/ 26 July 2024

Tatiana Alida Talks Style, Inspiration & More

In this series, we ask creatives and tastemakers in the interiors industry what’s inspired them over the years – from travel and people to art and books. Up next, it’s Tatiana Alida – an artist and homeware designer whose signature style is fun, colourful and full of life…

By Georgina Blaskey /

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@Tatiana_Alida

My style is definitely characterful and colourful. I think my taste has been pretty consistent, just refined over the years as I stop worrying about trying to ‘fit in’. I've always known I like vintage pieces and bright colours.

I knew I was artistic from a pretty young age. I got my first sewing machine for my 13th birthday, and I've been making and selling things ever since. I used to sell vintage ties I bought from charity shops on eBay. I really enjoyed packing them up with handwritten notes, drawings, and handmade wrapping paper. That's when I realised I love art and design, and how they make people feel. I'd spend hours just packing up these ties and making them special to send.

I've always been quite COMMERCIALLY MINDED. My family was a bit nervous about me not following a traditional career path, but I knew I had to FOLLOW MY PASSION

I took art very seriously at school. When I studied Art & Design as a BTEC, there were only 12 of us and we were in a sort of ‘creatives design club’. We would scour the pages of all the fashion shows on the Vogue website, Pop, Wonderland and Dazed & Confused, reading every article. I think just that excitement and constantly looking at lots of different designers and their creativity inspired me to become an illustrator. I still collaborate with fashion houses now.

Today I’m inspired by Giovanna Engelbert – I love her style. I think she's so fabulous. Luke Edward Hall uses incredible colours, looking at the past and then putting his own spin on it. My cousin Emma Stevenson, who is an interior designer, isn’t afraid to be bold – she’s not a ‘beige person’.

@Tatiana_Alida

Being in the design world seemed so unattainable. I always knew I wanted to use my hands to create things. I did a few internships after uni, including one at the Gucci PR office in London. I was hopeless at it – it was very admin heavy. So, I started nannying on the side and began my own business, doing little commissions here and there, and building my Instagram. I wasn't sure what my business would look like, but I knew I had to have something that could support me. I've always been quite commercially minded. My family was a bit nervous about me not following a traditional career path, but I knew I had to follow my passion and it’s been a great experience so far.

I love The Conran Shop. I feel like you can just get lost in there. In Hungerford, where I live now, I really like Wendy Lewis Flowers and all the amazing antique shops. You can find so many treasures there.

The best thing I have ever bought is a multicoloured necklace from a Parisian brand called Ivarene. I wear it every day, and I always get asked where it's from. Another favourite thing I've bought are the baby clothes the local knitters made in the hospital where I had my son. It was such a treat to suddenly see a cabinet full of handmade, bright-coloured, old-fashioned knitted jumpers, cardigans and toys. I bought so many.

@TATIANA_ALIDA

I often go to Portugal to visit my father, who lives in Comporta. I love it there; it's an incredibly beautiful place and is fairly untouched for the moment. I like places that are rustic and simple. I spent my childhood in the southwest of France in Le Gers in an old farmhouse, and summers in my late grandmother's traditional finca in Ibiza. Comporta has that same feeling. I love watching the locals drinking iced Super Bock half pints and talking at little tables outside the village café, as well as browsing all the beautiful boutiques – especially Lavanda.

I collect too many things. I'm a total hoarder. I collect glass ornaments and vases, and I've just started collecting owls as my house is called Little Owl. I also collect vintage books which I take lots of inspiration from.

I don't follow a lot of my fellow creators' accounts as I never want to pick up on inspiration by mistake. I want to stay in my own lane, but I do love following more contemporary artists, textile designers, florists and cooks. My favourite contemporary artist is Nina Koltchitskaia; for food I follow Paris Starn; for florals it’s Rollo Skinner; for fashion it’s Leandra Medine Cohen.

@TATIANA_ALIDA

I think my favourite piece of furniture is a candelabra. It was a gift from an ex-boyfriend from The Invisible Collection. It's very beautiful and timeless.

To this day, the butter dish is my bestseller, along with my cocktail prints. It's funny, I created those on such a whim after one of my friends suggested them. They were an instant hit, which was amazing. I'm working on lots more now, including quirky food prints and children's prints.

I'm still figuring out how to juggle family and work life. I feel a little envious of girls who have had maternity leave and been able to relax and take it all in. I never was able to stop; even when I was in hospital, my fulfilment department let me down, and it was very stressful. But as a business owner, I had to deal with it. I had shingles days after having my baby from the stress of it all. I work four days a week now and have help on those days, and my mother helps me a bit in the evenings as I'm a single mother, so it's nice to have someone to share the bath times and supper times with. We are very close; she is the best grandmother.

My business can be rather demanding of my CREATIVE NATURE. I have to go from artist Tatiana to business Tatiana to mum. But I'm learning that LIFE IS YIN AND YANG.

My business can be rather demanding of my creative nature. I have to go from artist Tatiana to business Tatiana to mum. But I'm learning that life is yin and yang, and it's a positive thing to have a good dose of gritty admin to balance out the fabulous events I get to go to, as well as carefree painting days and time to come up with new ideas. I'm very lucky.

If my house was burning down and I had to choose an item to save, it would be the small flower-shaped diamond necklace my mother gave me. It was her mother's, and her mother's before that. We all have Alida as our middle names, as the oldest girls of each generation. One day, if I have a girl, she will also have Alida as her name.

Visit TatianaAlida.co.uk