Inside Princess Kate's favourite footwear designer Penelope Chilvers' rustic Cotswolds farmhouse
Whether she's pruning the pink roses in her garden or poring over the latest designs for her footwear brand, Penelope Chilvers is never more inspired than when she’s at her Cotswolds home.
"It's the best place for me to think and create," she tells HELLO! in our exclusive photoshoot and interview. "I've got the most incredible view out on to the garden from my desk and I'm away from all the noise in the office. I like to draw my designs so I'll lay them out on the floor and move around them, making sure they all work for the collection.
"And if I have a creative block, I'll go for a walk and an idea will come, or a solution to a problem."
Penelope, whose celebrity clients include the Princess of Wales, Cate Blanchett and Amal Clooney, bought the five-bedroomed farmhouse with her husband Steve Hastings shortly before the Covid-19 lockdowns. Dating back 400 years, it was originally a row of cottages knocked into one.
DESIGNS FOR LIFE
A former painter and interior designer, Penelope has given their house the hallmark of someone with an expert eye for interesting artefacts and a soothing colour palette.
The pinks and greens of the interiors reflect the flowers and foliage of her wraparound garden, while her passion for thrifting and antique shops is also evident.
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"When we started thinking about a country bolthole, I already had a strong idea of what I wanted," she says. "I didn't want to buy anything new; I wanted everything to be second hand.
"These old houses lend themselves to old furniture anyway and we bought quite a lot of it along with the house, including some of the curtains. I love old brown furniture."
FAMILY BUSINESS
Using her interior design skills, she decorated and restored all the rooms herself as her project during the lockdowns, when she and Steve were joined by her daughters, Africa, now 34, and Gemma, 31, and their partners.
"We thought it would be a week but we ended up living together for over a year," she says. Since then, 11-month-old Noah, Africa's cherubic baby boy, has joined the clan.
They are a blended family – Steve, who runs his own advertising agency and whom she met more than 20 years ago, has two daughters and a son.
Her daughters, meanwhile, work with her: Africa was a nursery school teacher, but now works on the design team, and Gemma, who was a celebrity stylist, works with the marketing and PR team.
Both girls are half-Spanish and trilingual – having grown up in Barcelona, they speak Catalan and Castilian Spanish, along with English. They came to the UK in 1998 after Penelope and their father divorced.
Their working relationship appears to be as harmonious as their family one, Africa tells us: "People say: 'Oh my God, what’s it like to work so closely with not just your mum, but your sister as well?'
"But I’m so lucky that I get to go into the office and see them both, day to day."
"When you’re in a family, you all talk the same language so we get there faster than anyone else," Penelope adds.
The sisters have always been "best friends" with no sibling rivalry, Africa says. "We had that classic fighting when we were little – pulling hair and fighting over toys – but there was never any kind of jealousy," while Gemma chips in: "We're similar in some ways, but also very different."
MOTHER'S NATURE
Nor do they have any issues with their mum as their boss, who prefers to "brainstorm rather than critique", she says. "They both have important roles and I love the way they do them. They're invaluable to the team. Plus it's only work, in the end."
Both her daughters describe Penelope as "incredibly creative" but also, adds Gemma, "quite ditzy". "Not in work," she continues, "but with things like not knowing where she's put the car keys, or her phone running out of battery every five minutes."
Africa, who often accompanies Penelope to the small factories and workshops in Andalusia where the boots and shoes are made, adds: "We do a lot of travelling to our factories together and there's never a dull moment with my mum, whether it's getting lost or trying to find some obscure place or missing our flight.
"She'll always find a reason to celebrate something and there's never a problem that she can't help or muddle through."
The sisters' strong bond with each other and their mum was forged when they came to the UK to start a new life. A single mother, Penelope had to juggle childcare with setting up a business from her kitchen table. Meanwhile, Africa and Gemma, who were eight and six years old, had to get used to a new life in London.
"It was a massive adjustment and when you're that age, it's not just moving and leaving your father, it's leaving everything else you know – family, school, friends, your life," Africa says.
"We didn't speak much English when we moved," adds Gemma.
Being half-Spanish is "very much part of my identity", she continues. "We have a huge Spanish Catalan family in Barcelona and when you're surrounded by all of them, it's very hard not to feel incredibly Catalan."
STEPPING OUT
Penelope, meanwhile, had to work out a way of supporting her young family. She tried to maintain the interior design business she’d had in Barcelona, “but it’s not easy to live in one country and work in another”.
Instead, she took inspiration from Spain and, using her skill as a fine artist – she originally trained as a painter – designed a variation of the traditional Spanish riding boot, which she commissioned a small number of traditional artisans in Andalusia to make in 2002. The long tassel boot was an instant hit.
“The stock would arrive at the door and I’d sit in our front room, packing late into the night to deliver orders,” says Penelope, who would get up at 5am and work before the girls were awake. They also helped out.
“From a young age, we’d sit in front of the TV and put stickers on the boxes and would help out at trade shows at the weekends. We’ve been part of the business way before it was legal to work,” Gemma jokes.
ROYAL CONNECTION
It was before the advent of social media, but word spread quickly, with boots flying out as soon as they came in. "I think it was lucky timing, but also determination on my part, to make it work, stay on top of it and stay creating because nothing lasts forever," Penelope says.
Two years after setting up, the Princess of Wales – then Kate Middleton – became her most famous customer. "It's been wonderful for us and I'm forever grateful because whatever she wears, people love," Penelope says.
"She's a wonderful endorsement because not only has she got great style, but she’s also been wearing our boots for a long time.
"And she believes in not-new, which I also believe in. I like a scruffy pair of boots that have been worn again and again."
As well as the long tassel boot, which remains a bestseller, the range now includes Chelsea and après-ski boots, espadrilles, sandals and loafers.
BIG BOOTS TO FILL
A new collection, safari-inspired, is about to be launched and Penelope has dreams of opening a country store – "not with fruit and veg, but with footwear for country life, where I can really display our artisans' work in the best possible way".
Are there plans for her daughters to inherit the business one day? "No, we're nowhere near that," says Penelope, looking slightly aghast at the idea of giving up work.
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"A business is a delightful thing when it's growing successfully like ours. I used to think of it as my baby – a demanding baby that needs constant love and attention – and now my girls share that responsibility.
"There's nothing I like more than to create and design new ideas. So if there's a demand for it, it gives me the excuse to be able to keep working at it. I'm very lucky."
