David Hicks was one of the most influential interior designers of the 20th century, known for his bold use of color, pattern, and geometry in both residential and commercial projects. Hicks’ signature style blended modernist principles with global decorative motifs, creating fantastical interior landscapes that were both traditional and radically new.
Introduction to David Hicks’ Design Style
David Hicks was an English interior designer active from the 1950s through the 1990s. He first rose to prominence decorating the London home of his sister, Lady Pamela Mountbatten. Hicks’ early interior designs combined clean-lined modernist furniture and architecture with antique furnishings and exotic artifacts from his world travels.
Hicks referred to his aesthetic as “organized exuberance.” His spaces married modernist ideals of simplicity and functionality with a maximalist sensibility of saturated colors, dynamic patterns, and eclectic embellishments. Hicks layered decorative textures and deployed geometry in unconventional ways to create interiors that were lively, sophisticated, and full of imagination.
Some key elements of David Hicks’ distinctive design style include:
- Bold use of color and pattern: Hicks embraced bright hues and energetic prints. He combined stripes, checks, floral motifs, paisleys, and abstract geometrics within a single room. This dynamic mix of patterns and colors energized his interiors.
- Global decorative influences: Hicks incorporated decorative styles from around the world. Indian textiles, Middle Eastern tilework, Moroccan motifs, and Chinoiserie details came together in his designs.
- Custom carpets and textiles: Hicks frequently designed bespoke rugs, upholstery, and wallpapers to achieve his vision. These custom prints and weavings were graphic statements.
- Geometric forms: Hicks manipulated basic geometric shapes in unexpected ways. Hexagons, circles, squares, and triangles were fragmented, overlapped, and rotated into asymmetrical compositions.
- Sculptural seating: Hicks preferred seats with angular profiles, pitched backs, and tapered legs. His chairs, sofas, and chaises had a sculptural presence.
- Modernist framework: Beneath the layers of color and pattern, Hicks’ rooms had an underpinning of modernist architectural details. This clean framework balanced his decorative exuberance.
Hicks’ interiors combined visual excitement with underlying order and sophistication. His artistic handling of color, form, and global ornament made him one of the most revered interior designers of the 20th century. Hicks set new benchmarks for bringing modernist design principles together with lavish decoration.
Early Life and Design Career
David Nightingale Hicks was born in 1929 in England. His father was a stockbroker, while his mother was a society hostess who introduced Hicks to the world of the upper class. Hicks displayed an artistic temperament from childhood and studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts.
In his early twenties, Hicks began decorating the London residence of his older sister, Lady Pamela Mountbatten. His work on her home launched his interior design career when it garnered press attention. By age 25 he had opened his own decorating firm, David Hicks Ltd., in London.
Hicks rapidly earned a following among socialites and celebrities. Early commercial projects included restaurants and shops. Within a few years he was decorating apartments for international clients including members of the Rothschild banking dynasty. Hicks also expanded into product design, launching his own carpets, fabrics, wallpapers, and furniture.
By the 1960s David Hicks was an established name in interior design. His freewheeling combinations of color, pattern, and sculpture gave modernism a playful twist. He layered antique and contemporary elements into spaces that felt imaginative and full of personality. Hicks rejected midcentury minimalism in favor of more ebullient, expressive interiors.
Major projects of the 1960s included the redesign of the UK Prime Minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street for Harold Macmillan. Hicks also decorated landmark restaurants like Mr Chow in London, which combined mod furnishings with Chinese antiques. In 1968 he partnered with pirates to recover treasures from a 400-year-old shipwreck, which he then incorporated into his designs.
By the 1970s Hicks was designing everything from private homes to airports. This decade saw publication of two seminal books on his work: David Hicks on Living—with Taste and David Hicks: Designer. He continued expanding his global business, designing luxury hotels in Jamaica and Malaysia.
Later commercial projects included the London offices of Merrill Lynch and designer boutiques for Versace, Benetton, and Joseph. Hicks’ own retail shops opened internationally. By the 1980s he was widely celebrated as one of the world’s top tastemakers and an icon of 20th century design.
Defining Elements of Hicks’ Design Vision
David Hicks’ designs merged modernist forms with colorful decoration and exotic details. He deployed geometry, color, and ornamentation in innovative ways to create his signature “organized exuberance.” Here are some of the most defining elements of Hicks’ design vocabulary:
Geometric Shapes
Hicks took basic geometric forms like circles, hexagons, and squares and fragmented them into fluid patterns. He rotated and overlapped these shapes to create asymmetrical, sculptural compositions on walls, floors, and ceilings.
