Jade Jagger: I will not tire of designing houses

By Laura Henderson
Posted: 2010/08/23

MAVERICK style icon and haute-hippy mum Jade Jagger talks to LAURA HENDERSON about returning to her 'first love', interior design

MAVERICK style icon and haute-hippy mum Jade Jagger talks to LAURA HENDERSON about returning to her 'first love', interior design

BUYING and restoring a 500-yearold Spanish farmhouse is a blood, sweat and tears undertaking at the best of times without the distractions of two teenage daughters and a high-profile business to manage. However, it's a highoctane existence that Jade Jagger, daughter of Sir Mick and Bianca, seems to have down to a fine art and now she is turning her creative talents to designing discerning interiors for a resort project in the Cotswolds.

A nomadic upbringing in colourful locations like Mustique and India has, she admits, instilled a creative wanderlust she has put to good use since her student days when she gave up modelling in London to soak up the sights and sounds of Italy's Florence and forge a career as an artist.

While the demands of motherhood prompted a lifestyle re-think in her early 20s, it was her decision to escape the spotlight and move to Ibiza with her daughters Assisi, 18 and Amba, 14, that sowed the seeds of her present trajectory. The rural seclusion of her island estate gave her much-needed thinking space.

Twelve years on, with a list of fashion design accomplishments including jewellery and leather goods under her belt, the haute-hippy mother has added another string to her bow: interior design. "I've always taken a creative approach to the surroundings I live in, " says Jade, 38. "I've even been known to reshuffle the furniture in hotel rooms to make them more my own.

"Travelling so much and seeing the different ways people live and differing architectures has come to mould me. I'm now into thinking how homes can be structured to accommodate the way we are.

"My own homes are a mix of bohemian and modern but where all are welcome. If you don't have that as a backbone you can't add feeling to where you live, that thrill of collecting things along the way."

While prestigious commercial commissions have sealed her design status abroad, it is her recent exploits in the UK residential arena that are notching up industry plaudits.

Most notably, her collaboration with YOO real estate founders entrepreneur John Hitchcox and design guru Philippe Starck, which has been received with much acclaim.

Big on innovation, the company has developed more than 10,000 properties with an estimated turnover of £4.5billion in 37 countries.

A minority shareholder in YOO since 2004, Jade has embraced her role, taking on an ambitious portfolio of city-based interior projects including a landmark loft development in New York called The Jade.

This makes her most recent domestic posting, The Lakes Resort in the Cotswolds, such an intriguing project choice.

Nestling in 650 acres of parkland near the historic market town of Lechlade, the resort's cutting-edge-meets-country-life design is eye-catching. The Jagger show home is a shrine to minimalism with its double-height entrance hall, vast picture windows and chandeliers.

"The surrounding environment always has a huge influence on my designs, " Jade says.

"With this particular project I wanted the natural setting to permeate the interiors, with colour palettes and textures that are both complimentary and sympathetic to the woodland and water features."

Aware of the necessity for practicality because of her children and dogs, open-plan living with a "party-friendly kitchen" are important focuses for Jade.

However, she has been quick to mix things up.

"Hard-core modernism can lose its lustre quickly, " she says. "If you want a living environment with longevity, tempering design extremes helps you to achieve that goal."

While her edgy, urban projects sit firmly in the "part lifestyle, part investment" property camp, would-be homeowners looking at waterfront dreams at
The Lakes are by contrast mostly family-orientated, city dwellers looking for a trendy weekend base.

However, the lure of "brand Jagger" is also whetting the appetite of style-conscious foreigners looking for something "quintessentially English with a twist".

William Leschallas of agents Jackson-Stops and Staff says: "The resort's design is a breath of fresh air. The properties offer an easier investment route: a holiday bolt hole that requires less maintenance than we have come to expect from a traditional home.

"Also, the modular build-style has taken account of the environment. The focus on light and space brings the outside in while the exteriors, clad with larch wood, blend into the landscape."

With several residential tourism projects in the offing and her new boutique the Jade Jagger Studio in Notting Hill, west London, ticking over nicely, few would blame her for taking some time out. However, the next few months are already accounted for with the imminent launch of her latest overseas venture in Morocco.

Just back from a site visit her face lights up at the mention of The Baglioni, a stunning 34-acre estate in the sensory city of Marrakesh, the centrepiece of which will be a limited edition of "JJ laid-back luxury private residences with private pools and oasis gardens".

Located 20 minutes from the market and just a short drive from the airport, 15 four and five-bedroom villas ranging from 665 sq m to 840 sq m, will sport Moroccan riad features including courtyards, tile roofs, muted tone plaster walls and plenty of mosaics.

Practicalities haven't been left out of the equation either with everything from home food delivery and concierge services to a managed rental pool.

"Marrakesh is such a colourful place, " Jade says. "I enjoy drawing from the juxtapositions I find wandering the souks.

"There is always so much going on: the sights, the smells, the human interaction. It's full-on one minute and then you turn a corner and find yourself in a hidden den of calm."

Building on the growing market for highquality branded developments, industry experts are in little doubt that the "Jagger effect" will help secure sales.

For Jade, however, delivering an engaging second-home experience remains her overriding priority. "Design is no longer for the privileged few, " she
explains. "People now have huge access and great interest in how they live.

"Trying to create; to give people a way of life; the love that they are going to have inside a home; that's magical.

"That's the really fun part but so is staying true to your own style. If you can crack it, it's one of the most liberating feelings in the world."

MORE INFORMATION:
thelakesbyyoo.com, 01367 250 066; jackson-stops.co.uk, 01993 822 661; thebaglionimarrakech.com, 0203 375 1710.