Home Comforts: snacks and sci-fi, with fashion designer Hannah Weiland

Hannah Weiland is something of a wunderkind when it comes to womenswear. In 2013, the young designer launched Shrimps, her clothing and accessories label, and it wasn’t long before her fluffy faux furs and charmingly doodled motifs were the talk of the town. If you’ve caught yourself longing for a pie-crust collar or a handbag studded in pearly beads, you likely have Hannah to thank.

Here, inviting us in to the London home she shares with her husband, Arthur Guinness, and son, Hannah talks gardens, gherkins and good books.

My most recent home improvement…
I moved house last December, so there were lots of home improvements all at once. One of my favourites was doing our small downstairs loo. We wallpapered it in Lake August’s blue ‘Sea Garden’ and added a beautiful tonally matching ceramic sink from Portugal. There are Hugo Guinness prints and an Audoux-Minet rope mirror on the walls. I could hang out in there all day.

The latest addition to my wardrobe…
My SS22 Shrimps ‘Ariel’ bag. It’s the perfect summer beach bag. I can’t wait to take it on my next holiday, to Menorca.

The most useful item in my kitchen…
My new Aarke. I love fizzy water and it has changed my life! No more bottles and waste – and it is actually quite a pretty-looking machine; mine is white gloss.

What’s always in my fridge…
Gherkins, olives, berries and cheese. Quite a strange mix, but these are my son’s and my favourite things to snack on.

The prize bottle in my drinks cabinet…
Campari, which is the most beautiful colour. Its bitter taste always reminds me of Italy and my honeymoon on the Amalfi Coast.

I love having aperitivo hour at home. We have a bench in our garden that gets the evening sunshine. It’s the perfect spot for a Campari soda, which goes very well with olives and salty crisps.

Hanging on my walls…
My art collection is one of my biggest joys. I have a huge variation of pieces, from vintage Guinness adverts, Perry Ogden photographs, antique still lifes in oil, a Faye Wei Wei, some Craigie Aitchison prints and a large Dan Hollings painting, which hangs in our sitting room – a new purchase.

The knick-knacks on my mantelpiece…
Mainly Italian ceramics bought back from past holidays, however I like to change things up a lot. This spring, I had a row of little tête-à-tête daffodils in terracotta pots, which bought me much joy. I love bud vases with a rose picked from the garden, and little trinkets too – particularly the miniatures I collect. I always keep my beautiful terracotta pomegranate, from Santa Maria Novella, on the mantelpiece. It just smells so nice.

The books on my shelf right now…
I tend to keep my favourite books on a shelf at eye-line, so I am always reminded of them. I particularly love John Wyndham’s science-fiction novels; I have a really nice collection of his books with wonderfully illustrated covers.

The music on my stereo…
Classic FM is constantly playing in our house. I find it very relaxing. It helps me think.

Growing in my garden…
We have a hawthorn tree at the bottom of our garden. It’s evergreen and it flowers in May, while in autumn it’s dotted with little orange berries. It is definitely the hero in our garden – it’s where your eye is first drawn. I absolutely love looking at it, in the day and at night, when it’s lit up by the festoon lights that wrap around the gnarly trunk.

It is a small garden but we have planted many of our favourite things. At the moment, we have lots of roses, which are probably my best-loved flowers. We have a yellow ‘Golden Celebration’, an apricot ‘Bathsheba’, a pink ‘Constance Spry’ and the most beautiful marbled rose called ‘Ferdinand Pichard.’ I like to think we have a secret rose garden, but of course we have other things here too: herbs, Mexican daisies and wild strawberries all grow around the borders.

Hidden away in my cupboards…

I have collected ceramics over the years and there are now too many to display, so some are stored in the cupboards. I do, however, switch them in and out, so none get neglected. A particular favourite ceramic artist of mine is Sue Binns; I love the simplicity of her colour palette and the wobbly texture of her stripes.

On my to-do list…
I need to do up the attic room, which at the moment is half storage/half home office. Ideally it will be a bedroom one day, but that seems quite far off for now.

I also want to wallpaper another small bedroom. I love the look of Tess Newall’s hand-painted ‘Herbarium’ wallpaper, though I’m also a lifelong fan of Svenskt Tenn’s designs. It will be hard to choose.

Shown:

‘Ariel’, bag, £250, Shrimps