Georgiana Huddart’s sleek interiors reflect the simple elegance of her sought-after swimwear label, Hunza G
It’s a glorious day in ladbroke grove when I arrive at Georgiana Huddart’s redbrick townhouse. She opens the door, a vision of laid-back elegance in slim Helmut Lang jeans, loafers by Church’s and a black cashmere Comme des Garçons jumper. Together, we walk through the hallway into her sun-drenched kitchen, where there’s already a pot of coffee brewing on the stove.
Here, my eyes are first drawn to Faye Wei Wei’s pencil sketch of Saint Sebastian and large line-drawn nudes by Alba Hodsoll hanging above a sculptural Camaleonda bubble sofa, beside which is a very neat play area for her children: Frank Valentine, who is almost four, and one-year-old Stella Rose. The co-founder of the cult swimwear and apparel label Hunza G bought the house last June with her husband Gabriel Andrews, who works in private equity; they gutted it entirely, then redecorated in calm neutrals, before taking occupancy in November. The one thing they were happy not to change was the view across the silver-birch-framed garden and the field beyond. ‘Having nature around feels like home,’ says Huddart. ‘I love being able to watch the trees change.’
She guides me through to the livingroom, whose cream palette is offset by pops of colour: a burnt-orange sofa, red and green trays from the Lacquer Company and a chartreuse velvet ottoman by Katrina Phillips that Huddart has owned since she was 22. ‘It’s had drinks thrown over it, it’s survived house parties and people have danced on top of it during Notting Hill Carnival,’ she tells me. Smaller pieces reveal a penchant for curios: near the window is a pedestal holding a large quartz crystal and by the fireplace is a petrified-wood bowl, whose source she will only identify as ‘a guy I know’, lest word get out. ‘He’s the person to go to before a piece comes into a shop and costs a lot of money.’ There are also two sentimental additions to the space: a matching brown-leather sofa and armchair that used to be in Huddart’s family home.
The eldest of six siblings, Huddart spent much of her childhood in rural Essex after her family moved there from Wandsworth to accommodate the growing brood. ‘We went to the countryside predominantly because we couldn’t fit into a house in London. There was a child sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs, like Harry Potter,’ she says. As children, they had a dressing-up box, inside which was a red crinkle-textured mini-dress with a cut-out wai
