Tat London Journal

Jessica Light. It would have been mad not to ask her, and the fact she replied made me profoundly grateful. I have been a fan since she took part in the House & Garden Shop in 2015. That was the first time I saw her tassels, those tassels made by her fair hands, extraordinary in colour, touch and sheer beauty. She is the queen of passementerie, with pieces commissioned by the royal family, film sets and any self respecting interiors bon vivant.

I have heard from two very in the know sources that the rich are out of here. Gone. Absconded behind a pair of sunglasses and a chrome suitcase marketed as being able to withstand both the Galápagos and the Arctic, though in reality it is only ever wheeled between Dubai, the South of France and Positano. These sources, an interior designer and a very costly night nurse, told me that their clients are fleeing Britain for kinder tax havens, Monaco chief among them.

When I went to Venice, I had one clear goal: to see the architecture of Carlo Scarpa. His precision, his feeling for materials, the way he connects the old and the new, it always fascinated me. And his projects in Venice did not disappoint. They are sharp, balanced, and full of beautiful details. But what I didn’t expect was that another place would completely change my focus.