For example, a Hicks rug design might incorporate elongated hexagons radiating at angles. Or a wallpaper pattern could feature rows of compressed circles floating across a contrasting grid. Geometry added visual impact and a modern edge to his interiors.
Colorful Palettes
Vibrant, saturated color was central to Hicks’ approach. He combined strong primaries and secondaries like red, yellow, turquoise, and orange in the same room for dramatic effects. Hicks juxtaposed different colors and patterns in electrifying combinations. Tonal color schemes were eschewed in favor of contrast and color collisions. This dynamic use of color energized his maximalist interiors.
Global Motifs
Hicks sourced design motifs from across the globe, including places like Japan, Morocco, India and China. Fretwork, chinoiserie, elaborate tilework, and graphic ikat textiles came together in his spaces. Traditional handicrafts were remixed and recolored to create decorative mashups. Global artisanry references added exotic flair.
Custom Prints and Weavings
Hicks frequently designed original furnishing fabrics, wallpapers, carpets, and rugs for his interiors. These custom textiles incorporated his signature bold geometrics, global motifs, and clashing colors. Bespoke prints allowed him to achieve the patterns, palette, and textures he desired. Hicks’ custom rugs were art pieces for the floor.
Sculptural Furnishings
The furniture forms in Hicks’ interiors were often angular and sculptural. He favored tapered octagonal-leg chairs, tufted benches, and sectional seating with pitched profiles. Tables had knife-edge tops and pedestal bases. The shapely silhouettes complemented his use of geometry in textiles and architectural details.
Signature Projects
Throughout his long career, David Hicks completed hundreds of remarkable interior design projects around the world. A few standouts demonstrate his genius for blending modernism with his “organized exuberance” aesthetic:
The London Hilton on Park Lane
One of Hicks’ major early commissions was the London Hilton hotel, completed in 1963. His design married contemporary architectural form with lavish ornamentation. Guest rooms had vibrant green-on-white prints paired with dark wood furniture. The lounge featured stained glass, an abstract mural, and his famous octagonal seating. Hicks boldly combined modern and traditional elements within the project.
The Rothschild Apartment
This 1967 apartment for the Rothschild family demonstrated Hicks’ ability to create living spaces that were both stylish and welcoming. He used bright red lacquered walls, zebra stripes, and leopard prints to add energy and sophistication. The seating was simple and sculptural. Vivid decorative accents mingled with clean modernist bones for visual impact.
10 Downing Street
As designer for Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in the 1960s, Hicks radically transformed the decor at 10 Downing Street into something colorful and contemporary. He installed vibrant red carpet and curtains in the Cabinet room, where all shades had previously been variations on green. Hicks demonstrated his daring pairing of strong color with traditional architecture.
The Deckhouse at Piancan Bona, Sicily
This open-air 1971 residence used white-painted geometric screens to divide space. Turquoise tiles created a mosaic pool surround, while red tile edged a planting bed. The ebullient use of color and form within a clean structural framework exemplified Hicks’ design sensibilities. It married modernism with arts-and-crafts inspired decoration.
Global Business Empire
In addition to iconic design commissions, David Hicks built a global business empire under his name. Starting in the 1950s with a small London decorating firm, his brand eventually expanded to include:
- Retail shops: Hicks opened retail locations that sold his wallpapers, textiles, carpets, and furniture designs. Shops appeared everywhere from London, Paris, and New York to Kuwait.
- Licensed products: Hicks licensed his prints and patterns to other manufacturers. Branded products included porcelain, fabrics, greeting cards, and stationery.
- Global hotels: Hicks designed hotel properties worldwide, providing interior architecture, textiles, uniforms, and decorative details. The Caribbean, Malaysia, and the Middle East were key markets.
- Books: Coffee table books like David Hicks on Living brought his work into people’s homes. Books expanded his influence as a lifestyle visionary.
- Home collections: Hicks launched signature furniture and home accessory collections with companies like Vanguard. The David Hicks brand became accessible to broader consumer markets.
