Playing Favorites with Fran Hickman

Meet design’s newest Brit It Girl: Fran Hickman. A born and bred Londoner, Hickman earned her impeccable design pedigree courtesy of turns at Soho House Group and Colefax & Fowler before founding her namesake firm, Fran Hickman Designs, in 2014. Since then, Hickman has been outfitting luxe spaces around the English capital for an incredibly posh roster of clientele. From upgrading a row of Belgravia horse stables into Moda Operandi’s dreamy showroom to transforming a neglected Mayfair townhouse into the sleek, members-only Chess Club, Hickman has proven that she can spin any space into an enviable interior.

Hickman’s stellar style has certainly been making waves. Her Chess Club restaurant design, which featured walls adorned with no less than 257 illustrious butterflies, won Best Leisure Interior UK at the UK Property Awards in 2017 and was written up by the New York Times. As might be expected, the high-profile projects haven’t stopped rolling in since. Currently in progress for Hickman? A co-working space located in the Arabian desert and a beach abode in East Hampton, New York. Busy as Hickman may be, we managed to steal a few minutes with her recently and got the scoop on all of her favorites, including the must-have items she always has on her desk, to her best-kept secrets for scoring vintage finds in London.

Design

Favorite item on Chairish right now?
The cardboard Wiggle chair and ottoman by Frank Gehry. It’s inventive, playful, and artful.

Favorite thing about designing with vintage or antique pieces?
Vintage and antique pieces bring their history with them and create a narrative depth.

Favorite way to add drama to a room?
I associate drama with a sense of the unexpected and volume. This can be achieved by playing with scale, light, or color around a corner or behind a door. Luis Barragán was a master of this. His house and studio in Mexico City plays with tinted light, shadows, and surprisingly, large walls of color.

Favorite source for design inspiration?
Travel, specifically visiting galleries, museums, hotels, and shops. Also art and design books and Google are wonderful resources.

Favorite paint color?
Basalt, a very dark shade of blue, is one of my favorites as it hides a multitude of sins and is expansive.

Favorite pattern (and how you love to use it)?
I’m very careful using pattern as it tires and dates. Its use has to be for a specific reason. For example, we are working with an original 60’s psychedelic pattern we found in a Richard Meier house from the same period. The two offset each other brilliantly.

Favorite color combo?
Black and White.

Favorite way to mix high and low?
I think the everyday should be precious. For example, given the amount of time one spends at a desk or in bed, I think it is worth investing in a good desk chair and mattress.  It makes sense when you break down the cost in relation to time spent and consider the amount of pleasure it brings. In the interest of mixing high and low, I’d have a good mattress and a crate for a bedside table or pair a padded Eames chair with a chipboard sheet trestle table.  As an extension of this, I have a few precious things on my desk: a water jug and glass that I bought in Japan and some building blocks in a variety of different materials. I also have bed linen I love by Angela Wickstead. These things bring me daily pleasure.

Favorite way to work a bit of vintage into a room?
A rug is easy, and often better quality and more cost effective than a contemporary alternative.

Favorite furniture Maker?
I’ve just worked with Martino Gamper on a commission for a shared office space. He’s definitely a contemporary favorite.

Favorite room in your house?
My bedroom is a quiet retreat away from the world overlooking a private garden. There is nothing like your own bed when you travel a lot and the peace a good night’s sleep brings.

Favorite piece of art you own?
My current favorite is a funny little piece I just bought by Alexander Gorlizki through Tristan Hoare. It’s a watercolor of a question mark on paper.

Lifestyle

Favorite travel destination?
Japan

Favorite hotel to check in to?
Tawaraya Ryokan, Kyoto

Favorite way to treat yourself?
Flying comfortably

Favorite thank you/hostess gift?
Single stems from Flowerbx

Favorite entertaining essential?
Good lighting

Favorite artist?
I can’t choose one. There have been so many who have been brilliant in so many ways.

Favorite thing to collect?
I don’t collect anything. Except shoes. I have more shoes than necessary. If I was to collect something, Tristan Hoare had a few items in his Geometrica show that I felt would be happy on my desk. I particularly had my eye on a polyhedron of Seymchan meteorite.

Your City: London

Favorite restaurant?
Umu

Favorite hotel to recommend to visiting friends?
Claridges for the original art deco suite.

Favorite local flea market/vintage hunting ground?
Portobello and Golborne Roads are still the very best for vintage finds.

Lead photo by Annabel Elston