for which it was commissioned.

What is inspiring you right now?

Historic textiles from Renaissance velvets to Indian block prints, Piranesi, Poussin, Rateau, Soane, Adam, Burges … the list is endless.

When it comes to bringing your imagination into reality, what are some of your top tips for those looking to refresh or revamp their interiors?

I like to make things myself, which does make it rather easier to bring your imagination into reality! To refresh a room, there are so many ways—you could repaint it in a zesty new color, you could hang different art on the wall, you could change the lighting—if there’s a center light and no center table for it to hang over, rip it out!

Nantucket is a very traditional New England town. What are your tips for adding a bit more personalization to interior design?

The best way to add personalization to an interior is to fill it with things you actually love and that have meaning for you, rather than generic stuff that fills the space but says nothing to or about you. If you habitually look at magazines or Instagram and are tempted to copy things you see, fight the urge! The world has enough sameness already.

You specialize in bringing historic interiors to life, all while giving them a fresh perspective. This relates directly to Nantucket as it’s a very historic island. What is your opinion on combining the old with the new when it comes to interior design, and what is the importance of keeping the history of homes in act?

I grew up surrounded by antiques, old rooms and modern décor in my father’s houses, so anything else feels very alien to me. No room should have nothing old about it! Even if it is only a traditional shape of a chair that’s been remade in new materials, there must be something old. People feel deeply uncomfortable in an all-new environment.

Your father, David Hicks, was renowned in the field. How did you carve out your own design identity, all while honoring his successes and influences?

Haltingly at first, I would say! He died soon after I started working, which was helpful, I suppose, in that his towering presence receded a little. But I perversely made celebrating him into one of my constant goals—endless books (the latest, David Hicks in Colour, published by Cabana this year) and product collaborations keeping his style front and center, while I whittle away at my own thing, contrasted to his work in ways great or small. His oeuvre was sufficiently broad to allow any number of very different designers to find inspiration and models in it, myself included.

What’s next?

Heading to Boston to revisit that wonderful MFA [Museum of Fine Arts] with its Sargent ceilings and Ledoux boiseries. Excited!

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