Like iconic designers before him, David Hicks capitalized on his name and aesthetic to create a wide-reaching business presence across continents. From haute couture interiors to consumer products, the David Hicks brand represented his modern, “organized exuberance” point of view.
Legacy and Influence
David Hicks passed away in 1998 at the age of 69. Over his long career, he became one of the world’s premier interior designers and forged new territory in combining modern design with decorative richness. Hicks left an indelible mark on both the commercial and residential interior design realms.
Some of the key ways Hicks influenced later design include:
- Popularized eclecticism: Hicks helped pioneer a more eclectic, personalized approach to design that mixed old and new. His sensibilities helped shift tastes away from strict modernism.
- Made pattern mixing mainstream: His bold combinations of patterns and colors helped inspire a lighter, more artistic approach to interior decoration.
- Influenced major designers: Top designers like Kelly Wearstler and Jonathan Adler have cited Hicks as a direct influence on their aesthetic.
- Inspired mass brands: Retailers like Target, West Elm, and Anthropologie have drawn design inspiration from Hicks’ signature geometrics and global motifs.
- Expanded consumer products: Hicks proved the business potential of signature home brands, paving the way for later designers’ product empires.
Though he passed away over two decades ago, David Hicks’ legacy remains relevant. His prescient mixing of eras and cultures gave interiors a free-spirited eclecticism that still feels fresh today. Hicks’ innovative vision made him one of the most important interior designers of the 20th century and a continuing inspiration to new generations.
Notable Quotes About David Hicks
“David Hicks taught the world that modern functionality requires not austerity but imagination.”
- Architectural Digest
“He never went the obvious way. He put Englishness on its head and shook it up.”
- Designer India Mahdavi
“David Hicks is one of the five designers who have influenced the architecture and the visual ambiance of contemporary life.”
- Designer Andrée Putman
“David Hicks has grabbed the great clichés of history and reshuffled them into a witty new order.”
- Time Magazine
“He certainly invented the concept of world interior design.”
- Designer Philippe Starck
Frequently Asked Questions About David Hicks
Here are answers to some common questions about the iconic 20th century designer David Hicks:
What style is David Hicks best known for?
Hicks was best known for his bold, maximalist interiors that blended modernist principles with global decorative influences. He called it “organized exuberance.”
What are some signature elements of Hicks’ design?
Signatures included geometric shapes, vibrant color combos, custom prints and textiles, exotic global motifs, and sculptural furnishings with clean lines.
What modern designers did Hicks influence?
He influenced later designers like Kelly Wearstler, Jonathan Adler, Thom Filicia, and Anouska Hempel who embrace eclectic, artistic interiors.
What companies did Hicks design interiors for?
Clients included hotels (London Hilton, Jamaica’s Round Hill), businesses (Merrill Lynch offices), celebrities, royalty, and more.
How did Hicks use geometry in his designs?
Hicks fragmented and overlapped simple geometric shapes like circles, hexagons and squares to create asymmetrical, sculptural compositions.
Did Hicks design any products?
Yes, Hicks had his own lines of carpets, wallpapers, fabrics, furniture, and licensed products from greeting cards to porcelain.
Where were David Hicks’ shops located?
In addition to London, Hicks had retail shops in New York, Paris, Kuwait, Zurich, Tokyo, and other international cities.
What made Hicks different from other midcentury designers?
Unlike strict modernists, Hicks embraced bold pattern, color, and exotic embellishment in his interiors. This eclecticism was innovative.
Where can I learn more about David Hicks?
Some great references are the books David Hicks: Designer and David Hicks: Living with Design. There is also a wealth of writing online.
Did Hicks mainly design residential or commercial projects?
Hicks designed both private residences and commercial projects like hotels, retail spaces, restaurants, corporate offices, and even an airport.
Conclusion
David Hicks’ legacy as an iconic interior designer stems from his visionary blend of modernist design principles with global decoration and passionate personal expression. By mixing colors, patterns, and cultural motifs with exuberant abandon, Hicks created fantastical interior spaces that were both traditional and modern.
Hicks’ bold geometric compositions, custom prints, and sculptural furnishings gave his maximalist interiors an underlying spatial logic. His worldwide success as both a designer and lifestyle brand visionary made his work influential across decades. Hicks’ “organized exuberance” sensibility of combining old and new continues to inspire interior designers today. He will be remembered as a true pioneer in bringing liveliness, personalization and artistic flair back into interior spaces.
