ONE DAY WITH | MASTERS & MUSES | WORLD OF CABANA
Since establishing her eponymous brand in 2008, Olivia von Halle has redefined the art of luxurious sleepwear, elevating the humble pyjama set to a much-coveted wardrobe must-have, beloved by royals and celebrities, including David Beckham. She talks Sophie Goodwin through the routines and rituals of her day - from taming unruly chickens in the country to saunas and cold plunges in London.
INTERVIEW BY SOPHIE GOODWIN | MASTERS & MUSES | 23 DECEMBER 2024
Designer Olivia von Halle, photographed by Michael Sinclair.
I wake up very early at 6.30am. I have three children: Hiero, 8, Chaos, 5, Trip, 3. Boy, boy, girl. It is highly stressful in the morning. I run around the house, wake up the children, let our seven-month-old puppy, Persephone, out, rally the troops and eventually leave at 7.30am. I have a rushed cup of earl grey tea with the kids, and make the school run in pyjamas or a cashmere tracksuit.
Once school drop off is done, I can relax and my day can begin. I stop off at a coffee shop with girlfriends on my way home - the Compton McRae Farm shop, it's the center of life for mums here. I bump into Flora Soames and other favorite friends, and I have a pain au chocolat and latte before heading home.
I put on a boiler suit when I am back home, worn with a head-touch when I am mucking out the horses at night. I love animals, I have four horses, six chickens, a rat, and Persephone. I feed the chickens, who have gone terribly feral. They won’t stay in the smart hen house we got them and end up sleeping in trees, which they duly fall out of in the middle of the night. Armed with my head torch, I pick them up and put them back in the trees. They can’t seem to fly up twice.
Olivia von Halle photographed in the countryside with her horse, Herman.
The best way to start the day is on my beautiful horse, Herman. He's 18, two hands. We like going around the countryside together, galloping up hills. I’m always charging around outside [at our house] in the country, covering 20,000 steps a day. It’s a big house, and we’ve been doing it up for the last three years.
I live between London and the country. Eighteen months ago my husband, Hugo, and I bought a house in the country - in the hard to distinguish borders of Wiltshire, Dorset and Somerset. Hugo and I have been together for 17 years. We met at a psychedelic trance rave, then moved to Shanghai, China.
It was in Shanghai, in 2008, that my business began. At the time, I was a trend forecaster for Future Laboratory and WGSN, and I knew the way we were dressing in the noughties was about to change: the Hervé Léger bodycon dresses, the 'tits and arse out' mentality, it was over. It was time to start covering up.
Olivia's colorful Georgian townhouse in London's Ladbroke Grove.
In Shanghai everyone wears silk pyjamas. I remember putting a pair on for the first time for a 26th birthday party, then I started walking the dog in them; and my friends and family soon followed suit. My thought was that nobody 'owned' the pyjama as a fashion concept - the whole category was up for grabs.
Our collection with The Carlyle sold out in two days. We are approached about a lot of collaborations, but I knew this was a brilliant idea. The illustration was hand sketched in London and printed onto a cocktail pyjama and silk eye mask. It depicts classic New York moments, and, of course, the Ludwig Bemelmans murals in the Bar.
As the company has grown, I focus on branding and design. I don't get involved in the boring admin: my husband is in charge of sales, operations and logistics and digital marketing. I resisted the 'husband and wife team at work' for years; I set up the software and can do all that, but over the years I have less to prove. I don’t care if people assume I don’t have a business brain, I just want to get the work done.
Olivia's collaborations with De Gournay and The Carlyle Hotel, New York.
At some point in the day, I feel guilty about work. So, I get on a train to London and change into city-appropriate clothing. When I'm in London, I live in a Georgian townhouse on Ladbroke Grove, and our office is on Bedford Square. I see my best girl friends for lunch - we go to Roka for Japanese food - and then I spend all afternoon with the team. I’m now focused on design as the creative director.
We have a nanny three days a week. This means Hugo and I can go out together and feel like teenagers again. We wander into Soho, grab a drink and an early dinner or go to the Banya at The Bath House in Grosvenor Gardens. It is a really hot sauna, followed by a cold plunge. You wear a felt hat, are whipped with birch leaves by sexy Lithuanian men, then sit around in a weird café in sheets drinking vodka and eating smoked herring. It’s not expensive, the food is so bizarre, and delicious.
the edit
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