‘Greece — it’s eternal and makes me feel ancient and youthful at the same time’: Isabel Ettedgui’s Consuming Passions

Isabel Ettedgui (below) is the owner of Connolly — the Mayfair-based leather and fashion brand, founded in 1878 by a family of saddle-makers and shoe-smiths — and an icon of the industry, having co-founded World of Interiors among other things. The brand’s initial rise to prominence coincided with the growing automobile industry and soon Connolly was the go-to supplier for high-quality automobile-appropriate leather.

In 1995, Ettedgui became Creative Director of Connolly and set up shop in a converted stable on Grosvenor Crescent Mews. (Ralph Lauren described it as his ‘favourite store in the world.’) And at the turn of the millennium, her late husband, Joe, helped usher in a new era of British luxury by purchasing Connolly and opening a new, flagship site in Mayfair.

Following Joe’s death in 2010, Ettedgui shuttered the store for 16 years, before reopening inside an 18th century townhouse on Clifford Street — where you can happily peruse exquisite leather pieces and accessories, and beautifully-cut clothing. The space also operates as an elegant, transitory gallery space and right now you’ll find a compelling collection of Jon Nicholson’s Formula 1 and banger racing photography, titled ‘Exactly What I See’, lining the walls.

Your aesthetic hero

That’s so difficult to answer — I admire many people’s aesthetic, but above all the 20th century designer Jean Michel Frank… and I so loved Christian Liaigre's aesthetic which embodied so much of his spirit and sense of proportion, but with a modern take on form and texture.

I have been very lucky to live with his designs and after 30 years they continue to be beautiful and contemporary.

A book you’ve found inspiring

John Berger’s A Fortunate Man — a slim book with photographs that my daughter gave me. It was first published in 1967 and described by The Guardian as ‘a masterpiece of witness and the value of healing.’ For me, it is a deeply moving meditation on human empathy and renaissance dreams in a small rural society in an area of England I love (the Forest of Dean).

An exhibition that has really impressed you

Frans Hals at the National Gallery: unexpected joy and hugely impressive; although small it packed a mighty punch.

Your favourite painting

I read Art History so this is the most problematic question for me. I specialised in the early Italian Renaissance and the Cimabue Crucifix in Santa Croce, Giotto's Arena Chapel, in Padua, or the Masaccio at the Brancaci Chapel are all up there. However, if there was one painting I would live with forever it would be a Turner seascape at Tate Britain called Seascape with Storm Coming On.

What music do you work to?

Classical, preferably Chopin or Schubert — there’s something about piano music that helps me work.

A possession would you never sell

A pair of Andre du Breuil candlesticks that my late husband Joe and I bought after his first exhibition at Joseph… and have always been on our dining table in every place we have lived.

What would you take to a desert island?

My two dogs: Babette, an intelligent, elderly French bulldog (above), and Ajax, a young handsome Greek rescue.

The best present you've ever received

My daughter.

A place you could go back and back to

Greece — it’s eternal and makes me feel ancient and youthful at the same time. From Athens to the islands there is a rare sense of hospitality, history and kindness. And swimming in the Aegean Sea is like being reborn.

The last podcast you listened to

I don’t really, but I always listen to the radio.

What’s the last thing of note you bought yourself?

I buy so much for the shop and our collections and sometimes I forget they aren’t for me — actually, it’s fairly impossible to buy something you don’t like if you are going to sell it. As I live above the shop it’s a fairly fluid arrangement; the gallery doubles as a reception room… I have my eye on a ceramic set of coffee cups and two French mid-century jugs with the most beautiful glazing ever.

Who would play you in a film about your life?

As a redhead I am not spoilt for choice, but Susan Sarandon would be amazing; actually most of my favourite actors are redheads: Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman, Mia Farrow, Julia Roberts (above), Amy Adams…

What gets you up in the morning?

A cup of English breakfast tea.

Do you collect anything?

Freckles!

Your most memorable meal

Ah, that was two weeks ago with wonderful friends at a restaurant in the Spanish countryside near San Sebastian… Asador Etxebarri. An astounding six hour meal with the simplest and freshest ingredients prepared with such flavour on an open fire. We waited four years to get a booking. The wonderful Anthony Bourdain put it on his list of ‘13 Places to Eat before you Die’.