Style file
Art director, food stylist and eternal creative, Fiona Hugues talks style, spring and some of her favourite things.
Photography: Manja Wachsmuth
Photography: Fiona Hugues
What first inspired your creative career path?
I’m from a long line of artistic women - milliners, florists, painters and baker’s daughters - so creativity is in my blood. Instinctively I’ve always made and created things. I still have some of the little sketchbooks I made when I was a kid that are hysterical to look through all these years later. We’re also big collectors as part of the process of making things. It was my art school insect collection that inspired my multi-award-winning Bug Project image collaboration with photographer Manja Wachsmuth. I’ve always hidden winged insects into my art and am a stickler for detail, so it’s become a bit of a signature.
How would you describe your style?
I don’t want to box myself in here but I try to keep everything I do authentic, timeless and not fad-driven. I’d say my style is old-school classic - white shirt, blue jeans with a touch of vintage French and a side of horse country. I’m a no-fuss Kiwi girl that rides horses, was raised in the countryside and have been married to a Parisian for over twenty years. It all rubs off.
How will you bring the magic of spring to your styling sessions this season?
Nature, in my opinion, is the greatest designer, so I’m always led by what she’s creating and bringing us each season; from flowers to produce and patinas on surfaces worn by the weather. Since the forced time at home during Covid, I’ve invested in creating a cutting meadow of wild blooms on our property, so hopefully I’ll have armloads of ethereal florals to work with. I’m planning on embellished layers and natural colour in abundance this season.
Photography: Fiona Hugues
“I try to keep everything I do authentic, timeless and not fad-driven.”
Favourite place to find homeware props?
I have many friends that own gorgeous homeware stores in Auckland who source great local products and pieces from around the world, but too many to name. If I have time during the day, I duck into op shops and have found some gorgeous things in my hunting over the years: from a set of silver Christofle cutlery for $20 and Le Creuset cast casseroles for a smidgen of their actual value. For food shoot props, I regularly visit the clever boys at Flotsam & Jetsam for the best-sourced vintage homewares, and for statement furniture for my interior clients, my go-to is Vitrine for well-worn, genuinely authentic French antiques.
Favourite local food haunt?
My favourite place to eat is the small but perfectly formed Apero on K Road, run by our friends Mo, who knows exactly what wine I feel like drinking the minute I walk in the door, and Les, his French wife, who cooks the most incredible French bistro food. “Find something you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life” - agree or disagree? I totally agree. I think I’d drop dead if I could no longer create or collect things, so to be able to make a living from being madly creative, I’m incredibly grateful for.
Let’s manifest with wild abandon - dream future client or collaboration?
I’ve got some projects and collaborations coming up that I’m quite excited about but can’t mention just yet. One day I’d love to create a huge long table high on a station hilltop on a balmy summer’s day (no wind thanks) filled with artists and friends where we can take in the view, drink and eat well into the small hours and have it all captured by a couple of the clever photographers and film makers I’ve been lucky to work with.
What are you coveting this spring?
This spring, I'm coveting fabrics, the colours and textures of vintage stitching, weave and well-executed embroidery, which I have developed a new appreciation for. I have a friend who has an archive of incredible designer cloth collected over his years designing in Paris. I recently used a vintage Dior print for a tablecloth that was simply gorgeous layered with crystal glassware.
@fiona.hugues | fionahugues.com
Interview by Brooke Duder