David Hicks

David Hicks

This "superstar designer" of the 1960's and 1970's was born in March of 1929 in Essex, Great Britain. When he was younger, David Hick's mother encouraged his drawings, theatricals and his many other fantasies. Both his father and his brother died when he was only in his teens, which left him and his mother without much. They had to sell many of their belongings and were forced to move into a smaller home.

Wherever Hicks would travel, he would always bring back something inspirational to him, something that would always help liven up a dull room. He collected different photographs, textiles, etchings, and anything he sought out to be decorative to some sort of interior.

David Hicks had a rather ordinary childhood with very limited exposure to the arts and design world. While serving in the army, he came across an issue of House and Garden, which helped him create a some sort of escape from the post-war England he was experiencing. He could not get enough of the magazine, the interior pictures continually inspired him and gave him such a broad imagination. Trying to satisfy his what seemed to be impossible to pursue passion, he joined the Georgian Group, which was an English society that organized tours of significant country houses. These homes gave him an insight and glimpse of what a world of high style and classical decoration was all about.

He later went on to train at the London Central School of Arts and Crafts, still exploring the rest of Europe while visiting the homes of some of his school friends. He would go anywhere possible, traveling as often as he could, visiting Europe's mansions, villas, and palaces. On each visit he would continuously draw every possible architectural detail, along with even the smallest furnishings and accessories that drew his attention.

After his graduation, he spent some time as a graphics designer with J. Walter Thompson designing mundane product labels. When he turned 25, he decided on a London house of his own to help show off his decorating skills. During this time period, the normal English home was still decorated Victorian with a lot of floral dÐ"©cor and heavy carved pieces throughout. While Hicks realized this, he, being his "different" self, decided to create a new, fresh look. He used bright, bold color combinations in his classic 19th century Belgravia home.