Inside fashion designer Kit Willow's stylish Vaucluse home

As one of Australia’s leading fashion designers, Kit Willow found her calling when she made a label comeback with KitX in 2015. Willow creates sustainable fashion with a passion for protecting the planet without compromising on style.

Away from the pressure of work life, Willow lives in Sydney’s Vaucluse with her two children. The home, now listed for sale on Domain, was purchased in 2010 and has been extensively renovated.

The home’s charm is in its 1930s character, filled with antique mirrors and Willow’s prized art collection, which includes a limited edition Brett Whiteley. She loves nothing more than to switch off in the lush garden, where heritage-listed gum trees stand tall.

A few of Kit’s favourite things

Pets

I absolutely love our pets Chops, aged 4 (dog) and Cheeky (cat) aged 5. They make us laugh, bring us together, teach us about compassion and teach the children the love of animals.
My kids feed them every day and they’re beautifully cuddly. Chops will always sleep opposite us and Cheeky sleeps with us.

Art by Del Kathryn Barton

I always wanted to collaborate with an Australian artist. My friend Lucy suggested painter Del Kathryn Barton. I showed her photos from my latest Willow collection (back in 2003) and she made three art works inspired by it.

Vintage corset dress

I bought this in Paris; it’s made of the most incredible sea grass. I paid about €100 for it. You know when something you see has a bit of magic? I knew I needed to own it right away. I also love, and live in, investment pieces. It’s so important for me to repair and care for them.

Brass hand

My grandmother gave this to me to use as a paperweight to hold down my design sketches. When I went to Paris, I saw the YSL exhibition and documentary and saw photos of his design room and office and a brass hand was sitting there being used for the same purpose my Nan bought mine for me.

 French antique mirror

Mark purchased this for me at an auction house in Sydney. It was my push present for having our daughter, Misia now aged 12. It’s a very beautiful mirror and I just fell in love the moment I saw it.

Clemens Krauss Artwork

I bought this for my Willow store at GPO Melbourne. When the brand closed down, this was one of the last pieces I negotiated back. I fought hard to keep it in 2013. I noticed the artist at the Dominik Mersch Gallery in Sydney and was blown away. I was obsessed with it so I bought a little one first and then bought this big one for our store.

The back garden

My backyard is very grounding and it keeps me focused on nature and our planet. The trees in the garden to me are so special. There’s palms and gum trees that are heritage listed. I love the original 1930s multi-levelled garden layout too.