Olivia Palermo started inspiring others with her exquisite taste long before the term "influencer" was coined. The New York native and front-row fixture is as savvy as she is chic, and has leveraged her style to become a fully fledged fashion and beauty entrepreneur with 8.1 million followers on Instagram. We met with the model, socialite and tastemaker to find out her take on luxury...
The one luxury I’d never compromise on in life is my beauty maintenance. For skincare, I only use iS Clinical. Johannes [Hubel, her model husband of 11 years] has also switched over to the brand, and his skin looks incredible. I also love my mani-pedis. I recently started working with David Mallett for hair. He’s just moved into a new space at 161 Water Street in New York; they have a lot of really cool wellness systems there.
My last luxury splurge was a black leather trench from Mackage – very classic.
My go-to luxury labels are Giambattista Valli for clothes, Casadei for shoes and Valextra for bags. They have a wonderful heritage and I wear them every day. A Hermès bag is also a great hero piece to have in one’s closet, if you can.
Travel-wise, my biggest luxury would be a holiday in St Moritz. It’s my favourite place in the world to relax, and I just feel chilled there. I get all my inspiration on a mountain, and skiwear has always been a huge inspiration for me. I’m a sporty girl, although skiing is a hard workout. If we’re talking long-haul, past Europe, I’d say Japan. I love Tokyo and I’m dying to go back. Japan has always brought so much inspiration to me. I love all of their products, whether it’s beauty, fashion or technology, and the people are super kind.
The luxury items in my travel bag? I always have bags within bags — leather pouches with everything organised and sectioned. I’m extremely organised. Any time you open up a bag, you’d be impressed.
My favourite luxurious meal would be dinner at the plant-based restaurant Eleven Madison Park, New York. Daniel [Humm, the owner and chef] and I are very much aligned on food, and love different ways of working with vegetables.
To elevate a cosy night in, we’re lucky enough to have a really nice sauna downstairs in our Tribeca apartment, as well as a pool. It’s really quiet, so we go down there to relax. We’ve spent so much time in hotels that we try to copy that ambience when we’re at home. We also have rotating beds, which are amazing; they’re motorised beds that rock you up and down while you’re sleeping. They’re very popular in America. I sleep beautifully these days.
There are so many different ways to define luxury. Having a day off, enjoying time with friends: those are great luxuries in a different sense from high jewellery, watches and fashion. It’s taking care of yourself, having great friends, a great work-life balance. That, to me, is luxury.