Home is…
Stockholm. I live about 10 minutes from the city centre right by the lake with my husband and our four-year-old miniature pinscher, Bettina.
Which London shops do you rely on?
A whole lot of shops actually. I really, really, really love Dover Street Market for great designers that I cannot buy in Stockholm, and I also really love the JW Anderson boutique in Soho that opened two years ago. It’s always nice to see what Jonathan is doing. I know it sounds like a tourist trap, but I love Harrods’ Food Halls, which is fascinating because when I was younger I really wasn’t a big fan of Harrods. As I’ve got older I’ve come to appreciate it more and more — now I’m obsessed.
What is the best meal you’ve had?
When I’m in London there are three types of food that I eat: English breakfasts all day long, Sunday roasts and I also love my Asian food. The best meal I’ve had in London was about four years ago. I had a roast at Rules in Covent Garden, but I’d also recommend The Orange in Belgravia. As an Asian person living in Stockholm, we don’t really have a lot of choices, but if I need my Asian food fix, London is the best place in Europe. There is this new Filipino restaurant in Mayfair that’s opened called Sarap, which I love for the suckling pig. It reminds me of being at home in the Philippines.
What is your first memory of London?
Back in 1999, I was 17 and I used to go to this internet café called Easy Everything on Trafalgar Square. Back then we didn’t have iPhones or Google Maps, and that is where I’d research all the places I wanted to go. I would end up staying there for hours, I loved that place. Another crazy memory I have was around 2000, when
I went to this gay club called Heaven where they had a VIP area called Departure Lounge. I don’t remember what I did but clearly I’d done something because I ended up passing out in the bathroom. The hottest medic carried me out of the club and laid me on the sidewalk. Eventually, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m going to go back in’, and they let me back in.
Who do you call when you want to have fun?
Oh my gosh, I call Susie Bubble, she knows a lot of places here. It’s funny, I have so many different types of friends in London — fashion friends, non-fashion friends, I have friends who are the rich kids of Mayfair who don’t want to go anywhere except Mayfair. I have friends in Chelsea, in east London, they’re really spread out. That’s the beauty of the place, everyone is spread out and in their little bubble.
Where do you go to let your hair down?
I love walking around Hyde Park, it’s my stress reliever. But if I want to have fun? All my friends tend to be members of Annabel’s and they always take me there. [The staff at] tell me to join, but I’m like, ‘Why do I need a membership? All of my friends are members.’ Annabel’s is never not fabulous, it is one of the most gorgeous clubs I’ve been to in my whole life.
Best thing a cabbie has said to you?
I was in a cab once coming home from this club back in the day and I was literally passing out. When I got back to the hotel he said, ‘Thank you for not puking.’ I had to laugh.
Who is the most iconic Londoner?
I would probably say the Queen, Her Majesty. She owns everything.
