Luisa Beccaria talks taste

My personal style signifier is a large-brimmed hat, often in prints to match my dresses. The colour palette is always shades of soft pastels – blues, lilacs and pinks. I got married in a wonderful straw hat wrapped in a long veil. Very Scarlett O’Hara. 

The last thing I bought and loved was a little table originally belonging to actress Valentina Cortese, at auction. She was the godmother of one of my children – she died in 2019 at the age of 96. It’s covered in velvet, with roses painted around it.

When I want to feel good, I run a very hot bath and lie there. It’s very relaxing, and I have some wonderful eucalyptus bath oils. If I have more time I’ll sit in the steam room; we have one at my home in Milan. Not for too long – I have low blood pressure – but at least 10 minutes. 

My healthiest habit is the way I eat: I take care of myself by not eating rubbish foods, instead having simple, healthy produce. I eat a lot of vegetables – we are lucky to have a kitchen garden at our home in Sicily, Feudo del Castelluccio, which I restored with my husband 30 years ago – and I love fish in every way. Unfortunately I also love bread, but we make it the old way with mother yeast, which comes from a piece of the previous bread we keep; it doesn’t make you bloat.

The place that means a lot to me is Capri, where I was conceived and which has held a special place in my heart since I was a girl. We also recently opened a shop on the island. It’s a mythical place of incredible natural beauty with a wonderful atmosphere. Piazza Umberto I, 21, 80073 Capri

The best souvenir I’ve brought home is a crystal necklace of the Virgo of the Sea from Bahia, which was given to me by the spiritual mother of the Brazilians at the time, Mãe Menininha do Gantois. I spent two days in her temple in Brazil waiting to see her. When we did meet, we couldn’t understand each other as I don’t speak Portuguese. The only words I could decipher were “ouça com o coração” or “listen with your heart”.

LGR For Luisa Beccaria Turkana sunglasses, €370

The best gift I’ve given recently were the sunglasses I made with LGR this summer, in a pale-pink shade. They have a retro shape that somehow feels modern, and the lenses change with the light. Inside the arms we engraved a little line: “Dream through your eyes”. 

The best book I’ve read in the past year is The Leopard by Giuseppi Tomasi di Lampedusa. Each time I read it I learn something new – it’s very important to me as it helps me understand the Sicilian soul.

My favourite app is usually something related to personal growth. I’m currently trying my hand at meditation and I love the Waking Up app. It’s a great way to clear a jumbled mind as I have so many clashing thoughts and ideas.

My style icon is my mother, Anna, always. She is 93 and a formidable muse to everyone. She has a timeless elegance, still wearing original pieces from my collections, which can be up to 30 years old. I remember when I was younger seeing her wear a two-piece from the American fashion designer Ken Scott: a very straight linen skirt and a light cotton shirt, both in the same print of greens and blues. I’ve adopted the same technique now, mixing different fabrics in the same pattern. I recently offered her a beautiful rose-print bathing suit and asked if she’d prefer a high-waisted two-piece or a one-piece. She picked the bikini for swimming and the costume for lunch; she never stops thinking about being well turned-out. 

My favourite room in my house is the sitting room in our townhouse in Brera, Milan. It’s the place where all of us gather and where I relax the most. It has a beautiful terrace that extends from the dining room, and we have lots of paintings of roses in our favourite colours, big and small. The armchairs are covered in fabrics from our clothing collection.  

And the best gift I’ve received recently was from my beautiful children, Lucilla, Lucrezia, Ludovico, Luna and Luchino – my “mamma numero uno” award. On my last birthday they gave me a symbolic prize – a huge, fake-gold medal. I returned home from Rome late  one evening, and they had prepared a table on the terrace of homemade gifts and gestures. It was such a wonderful moment.

The last music I downloaded was The Beatles’ The White Album. I love the open sensibility of it, the emotion. As a band, they represented a huge shift for me. They were a symbol of a certain type of novel freedom and atmosphere, but the songs are just as relevant now. There was a modernity in what they did that is still impactful today. I also love Leonard Cohen, who wrote the most beautiful words for his songs. He is a true poet.

I have a collection of Madonnas – little miniature sculptures showing the Virgin Mary – hanging on the walls with ribbon. They’re made from spuma, a sort of plaster.

In my fridge you’ll always find fresh almond milk from my home in Sicily, Castelluccio – almonds are full of antioxidants. We make everything on site at Castelluccio – including bread. It’s baked in a wood oven, the same way we do fish. It’s much better than cooking with gas. 

An indulgence I would never forgo is a good massage. 

An object I would never part with is my ring, which I always wear to replace the beautiful solitaire I lost three years after our wedding. My mother-in-law gave us two big diamonds, to represent the two girls I had at the time, which were restyled into a gold ring. It was such an important gesture to me. Now I have five children but I only have two stones! 

Each time I read The Leopard I learn something new – it helps me understand the Sicilian soul

The thing I couldn’t do without is the olive oil from Castelluccio, made from the Monte Iblei area in Sicily. If I’m travelling and I can’t find it I get very upset. It’s very distinctive – a green colour and fruity on the palate. We give all our guests a bottle to take home. €30 for 750ml, luisabeccaria.it

The beauty staple I’m never without is lipstick. I like to dress my lips. It makes me feel instantly better. I wear a creamy shade – Dior Addict 667 Diormania – which is moisturising and one shade darker than my lips to gently highlight them.

Happiness is realising who you are and what you have. It’s a sense of being fulfilled and reaching harmony with the universe. 

My beauty and wellbeing gurus are MAC’s make-up artists. We use them at our shows. Mineralize SkinFinish Natural powder is wonderful and has vitamin E in it. I also love Biologique Recherche. For nutritional advice, I consult Dr Sara Farnetti. She taught me to have one sugar source for each meal, and eat tomatoes or avocado for breakfast and pasta for dinner (not lunch, as usually advised). Among other tips she suggested having a few leaves of basil at the beginning of a meal. For anti-ageing I see Professor Damiano Galimberti. He prescribes all my anti-ageing supplements, vitamin D and glutathione. 

My favourite building, besides our home in Sicily, is the Taragarh Fort in Bundi, Rajasthan, which I find very impressive. The women’s part is entirely decorated with amazing colours. 

The works of art that changed everything for me were Monet’s paintings. The incredible colour palette and light shades made me see things differently. 

The last item of clothing I added to my wardrobe was an eyelet periwinkle dress from my latest collection. You can wear it in so many different ways: in the day with flat shoes, or dress it up for the evening. It’s a glorious blue, one of my favourite colours.

The one artist whose work I would collect if I could is Gustav Klimt. I adore his expressive faces and figures; they are full of introspection. The female figures have a lot of personality and sensuality. I love all his work – The Kiss, Death and Life. I have been able to admire some on my friends’ walls and would be so blessed to have the same privilege. 

In another life, I would have been a landscape designer or interior designer. But I don’t need another life, as I have been incorporating these activities into my life for years already. However, I could have turned it into a profession in a more consistent way. I also love setting a party or a show, combining the existing environment in harmony with the event. It’s important to consider how not to overpower a place with your own agenda or ideas. The objective is to underline what is there already, not create something new that fights with the history. I go to big hotels that have been renovated and I hate them – and wish I could have done the job! Architects and designers all too often are preoccupied with their own voice. It’s far better to respect the laws of each place. 

The best bit of advice I have ever received is “carpe diem”.