My personal style signifiers are Levi’s 501s, loose pale-blue cotton shirts, espadrilles, my wedding ring and a collection of bracelets from the kids and my travels. I never wear a watch – I prefer not to know what time it is. In summer, I replace the jeans with Dries Van Noten trousers; I love the lightness of the fabrics and the patterns.
The last thing I bought and loved was a thin brass box from the 1970s by the Italian designer Gabriella Crespi. I bought it just for decorative purposes. I love to visit antiques dealers; I can wander for hours around El Rastro de Madrid, Le Puces de Saint-Ouen in Paris, Kloosterstraat in Antwerp, Pimlico Road in London and Via Maggio in Florence.
The place that means a lot to me is our holiday home in Provence, near the village of Eygalières. We rented a house there just before lockdown, ended up extending one week to four months, then I bought a house there on the spot. I love landscaping the garden and deciding what to plant with our gardener; siestas under the pergolas woven with wisteria and jasmine allow me to catch up on sleep. We’re surrounded by lavender fields and olive trees, and even produce our own olive oil – now an annual family event. My son Mateo designs the labels.
The best souvenir I’ve brought home is a two-metre antique Japanese folding silk screen. I bought it 30 years ago at the Chelsea flea market in New York. It cost $20 and I just took it home on the plane with me, along with two huge brass side lamps – you could do that then. The rules have changed.
The best book I’ve read in the past year is The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. It helped me gain perspective; because my work requires me to always look ahead, I am always in action. I first read it on a sabbatical 16 years ago, on the Greek island of Paros, with my wife and kids. Every morning, first thing, I’d read five pages, then I’d walk the beach to think them over. It took 50 days! But that was the point of the sabbatical: to take time. It was the best period of my life. I read it again two weeks ago over two days, and my notes are still there. It was so interesting – like rediscovering myself.
My grooming staples are Penhaligon’s Halfeti fragrance in the evening – it has a magnificent amber-oud dry-down – and Byredo’s Bal d’Afrique for day. Those are the fragrances I return to, although there are many others I like to dip in to; I like exploring new scents. I have been working in beauty for the past 30 years. I started as a product manager at Lancôme with L’Oréal, so I have used its skincare for a long time. Now I use a Kama Ayurveda face oil and Barbara Sturm’s Ceramide Drops. And I light Loto del Sur’s Flor de Tabaco candles every day.
The future of beauty and fragrance lies in the right blend of art, science, sustainability and emotional storytelling. Brands need to create products that people feel connected to, not simply products they use. Beauty and wellness will increasingly converge in areas such as skin health, stress management, sleep, wellbeing, longevity and neuroscience, but it can’t be just a marketing message. Dr Barbara Sturm’s Exoso-Metic anti-ageing skincare is a strong example of this. It is grounded in regenerative science, cell-to-cell communication and advanced exosome-inspired technology – a field Dr Sturm pioneered years ago. A successful beauty brand remains true to its DNA. At Puig we go deep into a brand’s beginnings – its purpose – and we celebrate its uniqueness.
When acquiring a brand we look for one that has something to say, is built on emotional connection and has a clear sense of purpose and community. Take Le Male by Jean Paul Gaultier [with a bottle shaped like a man’s torso] – it pushes creativity, boldness and cultural relevance as far as possible while respecting the brand’s boundaries. F
My style icon is the American photographer Peter Beard. He invited me to his house in Montauk after I bought a photograph from him 25 years ago. He had such a presence; he was so real and strong. I don’t think clothes were particularly important to him but he lived with style.
The best gift I’ve given is my father’s watch to my son on his 18th birthday. My father gave it to me but I never wore it. I see gifting as sharing, so it might be something I own and love, something precious to me. I also like to give a particular wine I like, Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva 2004. Gifts should always be accompanied by a written note.
The best gift I received is a papier-mâché ladybird made by my daughter Sofia – it has sat on my desk for the past 19 years. Every time I look at it, it makes me smile. Also, for my last birthday, my brothers gave me an oak barrel of Rioja. I drink a glass of red wine every day; it’s a ritual when I arrive back home. It says I can relax now.
The last music I downloaded was a jazz piano compilation with pieces by Oscar Peterson, Thelonious Monk and Bobby Timmons for a dinner party at home. I have a collection of plaster casts from French and British ateliers from the 1960s. I like living with pieces that carry emotion, atmosphere, a soul – something that shapes the mood of a space. Life becomes more meaningful when you’re surrounded by beauty, in all its many forms. It is not about collecting, it is about the feeling it creates.
The best way to spend €20 is on a cappuccino and a tramezzino al tonno (tuna sandwich) in a café at the port of San Pietro on the Italian island Panarea. I love to watch people arriving off the aliscafo (hydrofoil) while reading the newspaper in the sun.
