Nicole Farhi: Natural woman

[Al-khiyal]

Nicole Farhi has a no-nonsense take on the design world she inhabits – eschewing the fashion industry’s prescriptive approach, she creates clothes that transcend trends and are as effortlessly feminine as she is:

September 22, 2007 -- “I have a problem with the word luxury,” says Nicole Farhi. I do a double take. A clothes rail in the corner of the room drips with cashmere trenches and silk frocks and I am tempted to hold up the beautiful sculpted glass bottle of Farhi-designed Bleu Azur perfume sitting between us on the table. I could also remind her that she has just opened another deluxe store, in Dubai.

So, what’s going on? The Nicole Farhi brand is a byword for elegant, expensive, high-end fashion and homewares. I wonder if this is a portent, if she is about to announce that, 25 years on, she’s had it with design and is about to jack it all in.

“For me, luxury is not about exclusivity – it’s about freedom,” she says, putting me right. “It’s about being able to say, ‘I will wear exactly what I want to wear. I don’t care what people say, as long as I feel good.’”

But fashion, I suggest, has never been so bossy, our reliance on the judgment of a personal shopper rather than our instinct and desire never so endemic. “Don’t listen,” she says in her husky French accent, plugging her fingers in her ears. “There is too much on offer. I design clothes, but I don’t renew my own wardrobe all the time. I don’t need a Prada bag – to say this is the bag of the year, to push it in your face and say this is all there is, no!”

Women, she says, must be “clever enough” to see through all that marketing. “They should feel free to wear what they want. There are no rules about who you are.”

Unless, that is, you are one of her models, in which case size zero is out. “I’ve never liked the extremely skinny look. When we’re casting, if I see a girl who is too skinny, she is out immediately. It is not pretty to have bones sticking out, to see clavicles and knees.”

Farhi, who was born in Nice to Algerian parents, left Paris for London in 1973 to marry her first husband, Stephen Marks, with whom she launched what is now her parent company, French Connection. She has 11 stores across the world.

She has always designed for women like herself: intelligent, confident, sensuous women as attuned to the texture, movement and freedom of her clothes as they are to lives pursued with an independence of spirit. Enslaving yourself to the vicissitudes of fashion is an indignity, Farhi believes. “If a trend says wear short dresses and your legs aren’t nice, why should you? There is a choice to be made about your body,” she says, as only a woman with French sensibilities can. “It is not just about your age, it’s about your attitude to life and what you do.”

In Farhi’s case, that means sculpting, cooking, travelling, going to the theatre, walking her Labrador, Bianca, entertaining in her Hampstead home or in the clifftop house in the South of France she and her playwright husband Sir David Hare bought after an eight-year search for the perfect, secluded coastal spot.

Farhi is proud of what she describes as “a certain softness, a kind of gentleness” in her clothes. “There is no aggression in them, nor is there in me. I am aggressive in the way I have run my life, but what comes out is effortless,” she explains.

It is a philosophy well suited to Farhi herself. With her vibrant auburn curls, luminous skin, generous smile and toned physique, she is a pin-up for modern womanhood. Ageing, not surprisingly, has little hold on her. “Your spirit never grows old,” she proclaims.

The secret to ageing well, she says, is to “eat well, exercise, oxygenate your body, take care of your hair and not use too many tricks – if you want a face-lift, fine, but if you fiddle too much, the sense of you ends up disappearing”.

Farhi has a keen sense of self and a drive and hunger for living. She attributes this to her Jewishness and the loss of many family members in the Holocaust. “Grasp every single moment,” says Farhi, “That was the philosophy of my father and my grandfather, to do as much as they could as well as they could for as long as they could. I am certainly not as good as my father was,” she says, fighting back sudden tears, “but when you’ve been around goodness, it inspires you to be a better person. You don’t want to be unduly influenced by the silliness of life – its true quality lies somewhere else.”

Natural woman

[Al-khiyal]

Nicole Farhi

[sania]

She sure looks like a white ghost!

Ghosts are always white, right?

[Cheba_Mami]

How can i know? i am an angel

[Al-khiyal]

Fashion designer Nicole Farhi robbed at knifepoint on doorstep of £3 million home

May 1, 2008 -- Fashion designer Nicole Farhi has been robbed at knifepoint on the doorstep of her multi-million-pound home.

The 61-year-old had her £8,000 ring, a watch and foreign cash stolen after she was pounced on by two men who threatened her with a knife.

It is believed the pair lay in wait for the millionairess as she entered her Hampstead home at 11pm last Thursday.

Farhi is the latest victim of a duo who have been operating in the area for three months. They have attacked three women who have been walking late at night on their own, stealing expensive jewellery.

Police are desperate to catch the pair amid fear they may strike again. The suspects - who are both black - fled in a small silver car which was parked nearby and drove off towards Finchley Road. They were both aged between 25 and 35.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Burns of Camden Robbery Squad said: "There have been three incidents over the last three months in Hampstead where lone women have been robbed of their jewellery.

"The suspects for these robberies are young, black males. Members of the public should always be aware of their surroundings and should report any suspect activity to police."

Farhi lives with her husband, theatre director David Hare, at the detached, period property in Frognal, just off Hampstead High Street. Homes on the quiet, residential street are believed to be worth from £3million upwards.

In the last two decades, French-Algerian Farhi has emerged as one of the leading designer names in Britain and created a loyal following across the world.

Her career began in Paris where she worked as a freelance fashion designer, but she moved to London in the Seventies, where she worked with the likes of Stephen Marks, owner of the then-little-known label French Connection.

In 1983 Marks funded the launch of the Nicole Farhi label. Five years later she expanded the collection and now the brand has continued to grow with the introduction of swimwear, shoes, accessories and evening wear.

Tony Blair was a fan of Farhi's casual wear while he was Prime Minister and actors Colin Firth and Emma Thompson and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin have also been spotted wearing her designs.

She now has stores across the world as well as eight stores across London, including New Bond Street and Floral Street.

Nicole Farhi was unavailable for comment last night. Anyone with information about the robbery should contact members of the Camden Robbery Squad on 020 7404 1212 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

[Bent_Bladi]

how terrifying... you'd think she'd have bodyguards with all that stuff on her

[Al-khiyal]

CBE for fashion designer Farhi

May 14, 2008 -- Fashion designer Nicole Farhi has been presented with an honorary CBE for services to the retail industry.

French-Algerian Farhi said she was "privileged and delighted" to receive the honour, presented to her by Culture Secretary Andy Burnham.

The 61-year-old was born in Nice and began her career as a freelance in Paris before moving to London in the 1970s.

She worked for French Connection for more than 10 years before launching her own label in 1982, gaining a following of celebrities including Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett and Colin Firth.

Her empire now includes homeware, shoes, swimwear and accessories, as well as restaurants in London and New York.

In April two men threatened her with a knife outside her home in north west London and stole a ring worth £8,000.

She said: "I am both privileged and delighted to be awarded this honour by Her Majesty the Queen for my contributions to the fashion industry in Britain.

"I was born in France but I have been lucky enough to work in Britain for more than 30 years in an industry which, since the 1960s, has provided inspiration to designers all over the world."

Mr Burnham said: "It gives me great pleasure to present this honorary CBE to Nicole Farhi.

"With her award-winning collections she has helped to place - and keep - London at the very centre of the fashion world. She is known for her sought-after designs, and her London-based business has played an important role in showing the rest of the world what an exciting and diverse place Britain is for fashion."