Kelly Hoppen: The Interior Designer in the Den
- Kelly Hoppen
Kelly Hoppen was born in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1959 and grew up in London, taking her first paid interior design commission while still a teenager.
She built a practice known for a restrained East meets West style, working on private houses, hotels, yachts and aircraft interiors, and later extended her name into homeware and product ranges.
From private commissions to a brand
Her studio work made her one of the best known interior designers working out of Britain, and she has published a series of books setting out her approach to colour, texture and proportion.
She was appointed MBE for services to interior design, and the move from commissions into products gives her a commercial as well as an aesthetic view of a consumer pitch.
Two series at the table
Hoppen joined Dragons' Den in 2013 for the show's eleventh series, arriving in the same intake as Piers Linney, and left after two series.
Hers was one of the few seats on the British panel filled from a design background rather than from retail, manufacturing or finance, and the look and presentation of a product was an obvious part of what she brought to it.
Products Kelly Hoppen backed in the Den
Clean Heels Ltd
presented as high heel attachments to prevent sinking in grass and damage
