English fashion accessories designer Anya Hindmarch is the sort of traveller who could spend an entire 14-hour flight watching the aircraft inch across the in-flight map. She touches the outside of every plane for luck before boarding, bows three times to a new moon wherever she finds herself, and returns home with everything from orange blossom oil and kohl to pieces that eventually become part of her summer wardrobe. Travel, for Hindmarch, is another way of learning – architecture, history, food and culture experienced first-hand.
That curiosity sits alongside an instinct that has shaped her work since she founded her eponymous London business in 1987: the urge to give everything its place. The origin of one of her most enduring ideas is fittingly travel-related. After repeatedly unloading an assortment of currencies at airport security, she devised the Loose Pocket, a dedicated pouch for all the paraphernalia that otherwise drifts around a bag. The same logic has since run through her Labelled collection and countless purpose-built accessories, turning the contents of a handbag into something of a filing system.
Anya Travel pop-up
Anya Travel pop-up
Now, her travel fixation has its own destination. Following the debut of the Air Anya pop-up last year, Anya Travel has now arrived as a permanent collection and standalone store at The Village on Pont Street in London, gathering what Hindmarch calls ‘all of the travel organisational obsessive ideas I have had over the years’ into one place. Recycled-nylon suitcases and weekend bags sit alongside pouches, passport covers, eye masks, luggage tags and other in-flight essentials, while the store borrows its visual language from stations and airports, with thick waiting-room carpet, moulded plastic seating, rounded windows and a travel clock. A Concorde candle and tins of travel sweets add Hindmarch’s characteristic humour.
‘I spend much of my life between places, travelling in all its forms. It can be exhausting, but there’s something about being in transit. It’s the only time I allow myself to waste time and simply follow my heart,’ she tells Wallpaper*.
Anya Travel pop-up
Anya Travel pop-up
For the latest edition of In Transit, our interview series exploring the travel habits and philosophies of creative minds, Hindmarch shares the destinations, objects and rituals that have stayed with her – from her earliest memories of Marrakech to the beach in the Philippines where her husband proposed, and why she wants to sleep in Pompeii.
How Anya Hindmarch travels
What’s your earliest travel memory?
‘Marrakech, aged five. I remember people stroking my blond hair, oranges sold from baskets with their leaves still attached, and the water sellers.’
‘Beautiful oranges in Marrakesh with beautiful vibrant colours.’
What role does travel play in your life now, personally and through work?
‘I love it. I travel far and wide for both work and pleasure, and nothing excites me like discovering somewhere new. I could happily watch the flight map for an entire 14-hour journey.’
What attracts you to a destination?
‘I love to learn, and nothing beats experiencing a place first-hand. I’m drawn to architecture, history, food and culture – anything that introduces me to something new.’
‘Maps are my obsession. There’s nothing better than waking up and seeing exactly where you are and how far is left.’
‘Hot air balloons in Myanmar. It was a magical experience first thing in the morning.’
Do you pack for who you are or who you think you’ll become on that trip?
‘A bit of both. I also love buying things while I’m away. My summer wardrobe has become a collection of pieces gathered on my travels, each with its own memory and story.’
What’s the most unnecessary thing you bring ‘just in case’ – and the most essential?
‘Too many shoes. My diary is the essential – I write in it every day.’
Anya at the Mull of Kintyre, the southwesternmost tip of the Kintyre Peninsula in southwest Scotland
What’s one garment, accessory or beauty tip you always rely on when travelling?
‘My longyis from Myanmar, which double as skirts, towels and cover-ups. I mostly wear them as skirts, with a shirt tucked in.
Do you have a travel habit – something you do every time, wherever you are, even if it’s irrational?
‘I always touch the outside of the plane for luck as I board. I also bow three times to a new moon and make a wish, wherever I am in the world.’
‘Airline miles away from home always feel exciting.’
Who’s the most interesting person you’ve met while travelling?
‘Probably our guide in the Galápagos Islands.’
What’s the best thing you’ve ever brought back from a trip?
‘It’s impossible to choose: sand from the beach where my husband proposed in the Philippines; kohl that a local girl in Petra applied to the whole family so our eyes would look good in photographs – she was right; or orange blossom oil from Tangier. Buy it in bulk.’
‘Fun Japanese food always makes me smile.’
What’s a place that changed the way you think, or taught you something lasting?
‘Always Japan – for its approach to manners, quality and discipline.’
Do you remember places more by how they looked or how they felt?
‘Both – and by how they smelled. It’s why nothing replaces actually being there.’
‘A picture of my family playing in the Galápagos Islands. There’s no better feeling than being a million miles away.’
Stingrays in the Galápagos Islands
Do you tend to capture moments when you travel or let them stay unrecorded?
‘I take zillions of photographs, then savour them when I get home.’
Which place in the world feels most like you?
‘Morocco – the call to prayer, deafening birdsong, cold landscapes and hot sun. But I want to sleep in Pompeii.’
Wadi Rum in Jordan
According to Anya...
Journey or destination? ‘Both.’
Window or aisle? ‘Window.’
Early or late flight? ‘Day flight, all the way.’
Fold or roll? ‘Fold.’
Plan everything or arrive and figure it out? ‘Plan beforehand, obviously.’
Go-to travel snack? ‘Wine gums and electrolytes.’
Who’s always on your playlist? ‘Paolo Conte.’
Ideal long-haul seatmate? ‘My husband or my work wife Kate.’
‘Wearing one of my longyis from Myanmar and taking a pic to prove to the kids that I do actually wear it.’