Nicole Farhi: A French connection in Britain's wardrobes

Thirty years after she crossed the Channel, the thinking woman's designer has lost none of her Gallic sophistication

Cool elegance may be the mark of clothes designed by Nicole Farhi, but with her show for London Fashion Week only three days away, the woman behind one of the biggest brands in the business was feeling the heat yesterday.

"I'm never normally tired," she said as she dashed round the factory in Fulham where her outfits were receiving their final touches. "But I slept very badly last night. And with everything that's happening with the demonstrations in London, fashion suddenly seems irrelevant. It's quite upsetting, really."

Still, the show must go on, even though Ms Farhi was clearly more animated by world events than by her hemlines. A Frenchwoman who has chosen to live and work in Britain for 30 years, she said she was "frustrated" by the behaviour of her adopted country's government. "It seems to me that the French are doing rather better."

In other respects, 56-year-old Ms Farhi is perhaps a rather surprising defender of British ways, refusing to accept that the French take more care over their appearance or that the London fashion scene is inferior to that of Milan, Paris or New York.

"One of the things I've always liked about being in London is the freedom – the feeling that you can do what you want, wear what you want." Spontaneity, particularly among younger people, was what gave London its fashion identity, she said, and as far as everyone else was concerned, "our dress sense has improved enormously over the last 25 years. I think the British and the French now – it's about the same".

This may have been diplomacy on Ms Farhi's part – she is the model of French charm and politesse – but if it's really true, then she can take a lot of the credit. "Nicole Farhi has been a godsend to the sort of professional woman who wants to be fashionable without being a fashion victim," is how one fashion writer sees her. "There's an integrity about her clothes. They are not going to make your heart explode, but they're chic and discerning in a way that appeals to the intelligent, liberal woman of a certain age."

Timeless classics are Ms Farhi's business. "If I meet a woman who tells me she bought one of my suits 10 years ago and she still wears it, then I'm delighted," she said. "My clothes are about giving people the freedom to express their own personalities. I'm not going to suddenly surprise you. It's important that you wear the clothes, not that the clothes wear you." Clothes have to take into account the way we live. "You can't be in high heels if you are getting in and out of buses or trains."

Ms Farhi, whose parents came from Turkey, was born and brought up in Nice, where her mother still lives. A self-confessed "wild child", she left home at 18 for fashion school in Paris, where she took her place on the barricades during the May 1968 student uprising. That was followed by a few years working in Italy before she met Stephen Marks, the Englishman who was the reason she came to London. It was 1973, and she and Marks were partners both professionally and personally. They founded French Connection and had a daughter, Candice, born in 1975.

In one sense the relationship didn't last - Ms Farhi married the playwright Sir David Hare in 1992 – but she and Marks are still together in business, Nicole Farhi stores, including flagship branches in New York and London's Bond Street, coming under the umbrella of the now hugely successful French Connection. Isn't that a bit strange, working alongside your ex so closely? Ms Farhi is far too sophisticated to take such a view. "It has worked for us," she said. "Just because you live apart doesn't mean you stop loving someone. There was no reason why we should not continue in business together. I was lucky to have met Stephen Marks, and I'm lucky to have his incredible strength in the business."

How very French. "Not really. We are like one big family. Stephen has his children, and there is our daughter, and there are David's children." So you all get together? "Of course. We like to see each other. We are all interesting people!"

Ms Farhi's path crossed with that of her future husband when she was designing clothes for a production of his play Murmuring Judges. She had tickets for one of the performances and wasn't going to bother to go, until she saw him on television the night before. "When I met him I knew he was the man I had always been looking for," she has said.

As Lady Hare, Ms Farhi is now at the centre of the British cultural establishment as well as being an institution within her own glamorous world, yet she prefers to keep a low public profile. When not working, she likes to sculpt, and has had pieces exhibited at the Royal Academy summer exhibition. So she takes time off from being creative by being creative? "Your mind is going all the time. Even if you read a book, you are engaging with the words."

And now an assistant is demanding her attention. She has to check some fabric. The show must go on.

Biography

1946 Born in Nice, the daughter of Turkish parents.

1965 Fashion school in Paris. Goes on to work in Italy.

1973 After moving to London, founds French Connection with Stephen Marks, with whom she has a daughter, born in 1975.

1983 Nicole Farhi label launched.

1989 Launches Nicole Farhi for Men.

1992 Marries playwright David Hare.

1994 Opens flagship Bond Street store in London, with restaurant, Nicole's.

1998 Opens Nicole Farhi Home Collection.

1999 Opens flagship New York store.