She's the 1990s party girl turned vintage-style guru and earth mother – and now, Pearl Lowe is ready for her next adventure.
Speaking exclusively to HELLO! just weeks after the wedding of her daughter, the model Daisy Lowe, to the property developer Jordan Saul, mother-of-four Pearl reveals that it’s all change now that her brood have flown the nest.
© Pearl LoweThe British designer, 55, says: “We've got this big, rambling, 11-bedroom house that we bought nine years ago in Frome. Now that our children have left, we’re empty nesters, so we’ve put the house up [for sale].
"It's been the most magical house I've ever lived in, but it definitely feels that it's our time to go. We're ready for a new chapter."
"I'm blessed with the most eccentric, crazy bunch of people around me"
Family fun
Her eldest, Daisy, 36, is the daughter of the Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale. Pearl also has three children – Alfie, 28, Frankie, 26, and Betty, 20 – with Danny Goffey, the drummer with Supergrass and her husband since 2008.
The star, who made her name in the indie bands Powder and Lodger before going solo, says she is happiest spending time with her family.
"I'm blessed with the most eccentric, crazy bunch of people around me," she says. "They're so fun and quirky. We're very lucky, because we really get on."
In fact, Betty, now studying at the University of Bristol, has modelled Pearl's new Summer Dress Collection, a hand-made range with a nod to vintage silhouettes.
"She's got that look; the dresses and swimsuits look great on her," the designer says.
© Belle DaughtryBeing a grandmother
Also close to Pearl's heart is her two-year-old granddaughter Ivy, Daisy’s child. "I love her dearly," she says. "She comes and stays, and we have a lot of fun together.
“She's very, very active. She's like: 'Outside, Nana!', so off we go with our walking boots into the forest. She loves climbing and we like picking things – fruit and flowers."
© Getty ImagesBut although country life has kept Pearl content, she’s now spending more time in London.
"I'm finding myself there three or four days a week," she says, adding that having homes in both the capital and Somerset – "smaller, manageable places, not vast places that are empty” – may be the ideal solution.
Her ADHD diagnosis
This transition comes as Pearl adjusts to a diagnosis of ADHD, which, she admits, came as a huge shock.
However, she has been able to adapt. "I've worked out how to manoeuvre through life. I've got lots of tools, and medication if I want it," she says.
Remembering life before the diagnosis, Pearl recalls: "My kids used to go to parties at the wrong time because I'd get the start and end times mixed up. That was awful. I missed dance performances because I'd got the day wrong. I even missed my best friend's wedding."
She famously overcame drug addiction and has since discovered that "80% of addicts have ADHD". She says: "I don't think I was an addict; I was told I was an addict. I think I was just self-medicating because of my condition."
Passion for fashion
One constant in Pearl’s life has been her love of fashion.
Her new collection of floral dresses, chic dressing gowns and swimwear is handcrafted in Somerset by local seamstresses, using heritage fabrics including Liberty prints and silk crepe.
It is a "love letter to the British summer", inspired by a photograph of the actress Faye Dunaway, she says.
Now that her children have lives of their own, Pearl is focusing on her creative projects. She has a book coming out in October, Faded Glamour in the City, plus a candle collection and a clothing range in the autumn.
She’s even writing an autobiographical book about her experiences with ADHD. "I've had so many letters from people asking: 'Am I too old to find out?’" she says. "No, you're never too old. You should definitely find out."
For more, visit pearllowe.co.uk
To read the full exclusive interview, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK on Monday. You can subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.
