PARADISE IS... CHARLY COX

CHARLY IN PARADISE

 Charly in Paradise SS21 Hayley Menzies

This week, we invite British wordsmith and mental health advocate Charly Cox to share her Eden on earth, from prancing in Soho bookshops to a solitary spot on the sofa.

 Charly in Paradise SS21 Hayley Menzies

PARADISE IS...

A present moment. I think we've all learned in the last year that if you can't find paradise within parameters, it's nothing but a far away dream. Unconditional paradise is when I close my eyes and I could still be 8 years old strolling down Kilburn High Road with my grandfather with a huge cup of pic’n’mix. Paradise in the real world has two very specific locations for me - prancing around Soho, going from bookshop to cafe to pub on my own with a notebook. Since that's been unattainable, this spot on the sofa has become all three of those things.

 IN THREE WORDS...

A present moment.

 Charly in Paradise SS21 Hayley Menzies

IF PARADISE WAS A TASTE...

The first sip of a pint outside the French House at 5pm in the first slither of summer.

 A SCENT...

Vivienne Westwood - Boudoir. My mum always wore it when I was a child, it smells like love and warmth and safety.

 A SONG...

Justin Bieber - Sorry. One New Year’s Eve, our friend Jacob put it on by accident instead of Auld Lang Syne at midnight - it's become a tradition now. I’m immediately transported back to the rooftop nights we spent in Ladbroke Grove - they were paradise in a way that only nostalgia can give them that title now.

 Charly in Paradise SS21 Hayley Menzies

ON JOYFUL DRESSING...

When I wear Hayley Menzies, I feel like Marianne Faithful stepping off a private jet, with a head full of unspeakable memories and a wry smile that suggests they were all worth it. Everything Hayley designs, from the cuts to colours, oozes the cool girl you always hoped to be as a kid.