Womenswear designer Delphine Ninous on her open-plan kitchen, portraits by Kees van Dongen and the London Underground

My personal style signifiers are my leather jackets – I have always worn them, and always a Perfecto. And I also wear a vintage Tissot watch that has a black crocodile strap and a simple chrome face. I think both things give me a certain kind of attitude as they are quite masculine and oversized.

The last thing I bought and loved was an unpolished gold bracelet by Monsieur Paris. I like the timeless aesthetic of it and how it makes even a simple T-shirt look elevated. Similar from €330; monsieur-paris.com

And the thing I’m eyeing next is a leather and metal armchair by Charlotte Perriand that was made in the 1960s. I love the mix of materials. I’m just trying to convince my boyfriend that we need it.

The last meal that truly impressed me was at Edition Koji Shimomura in Tokyo. He is a Japanese chef who trained in France. The food is so refined, with this incredible Japanese aesthetic – everything small and beautiful and at the same time a sort of deconstruction of French food. It’s amazing, totally unlike any other French food I’ve eaten. Nothing is heavy; nothing is cooked with oil or butter or cream. 3 Chome, Ropongi, Minato, Tokyo (+813-5549 4562; koji-shimomura.jp)

The person I rely on for wellbeing is my osteopath Chris Harris at Shine in Newington Green. Instead of my taking lots of tablets for backache and headaches, he puts everything back into place. 20 Newington Green, London N16 (020-7241 2065; shineholistic.co.uk)

The beauty staple I’m never without is Concentré d’Orange Verte by Hermès – it’s very fresh, it’s not too girly and I love the deep blue-green glass bottle. I change my skincare all the time but I always use French, pharmacy-style brands. Right now I am using Hydraphase Intense Légère moisturiser from La Roche Posay. I like it because it is unfragranced and feels light and fresh after I’ve applied it. Concentré d’Orange Verte, £55 for 50ml EDC; hermes.com. Hydraphase Intense Légère, £16.50 for 50ml; laroche-posay.co.uk

An indulgence I would never forgo is red wine. At the moment I am very into organic light reds that I can drink every day. I order bottles from a wholesaler, Les Caves de Pyrene, which I discovered at Brawn on Columbia Road – they had such great French wine that I asked where they sourced it. Brawn, 49 Columbia Road, London E2 (020-7729 5692; brawn.co). Les Caves de Pyrene, 01483-554 750; lescaves.co.uk

The best gift I’ve received recently is a book called Africa Rising that my boyfriend just bought for me. I am doing some research about Africa and it’s a beautiful book about art and design from a very modern perspective. £40; gestalten.com

In my fridge you’ll always find fresh meat and seasonal vegetables – I have great grocery stores where I live, so I tend to buy and then cook rather than stocking things for long. I always have French cheese, mostly sheep and goat’s cheese – the softer they are the better – and I buy them from Androuet in Spitalfields. It’s a bit of a treat. I don’t drink a lot of champagne but I do always seem to have a bottle in the fridge. Old Spitalfields Market, 10A Lamb Street, London E1 (020-7247 7437; androuet.co.uk)

An object I would never part with is a big antique mirror that I found in Paris at Clignancourt flea market. It’s quite ornate but it’s painted light grey so it doesn’t feel over-the-top. 10am-5pm Saturday-Monday, 138-140 Rue des Rosiers, 93400 Saint Ouen.

My favourite app is DoJo, which I use a lot in London – it gives local recommendations, a bit like Time Out, but more curated if you are looking for a bar, restaurant or exhibition.

My style icon is Patti Smith. She has always been true to herself and is the same now as she was 40 years ago. She hasn’t tried to be a megastar. She is rock ’n’ roll but timeless – I love how she takes masculine things and feminine things and puts them together. pattismith.net

A recent “find” is Petersham Nurseries in Richmond. A friend had booked a table for lunch and I had no idea what it involved, though I went to Frieze and saw that Petersham had done the restaurant so I was quite excited to see the original. I loved the way that people were having lunch in muddy wellies but eating this really fine food. It’s very pretty and so English. Church Lane, off Petersham Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 7AB (020-8940 5230; petershamnurseries.com)

The site that inspires me is London Underground. I love observing people and the best place to do that is on the Tube. On public transport you get an amazing live show every day, whether you are in New York, London, Paris, Tokyo or Madrid.

