en years on from launching her eponymous luxury loungewear brand at London Fashion Week, Newcastle-born designer Olivia von Halle’s trademark silk pyjamas and cashmere tracksuits are stocked in 13 countries around the world.
The 38-year-old lives in Notting Hill with her husband Hugo (who works as her company’s Director of Finance and Operations), Boxer dog Bathtub and two children Hiero (four) and Chaos (one). Now pregnant with her third child, she leads a hectic life, crediting power naps and her gut instinct with helping make key decisions at work. And from the moment she is woken up by her children, Von Halle has to make every moment count.
I wish I needed an alarm...
But my one-year-old and a four-year-old are my alarm. Usually, I wake up with a start at the sound of my one-year-old launching himself out of his cot and landing on the floor. I jump up, thinking: “Oh no, has he broken his arm?” That’s how my day begins. Then I get a series of really intense questions from my four-year-old about God. As soon as I get up, it’s straight into hardcore parenting. I don’t check my phone right away because of the age of my kids. But when I do get a second, I’ll check my email, and see what’s come in overnight. Then I’ll have a look at WhatsApp and glance at the news.
My day becomes my own at 9 am...
While one of my husband and I is getting dressed and ready for the day, the other is getting the kids ready and giving them breakfast. For breakfast, I just eat the food that my children reject: soggy bowls of Shreddies, half-eaten bits of toast, a bit of a pear. That kind of thing. Otherwise, they just waste so much food. That’s a bit gross, isn’t it? At some point, we kind of seamlessly swap so the other can get dressed. Eventually, at 9 am, our nanny arrives. That’s when I start work.