Ashley Hicks

Ashley Louis David Hicks (born 18 July 1963) is a British interior designer, author, photographer and artist. He is the only son of Lady Pamela Hicks (née Mountbatten) and David Hicks. Hicks has designed interiors in Europe, the United States, and the United Kingdom. He also has a fabric line for Lee Jofa and furniture lines.

Hicks is the grandson of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma.

Hicks was raised at Britwell House, an 18th-century house in Britwell Salome in Oxfordshire, that served as the family's home, as well as his father's showplace. It was there that his father designed elaborate landscapes that were "virtual outdoor rooms with carefully framed vistas". Hicks was a boarding student at Stowe School. In 1978, the family decided to sell the house, and Hicks attended the three-day Sotheby's sale, 20–22 March 1979. After the auction, the Hicks family moved to The Grove, a nearby estate, and also resided at Albany, an historic and exclusive apartment house in Piccadilly. when his grandfather's wooden boat, the Shadow V, was blown up by a remote-controlled bomb on Donegal Bay.

Career Hicks says his first decorating experience took place when he was 15 or 16 years old, when he decorated his room in a checkered black-and-white motif. Everything in his room had to be either black or white, including the ceiling and carpet. He then worked briefly for his father's interior design house, before establishing his own architectural firm, designing interiors and furniture.

In 1997, Hicks began designing furniture at the Gem Palace in Jaipur, India. His first piece was his interpretation of a Greek Klismos chair, based on a 1920s drawing by an architect. The chair is rendered in Burmese teak, with a seat made of interwoven straps of saddle leather.

Hicks has also regularly worked with various brands on product collaborations, including a bed linen collection with Frette, a candle range collaboration with Jo Malone and swimsuit collaborations with Orlebar Brown and Coverswim, as well as furniture projects with Kartell and Promemoria.

Personal life On 18 October 1990, Hicks married in Wheatley, Oxfordshire, Italian designer Marina Allegra Federica Silvia Tondato, better known as Allegra Tondato Dr. Carlo Tondato and his wife, Turinese lawyer Rosy Tondato (née Maza), whose legacy includes having a hybrid orchid named in her honor in 1982 (Guaricyclia Rosy Tondato) and the European Classical Music Competition “Città di Moncalieri” establishing the Rosy Tondato Award in her name. Hicks and Tondato met in 1988, at the Café de Paris in London, when he was a student at the Architectural Association and she was studying art history at Sotheby's. He proposed to her over "Twiglets and apple juice at the Groucho Club" in Soho, London.

After their wedding, Hicks and his wife lived in a renovated building in New York City that belonged to Marc Chagall's grandson. It was near Fifth Avenue, surrounded by the lofts and studios of local artists. While the building was renovated, the interior of their home was rather low scale, lacking air conditioning. Allegra said of their home, "Although it was a glamorous address it was, for us, more about the people who lived there." They lived in New York from 1991 to 1992. Roberto Mottola di Amato, a Neapolitan landowner and entrepreneur.

On 5 September 2015, Hicks married American digital fashion editor Kathryn 'Katalina' Anne Sharkey, better known as Kata de Solis (born 31 December 1981, Houston, Texas), daughter of William T. Sharkey, CPA, and his wife Rosalie Sharkey (née Solis). Kata de Solis is the former director of digital marketing for Chanel.

From his second marriage, Hicks has two sons: Caspian Hicks (born 21 January 2018) Horatio Hicks (born 12 February 2019) known as one of the world's most luxurious interiors magazine.

Published works Hicks, Ashley. Rooms with a History, Rizzoli, 2017. Hicks, Ashley. Buckingham Palace: The Interiors, Rizzoli, 2018. Hicks, Ashley. David Hicks Scrapbooks, Vendome Press, 2017. Hicks, Ashley. Details, IDEA Ltd., 2017. Hicks, Ashley. David Hicks Scrapbooks, IDEA Ltd., 2016. Hicks, Ashley. David Hicks: A Life of Design, Rizzoli, 2009. Hicks, Ashley. David Hicks: Designer, Scriptum Editions, December 2002. Hicks, Ashley; Hicks, Allegra; and Irons, Jeremy (foreword). Design Alchemy, Conran Octopus, May 2002.