Give Your Home (and Closet) a Hicks Kick

It started innocently—I never meant to stray. First there was the dress in vermilion, crimson, and chocolate zigzags. Then came the bright orange coat. Before I knew it, I was voraciously consuming interior design mags—David Hicks’s hexagons now permeate my dreams. Could a lifetime devotee of French design be falling for an Englishman?

Interior decorator David Hicks rose to popularity in the sixties and seventies decorating rooms for British royalty, Manhattan socialites, and even President Richard Nixon. In the early days of his career, he was often praised for his impeccable mix of the old and the new—cozying a Louis XV chair up to a Lucite table—but it was his bold, geometric designs that would bring him fame. Hicks eschewed traditional English chintz in favor of Persian-inspired graphics—a fearless relationship with prints and color only an Englishman could have.

Today, nearly a decade after his death, Hicks’s designs are more influential than ever. In addition to Lee Jofa’s reproductions of his graphic fabrics, the fashions of Tory Burch and Milly of New York’s Michelle Smith are also reminiscent of Hicks, incorporating bold colors and repeating graphics in classic silhouettes. If your eyes too are zigging and zagging, you’re on to the trend, and it is easier to incorporate than you may think. A single party dress, an upholstered Louis XV chair, or a boldly papered wall is a less intimidating way to experiment with Hicks.

So maybe a roaming eye isn’t so bad—I’ll always love the good bones of French design. True style is never based on trend, but a bold print dress or a wild, grid-weave pillow adds a punch of personality to play-it-safe design.