SOPHIE HICKS ARCHITECTS

PIN-UP INTERVIEWS, VOL. 1

SOPHIE HICKS

Words by Emily King. First published in 2013, reissued November 2025

With her boyishly short hair and smart men’s clothes, Sophie Hicks is widely known for her sharp personal style. She developed her fashion skills during the nine years she worked as a stylist, first as a teenager for Harpers & Queen, then at Vogue, and afterwards for Azzedine Alaïa. it wasn’t until her mid-20s — with a little indirect help from madonna — that she discovered her true calling: architecture. after a degree from London’s Architectural Association, she went on to design office space, exhibitions, private residences, and shops — for Paul Smith and Chloé, among others.
 
Her Parisian flagship store for Yohji Yamamoto is a miraculous exercise in crafted wood and folded paper. Hicks’s style is subtle, quiet, detail-oriented, and elegant. her spaces are never flashy, but always smart, and often witty. meeting her in her long, lean mews house home-cum-studio in Notting Hill — which she shares with her boyfriend, children, and pets — I found myself impressed by her poise, determination, and sharp intelligence. But the true focus of my envy was her indoor swimming pool.

The reissue of the book can be now be purchased directly from PIN-UP magazine >>

Featuring interviews with David Adjaye, Daniel Arsham, Shigeru Ban, Barry Bergdoll, Ben van Berkel, Ricardo Bofill, Santiago Calatrava, Rafael de Cárdenas, David Chipperfield, Claude Dalle, Odile Decq, Delfina Delettrez, Fredrikson Stallard, Simon Fujiwara, Cyprien Gaillard, Martino Gamper, Jeanne Gang, Zaha Hadid, Pierre Hardy, Jacques Herzog, Sophie Hicks, Junya Ishigami, Johnston Marklee, William Katavolos, Francis Kéré, David Kohn, Hans Kollhoff, Rem Koolhaas, Daniel Libeskind, Greg Lynn, Niklas Maak, Philippe Malouin, Peter Marino, Jürgen Mayer H., Thom Mayne, Roy McMakin, Richard Meier, Paulo Mendes da Rocha, OFFICE KGDVS, Rick Owens, Anca Petrescu, Boris Rebetez, Charles Renfro, RO/LU, Ole Scheeren, Clémence Seilles, Annabelle Selldorf, Peter Shire, Julius Shulman, Hedi Slimane, Ettore Sottsass, Oscar Tuazon, Rafael Viñoly, Andro Wekua, Robert Wilson, James Wines, and Bethan Laura Wood.

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CULTURED MAGAZINE

THE ART OF THE FASHION FLAGSHIP
By John Glendall
Photograph of Acne Studios Seoul by Annabel Elston
April/May 2019

IGNANT

ACNE STUDIOS · SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
by Stephanie Wade
Photographs by Annabel Elston and Fabio Ongarato
October 2019

ARCHITECTS’ JOURNAL

SOPHIE HICKS ARCHITECTS DESIGNS MINIMALIST CONCRETE HOUSE IN KENSINGTON
By Fran Williams
Photographs by Annabel Elston
February 2019

FRAME

YOHJI YAMAMOTO FLAGSHIP STORE
By Chris Scott
Photographs by Johannes Marburg
May/Jun 2009

INTERIOR + DESIGN, RUSSIA

1A EARL’S COURT SQUARE
by Danila Varennikov
Photographs by Adrian Gaut, Alasdair McLellan, Annabel Elston & Sophie Hicks Architects
October 2019

YAMAMOTO & YOHJI, RIZZOLI

EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK
Contribution by Sophie Hicks
Photographs by Milo Keller and Johannes Marburg
November 2014