Kelly Hoppen, 55, lives in London. Stepmother to actress Sienna Miller (34), designer Savannah Miller (36) and mother to founder of Honestly Healthy Natasha Corret (32), she started her interior design business when she was 16 years old and was awarded an MBE for her services to interior design in 2009. She talks to w&h about her passion for design and her brand new jewellery collection for QVC...
Where did your passion for designing begin?
Designing is a big part of my life; I've been doing it for so long. Being brought up between South Africa and England meant I grew up living a very bohemian lifestyle - my Grandmother's home was amazing, my mother's home was extraordinary and I was born designing; it's absolutely in my DNA.
I'm happiest when I'm in the studio designing. I've had my interior design business Kelly Hoppen Interiors since I was 16 and I've seen it transform people's lives. I get to know my clients really well - after all, I'm doing one of the most personal things that anyone can do with anyone - designing their home.
Does jewellery play a big role in your life?
I design houses, homes, furniture and products, but I'm obsessed with jewellery. I admire so many other amazing jewellers like Stephen Webster - he's one of my dearest friends and his jewellery is just extraordinary. I'm always wearing a chain and I like to add different things to it. I like to have one staple thing that I can change and adapt and I wear a lot of bracelets too.
Where did the inspiration for your new jewellery collection come from?
My jewellery designs are influenced by my busy lifestyle and how I dress. I get up every morning at 6am, train for an hour, get ready while eating breakfast and then I rush to work. People tend not to change their jewellery because they don't have time, so what I've tried to do is create pieces that are easy to wear, which can be layered up and kept on.
My collection is mostly pieces I always wear and people constantly say, ‘Where did you get that?' One of my favourites is a disc engraved with a saying I wrote: ‘Learn from the past, live in the present and visualise your future.' The whole collection can be layered and personalised - it's day-to-night, night-to-day. It's not diamonds and things, it's just fun!
What advice would you give women who want to change direction?
I admire women who want to make a change, whether it's going back to work after having children or switching from banking to designing. I'm lucky to have a very successful business that works like a mindmap, which gives me the freedom to go off and do other things - like the jewellery collection. I bought my daughter and two stepdaughters up to make them believe they can do anything they want, but not everyone's got a mother like me. That's why people need mentoring and support. I feel their fear because it's not easy to do, but anything is possible.
Kelly Hoppen MBE's new jewellery collection is exclusive to QVC and will be available from 19 November 2015.
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