The best gift I’ve given recently is a Martin Parr contact print from Magnum that I bought for my boyfriend. It’s from The Last Resort series in 1985 and it’s typical of his work – a woman serving some kids who are queuing to buy ice cream. magnumphotos.com

An unforgettable place I’ve travelled to in the past year is Comporta in Portugal, just south of Lisbon. We went there this summer on holiday and it’s got a wonderfully wild coast. There are fishing villages with beautiful wooden shacks but also lots of surfers, which makes for a really nice mix of older local people and a cool younger crowd.

The best book I’ve read in the past year is Grace and Grit: Motorcycle Dispatches from Early 20th Century Women Adventurers by William M Murphy. It’s about pioneer women at the beginning of the 1900s. I loved the story of the Van Buren sisters who did a bike trip from New York to LA in 1916 to protest that women weren’t involved in the first world war. It’s amazing to look back and remember these women and how they’ve had to fight for everything.

The best souvenir I’ve brought home is more a memory than a souvenir – the first holiday I took with my son was our trip to Comporta and I took home the image of making a little pool in the sand for him; he had his first bathe in the sea when he was four months old.

The last item of clothing I added to my wardrobe was a black satin bomber with white sleeves from Belstaff that has a big phoenix embroidered on the back. I love it because it looks like a Japanese souvenir jacket. £895; 135-137 New Bond Street, London W1 (020-7495 5897; belstaff.co.uk)

If I had to limit my shopping to one neighbourhood in one city, I’d choose the Marais in Paris. There is a good mix of everything from vintage stores to restaurants to galleries and bookstores. I often visit vintage store La Jolie Garde-Robe. The owner has a nice eye and I can always find something there. I love going to Bonton, the children’s concept store – I don’t always buy but I enjoy looking at what they have and all the decorating ideas. Marché des Enfants Rouge is a half-covered market where you can do grocery shopping but they also have several restaurants with different food from around the world – the Japanese restaurant is amazing and there is a couscous place and an Italian. And Papier Tigre has beautiful stationery; I like to buy fancy notebooks as I use them daily for drawing. Bonton, 5 Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire (+331-4272 3469; bonton.fr/en). La Jolie Garde-Robe, 15 Rue des Commines. Marché des Enfants Rouge, 39 Rue de Bretagne. Papier Tigre, 5 Rue des Filles du Calvaire (+331-4804 0021; papiertigre.fr/en)

The one artist whose work I would collect if I could is Kees van Dongen. I discovered him at an exhibition in Paris at the Musée d’Art Moderne a few years ago and fell in love with his work. He did lots of portraits of women at the start of the 20th century in rich, crazy colours. He would paint a face mixing green and pink and yellow and then give her really strong black eyes. His work is so emotive.

The last music I downloaded was a track called Le Pantalon by a French band called Mustang, which I discovered recently on the radio. It’s part-rock, part-1960s – a very cool sound.

My favourite room in my house is my living room. It’s open-plan with the kitchen and looks out onto the garden and is very cosy. I have a variety of rich textiles there – I like to really mix everything up so there might be cottons from India on a 1950s sofa. I love to sit there and read or hang out with friends.

If I didn’t live in London, the city I would live in is New York – everything feels possible there. I lived in Williamsburg before and I would happily live there again one day. I love the stores, like Maryam Nassir Zadeh on the Lower East Side – a concept store with beautiful clothes and jewellery; I love the rawness of the space and how they present things. Assembly, nearby, has labels like Christophe Lemaire as well as less-known names, all mixed in with vintage pieces – it’s all presented in a chalky white interior. I love the friendly local restaurants like El Almacén, an Argentinian beef place with great food and atmosphere that became my home from home when I lived there. And I used to go to lots of concerts at the Bowery Ballroom. Assembly, 170 Ludlow Street, NY 10002 (+1212-253 5393; assemblynewyork.com). Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, NY 10002 (boweryballroom.com). El Almacén, 557 Driggs Avenue, NY 11211 (+1718-218 7284). Maryam Nassir Zadeh, 123 Norfolk Street, NY 10002 (+1212-673 6405; mnzstore.com)

If I weren’t doing what I do, I would be a chair designer. I’ve never designed products but I love furniture and I’m always attracted to chairs – it’s something I could still do.