IGNANT
ACNE STUDIOS · SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
by Stephanie Wade
Photographs by Annabel Elston and Fabio Ongarato
October 2019
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.
NOBLESSE
SOPHIE HICKS’ ZEITGEIST
October 2015
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
By Suzy Menkes
November 17, 2008
W MAGAZINE
HIP TO BE SQUARE
By Alice Rawsthorn
Photographs by Adrian Gaut
March 2019
DAILY TELEGRAPH
WHITE HEAT
By Sally Brampton
Photographs by Edina Van Der Wyck
April 25th, 1998
J’N’C News
DIE GEISTERJÄGERIN
Interview by Svea Jörgens
Portraits by Volker Conradus
December 2012
AMC
MAISON INDIVIDUELLE
by Pauline Malras
Photographs by Annabel Elston
October 2019
SPACE MAGAZINE
ACNE STUDIOS
Interview by Park Sungjin
Photo by Annabel Elston
January 2016
DEZEEN
SOPHIE HICKS CONCEALS “CONCRETE MONSTER”
By Alice Morby
Photography by Annabel Elston
September 2015
CULTURED MAGAZINE
THE ART OF THE FASHION FLAGSHIP
By John Glendall
Photograph of Acne Studios Seoul by Annabel Elston
April/May 2019