Most people know Priscilla Carluccio as the wife of television chef Antonio Carluccio and co-founder of the successful Carluccio’s Caffe chain. Yet Priscilla, the younger sister of Sir Terence Conran, has a secret life. She has long been a major influence on the modern British lifestyle, first as a stylist with Habitat in the sixties, then as a the Buying Director of the Conran Shop in the seventies, and later as Trend Forecaster for the Storehouse group. Now 70, she has made a glorious return to the world of design, style
and modern living with one of the most joyful and invigorating stores
to open in London since Dover Street Market.
Pinning down the nature of Few and Far is not easy, which is precisely the point. Let’s just say the seasonally changing mix of things, both vintage and modern, is as dangerous as looking at puppies in a pet-shop. There is always going to be one that looks up at you and licks your feet, making it impossible for you to leave the shop without it.
It could be a huge
wooden dresser from Russia or Ireland; a bunch of garden roses; a
hand-crafted basket, a
seductive Ingo Maurer lamp; Engish pottery that
feels as if it is still in the hands of the potter; fairytale porcini
mushroom footstools designed by Paola Navone; or downstairs, a riot of
colourful toys, and sculptural items of clothing in velvet, cashmere
and silk that are works of art in themselves. For me, the doggy in the
window was a rich, viscous, earthy Monferrato hazelnut oil made from
Piedmont, so precious it is presented in a graceful glass flacon like a
perfume.
Prices range from £2 for an Indian ring to if-you-have-to-ask-you-can’t-afford-it. ‘The lovely thing about this is that I can do what I want’ says Priscilla Carluccio. That means installing an espresso machine, offering chocolate cake on Fridays, and wrapping everything in Indian paper and ribbon. Shops like this are too few and far between.
Few and Far, 242 Brompton Road, London SW3 Tel: 020 7225 7070
www.fewandfar.net
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