A touch of Liberace: step inside designer Jenny Packham's Hampstead home

Not many people can say that Kate Middleton crashed their website. But that’s what happened to Jenny Packham after word got out that the Duchess of Cambridge was wearing one of her designs (that blue polka dot dress) as she left the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s with baby George in her arms. And she’s not the only one turning heads in Jenny Packham. When Helen Mirren needed to stand out at the premiere of Red 2 this summer, she chose a bejewelled Jenny Packham floor-length gown in the bloodiest shade of crimson.

With all that elegance in her life, Packham’s Hampstead home is a much less restrained affair than you might expect, full of bold patterns and bright colours. She clearly loves bringing together disparate influences, and cheerfully admits: ‘I do think there is a bit of Liberace in me.’ In the vibrant blue living room, you’ll find a green geometric rug and cherry-red armchairs beneath a delicate gold chandelier, as well as Berber cushions and a bright floral Marc Quinn print above a vintage Waldstein piano. You almost feel that she applies the opposite rules to her classical ready-to-wear collections and bridal designs.

‘I like to come home and completely forget about work. I’m so fond of abstract design, in the style of Vanderbilt and David Hicks, and that whole 1970s era. They took the 1930s and gave it a bit of technicolour,’ she says.

Packham shares the 1860s four-storey house with her partner (and CEO of the Jenny Packham brand) Matthew Anderson and their daughters Georgia, 19, and Isabella, 15. Born and raised in Southampton, Packham studied womenswear design at Central Saint Martins in the late 1980s, where her contemporaries included John Galliano, Hamish Bowles (of American Vogue) and menswear designer Neil Barrett: ‘It was a time that was totally about dressing up and defined by which clique you belonged to.’ It was during her time there that she met her future partner and, after graduating, they set up shop in 1988: ‘Both of us were eager to get on with things and be self-employed,’ she says.

This year they are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the label, which is still a big draw at New York Fashion Week. The brand owes its recent success in part to the Duchess of Cambridge’s patronage, which saw sales shoot up by 40 per cent in 2012 after she stepped out for her first public engagement after her marriage at the ARK charity gala in 2011 wearing a shimmering pink crystal gown.

When Packham bought the Victorian property in 2008, she drafted in long-time friend and collaborator Richard Dewhurst, the interior designer behind her boutique on Carlos Place. The revamping process was more structural than cosmetic. The kitchen was relocated to a new extension of exposed brick and terrazzo tiles, and the dividing wall between the front and back rooms was removed to create an airy living and dining space. Upstairs, the bathroom was refitted with marble flooring and antique mirrored walls (a theme that is echoed in Packham’s dressing room) and an extra bedroom was created on the top storey.

In the hallway, floor tiles inspired by the paper-cut prints of Bauhaus designer Anni Albers offset a neon pink mirror and a David Hicks carpet. All the walls are sheathed in silver de Gournay wallpaper, which has a shimmering quality, a hallmark of her gowns: ‘I first discovered their work in my twenties and thought that hand-painted wallpaper was something I’d never be able to have. It’s the most decadent, indulgent thing ever.’

It’s certainly different from her previous property: ‘Our last home, in Kentish Town, was completely white and minimalist. I don’t know if it was because the girls were young, or if I just didn’t have enough time. With this house, I wanted it to be much more relaxed and worked properly on putting colours and textures together. The minimalist thing was never going to work.’