I laugh when I have dinner with my oldest schoolfriends – there are seven of us and we’ve known each other since we were six. We live in different places but once a year we travel somewhere to meet, reminisce and laugh at ourselves. The connection is always easy and immediate.
In my fridge you will find berries – blueberries, raspberries – that I mix with hazelnuts and walnuts along with turmeric and ginger. It’s my magic blend, and I never get sick. I’m very busy – overactive even – so I try to balance that out. Also Dijon mustard, Parmigiano, oat milk and, of course, gildas from the Mercado de la Paz in Madrid, where I live.
I believe in life after death because I find it the more appealing option. I love life and would prefer to experience this journey more than once; 20 lives would be welcome! I am quite a spiritual person. I started my meditation journey in India about 15 years ago, on a two-week solo retreat, and I still meditate. I wake up every night at 3.30am for no reason, so I meditate for 20 minutes. Then I go back to bed. It’s a moment where I feel connected with something bigger.
An indulgence I would never forgo is dark chocolate. I’m addicted to it. I like it with sea salt or sesame seeds after lunch and dinner. It gives me energy. I don’t have a favourite brand but Belgian chocolate is best.
The last items of clothing I added to my wardrobe were a red-and-green tweed jacket from my favourite vintage shop on rue de La Baume in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, and a beige knit cardigan by The Row. I don’t wear a tie at work but I wear a jacket when it’s required.
An object I would never part with is my sleep kit: eye mask, earplugs, lavender oil and supplements such as magnesium and melatonin. I’m a terribly light sleeper and I’m constantly travelling. I don’t think I ever spend more than four nights in the same place and I rarely get more than four hours’ sleep at a time.
My best tip for beating jet lag is to have a light early dinner, avoid alcohol and try to adapt to the local schedule as soon as possible after arriving.
The artists whose work I’d collect if I could would be Richard Serra’s monumental orange rust steel works, Roni Horn’s cast glass discs, Donald Judd’s concrete installations and Cy Twombly’s gigantic canvases. On a more affordable note, some years ago I discovered Algerian‑ born French photographer Mohamed Bourouissa’s silver prints of horses made on car-body parts at London’s Mennour gallery – they are on my wishlist too.
My favourite building is the Chrysler Building. I went to New York with my parents when I was 12 and I would draw it over and over. Two weeks ago, I was high up in an office directly in front of it – a bird’s-eye view is magic. No matter how many times I see it, I always find it inspiring.
My beauty grooming guru is Dario Mealli, my Italian Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis coach in Madrid. It’s similar to Pilates – lots of stretching and mobility work. I also visit Dr Nadia Volf, an acupuncturist in Paris whom I’ve been seeing for 30 years.
In another life I would have been an architect, but I studied economics instead. Architecture is still a passion and I do wonder what my life would have looked like if I had studied it. I love building things and I’m always seeking harmony – a perfect blend of shapes and punctuation, colour and form. Maybe it was not the career I chose, but it has still influenced me.
My favourite game is backgammon. My kids and I love to play – we have a set with an old leather dice cup and a wooden board that makes the most satisfying clatter when the dice land. My tip for winning is to try to figure out what your opponent is planning for their first move.
I’ve recently discovered some beautiful wood carving details at the Villa Necchi Campiglio, a historic residence in Milan. It wasn’t my first time there, but each time I visit I see something new. I travel weekly for work, so I’m in a sort of permanent discovery mode; I’m a curious person.
The thing I couldn’t do without is the sensation of fresh air on my face when cycling, skiing or boating. These are my favourite pastimes. The air on my face means I feel alive; movement is everything.
My biggest pet peeve in a hotel is a shower without a clear indication of hot and cold, or a light that’s impossible to turn off. I love hotels and hospitality – I travel pretty much all the time – and I know what I like. I might ask for a specific room or view if it’s a hotel I’ve stayed at before, and I travel with my candles to feel at home. I am a creature of habit: my favourite hotels are Passalacqua in Lake Como and The Carlyle in New York.
My best ideas come from small details – the banal, everyday things that connect the dots and reveal the answer. Inspiration lives wherever there is genuine curiosity and a sensitivity to emotions. The less I concentrate on finding ideas, the quicker they come. I have a lot of notes in my phone, and I take a lot of pictures. The notes would not make sense to someone else, but they do to me.
The best advice I’ve ever received was “don’t hesitate”. The absence of delay is your competitive advantage. That is my motto. I’m quick to find solutions. My favourite Spanish word is adelante. It’s hard to translate but it’s like, let’s move forward, proceed, “let’s do it”. If you make mistakes, you can always correct them.