Claudia Schiffer’s Cotswolds Home Is Filled With Ceramics, Chocolate, and Lots of Chanel

Well, I would always say, Hello.

Hello, Karl.

And then he would say, Hello, Claudia.

He would always call me Claudia.

[lively music]

Hi Vogue, it's Claudia Schiffer here.

Welcome to my home in the beautiful English countryside.

I can't wait to show you around of my favorite things.

Okay, let's go.

[tranquil music]

This is the house we live in and work in.

Me and my husband, Matthew, our three children.

And then we've got also a German Shepherd, Rollo

and a cat called Chip.

What's so special here are these very big glass windows.

They have this most amazing view.

We're in the middle of nowhere pretty much.

Countryside all around

and you can see like a fox going by every day.

So my taste in interior design is a mixture

of the Scandinavian mid-century, '50s, '60s, '70s furniture.

Everything has to do with something.

It's not just randomly put together.

For example, I buy art not because it's an investment,

but because I fall in love with it.

It's the same with the furniture.

I sort of buy it 'cause I like it

and then I work out the space for it afterwards.

Actually, one of the things I love to do,

often when the kids have been in bed, I sort of move,

start moving furniture around.

It's one of my passions.

[lively music]

So I have a large collection in my archives of all kinds

of things that I've been given during my career

in the '90s.

Karl Lagerfeld has been always very generous.

At Rue Cambon, he had an atelier

where he did all his creations and designs.

For example, this bag, it was just a black canvas bag

and he had the idea last minute to paint over it.

And I was like, oh my God, this is amazing.

And then when the fitting was finished he said,

Oh, you know what, Claudia?

You can have one.

Karl Lagerfeld was sort of my magic dust.

I was a very shy girl and he transformed me

from this shy girl into a supermodel.

And I remember when I first met him,

he somehow thought there was something special about me

and said, You know what?

I'd like you immediately to start tomorrow.

You gotta go to Deauville

and we're gonna shoot the Chanel campaign.

And as the day went on, I warmed up a little bit more.

We then spoke German together

and realized that we had a lot of things in common

and lots of energy and we both didn't drink,

we didn't do anything naughty.

At 3 o'clock in the morning, we were still up and running

and full of energy and everyone else was getting very tired.

And he said to me, Yeah, you're just like me.

Very German, titanic and disciplined.

It was that sort of bonding moment

that started a long relationship together.

And then this is quite fun as well.

We had my picture put on a Chanel belt that I wore

in one of the fashion shows.

And this is a bag, such a great trip

that we took in the Amalfi Coast.

And it was in one of the campaigns.

And I love it because it's just so unusual for Chanel.

So fun.

[lively music]

So this is one of my favorite paintings.

It's by Ed Ruscha who's an American painter.

It's called Point Blank.

It's a reference to a film from 1967.

So I don't have any advisors for the art.

I go into an art exhibition or art fair

and I see something, I immediately feel a connection to it.

I can't stop thinking about it

and you know, if I can afford it, then I would then buy it.

Well, anything from Ed Ruscha is really special to me

because it reminds me of the time

when I first met my husband in Los Angeles.

We had met Ed Ruscha ourselves there

and we went to his studio and looked at the way he painted.

And so that's sort of a connection to me now

so that when I look at that painting,

I think of that story back then.

[lively music]

So we're here in the kitchen,

the most important room in the house where we spend most

of our time as a family.

And even when friends are coming,

everyone is always in this kitchen.

I do not cook, but I'm very good at presenting.

It's very important for me

that everything is in beautiful bowls and flowers and vases

and the candle is always burning.

It just makes me feel really good.

Another object of my affection,

this beautiful butterfly vase.

I collected ceramics from this Portuguese company for years

until one day I called them up and said,

I'd love to know more about you

and perhaps we can do something together.

And so I created this collection with all the butterflies.

I love the idea of transformation

and a butterfly symbolizes that for me.

And so we're lucky we have a wonderful view outside.

This is where we have our breakfast and lunches and dinners.

[lively music]

Here I've got another object of affection,

which is my secret stash of chocolates.

I actually did not like English chocolate

when I first moved to England.

I was obsessed with German chocolate.

And then one day someone brought this as a presence

and it's the best chocolate in the whole world I think.

It's got really soft liquidy caramel inside.

I'm obsessed.

German chocolate's still good.

This is just a little bit better.

[packet rustling] [Claudia laughing]

Very good. Do not open.

[Claudia laughing] [lively music]

This is the dining room

where we have dinner parties or meetings.

And while you eat, you can enjoy the great view.

And now I'm gonna show you something

in this dining room close to my heart.

Follow me.

[lively music]

This is my collection of tortoises.

Wherever I go around the world, I always look

for one that I can bring home.

When I met my husband, I said that I loved tortoises

and I never had one.

And next thing, I noticed

that a real tortoise showed up at my house.

Tortoise also represents love and protection.

So it's sort of the symbol of the relationship of me

and my husband and something to protect the family.

[lively music]

And this is a very special object of affection.

It's Chip, the cat.

Chip in the film of my husband called Argylle.

Chip was sharing his trailer with Matthew

and became a bit of a star.

So he's now sort of like a nepo kitty.

He's even written his own memoirs now.

He's got his own Chip Instagram.

You know, it's quite rare I spend time

with him nowadays 'cause he's so busy.

This is one of his tantrums.

It's a new thing since he's become a star.

So cats aside,

there's something else I really wanted to show you.

This is my jewelry box. My favorite rings from Solange.

They're all gifts to my husband and my nickname's Cloudy

because as in Claudia, Cloudy

but actually like Cloudy as in clouds in English.

And so there's one here with a scenery with a cloud

and another ring as a cloud, which is me

and then a lot of animals.

The first one was the tortoise, obviously.

[Claudia laughing] [pensive music]

Another piece I want to show to you,

this is an English artist, Damien Hirst.

And this is a dot painting.

The reason why I like it so much is the classic dot painting

has a white background

and this one has unusually a dark background.

Since the piece has like literally every color

you can imagine,

I thought it needed a really plain background

and that's why I hung it here

'cause there's absolutely nothing else

besides the plain wooden wall.

I haven't counted the dots.

Huh, it's probably one of those things

to do when you have nothing to do, which I never have.

[Claudia laughing] [lively music]

So we're now in the basement.

This is not your usual basement.

It's the place where I work, where my husband works

and where we have a cinema room for work

and the pleasure.

And now is something I really wanna show to you,

which is my wedding dress

by Valentino, my dear friend.

It was designed in Rome by his Valentino atelier.

It took them six months to do.

So when I told Valentino that I got engaged, first of all,

he then threw me an engagement party, which was really sweet

of him and so on.

I said to him, Well, actually I was gonna ask you

if you could design my wedding dress.

And he said, Funny, you ask. I already did it.

And so he had A, B, C, D options

of what I would like, off the shoulder, rounded neck.

It was all these different options.

And then I went to Rome with my mom and my two bridesmaids,

and I put on a dress in Rome looking out the window,

thinking, oh my God, this is la dolce vita.

[Claudia laughing] [lively music]

So goodbye, Vogue.

It's been lovely showing you all my favorite things.

And one very last object of a affection, Rollo.

Bye.

[lively music]