Andrea Savage’s jewellery choices reflect her infectious élan and purposeful life led by design.
Andrea Savage describes herself as “an interior design by training, host and television personality by experience, and a multifaceted optimist by design.” It is an apt representation of the co-CEO and creative director of A Life By Design, whose name and richly designed interiors reflect Andrea’s life motto of passion and purpose.
Before setting up her firm in December 2022, Andrea, who is of Indian-Portugese and English heritage, ran Design Intervention alongside fellow interior designer Nikki Hunt for 12 years. Their work has been featured in many leading publications as well as mentioned in the Andrew Martin Interior Design Review: A Definitive Guide to the World’s Top 100 Designers – “akin to the ‘Oscars’ in the world of interior design,” Andrea shares. Her professional past includes being a judge and host on popular TV shows as Asian Design, Come On In, The Apartment and Celebrity Homes.
Andrea’s design firm has since completed various projects including residential works, 27 short-term apartments in Western Australia, a slew of private homes and a 7,100-square-foot competition dance studio in Singapore that Andrea describes as “edgy and rock-and-roll, mixed with a ballerina vibe”.
FLAIR FOR DESIGN
Born in Nairobi in Kenya, Africa, Andrea was educated in Western Australia where her family migrated to in the early ‘1980s. In 2019 after returning from a gap year, she was having coffee with her father at a bar counter in David Jones when two ladies passed her their namecard. “They asked me to model. I thought it was a joke. One week later, I was reading the Sunday paper and there was an article about them with their photo and newly formed agency,” recalls Andrea.
She embarked on a modelling career that took her to Singapore in 2000 for the first time to work on fashion shows. One week here became 24 years when Andrea signed on to Diva Models and continued making Singapore her home even after she moved from a successful modelling career, strutting the catwalk for brands like Emanuel Ungaro, to pursuing her interest for interior design.
In 2010, after having taken on some design work, Andrea decided she needed to “sharpen my sword” and trained at London’s KLC School of Design in 2010. “I love design,” she enthuses. “I live and breathe it not just because I am a designer but because of how it makes me feel. I have also had the privilege of witnessing how it has the power to change people’s lives and set moods, to take one on a transformative journey, to evoke emotions and to communicate across borders; it’s a universal language.”
Today, Andrea loves being in Singapore, “It’s the most amazing place to live, grow, learn and work. The most amazing place to live, grow, learn and work. I’m very grateful for my life here,” she says.
LOVE FOR COLOUR AND PATTERN
With A Life by Design, Andrea aims to “initiate change instead for settling for status quo.” She wholeheartedly believes that design has a crucial role in shaping an individual’s interaction with the world. Andrea’s own home is a prime example, embodying her enthusiasm for life.
The ‘maximalist’ penthouse where she lives with her husband Cameron Richards (the founder of CPR Vision Management and now the co-CEO of A Life by Design alongside Andrea) and two children (Julian is nine and Allegra is six), celebrates bold prints such as zebra stripes and Egyptian motifs – perhaps a result of Andrea’s family’s long past in Africa, and inkling for tales and narratives that give meaning to human existence.
Not surprisingly, this interior design direction extends to her fashion and jewellery style. “It can be understated or dramatic but importantly, it’s about the art of the detail,” Andrea says. “I see everything from a design lens, so I fall in love with a piece because of its weight, details, proportions and of course, the way it makes me feel when I wear it or even see it.”
She gravitates towards brands like Cartier, drawn to “the contrast of emeralds and black stones, and the chunkiness of their designs.” Other favourites are Freywille – “I have some lovely pieces in enamel, with colourful motifs” – and Fope for the Venetian brand’s embrace of technology, legacy and detail. Vintage Chanel jewellery is also her weakness.
TRINKETS WITH TALES
The polished and well-put together Andrea does not believe in just wearing pieces to show them off, as “they’re an expression of who I am,” she comments. “There is a particular affection for family heirlooms. “The most classic is my Patek Philippe watch, given to my grandmother by my grandfather. It is divine, with white gold and a full diamond bezel. A ring is just a ring, same for a pair of earrings. But when given with love and sentiment, it is invaluable.”
Andrea’s Indian grandmother has also bequeathed her many sentimental pieces, including earrings with coloured uncut stones, 22-carat gold chains and bangles with filigree details. “The bangles are traditionally worn as a set. You are not supposed to buy them; you have to be gifted them. They are about luck and prosperity. I wear those with pride and love for my heritage, and the meaning behind those pieces that link us as a family. I have kept those for my daughter Allegra and my son Julian when he falls in love or has his own children.”
Andrea loves the tradition behind these pieces, especially the gold Indian bangles. There are also childhood memories associated with them, such as “finding my mother in a supermarket or library when I was a kid by hearing the jingle of her gold bangles,” says the designer, who likes to stack them with a watch for a more contemporary look.
Friends, who almost count as family, have contributed to her jewellery collection. One such person is David Tan, a professor and former vice-dean (Academic Affairs) at the Faculty of Law in the National University of Singapore, whose sartorial pieces has been discussed in several fashion publications. “A dear friend, he have gifted me so many wonderful and amazing pieces – the most recent, a Lanvin vintage piece by the late-fashion designer Alber Elbaz,” Andrea shares.
EYE ON THE FUTURE
When asked if she has ever regretted buying or wearing a piece, Andrea laughs, replying, “Never! I love every single one of them, so no buyers’ remorse.” Perhaps age has to do with her sparkling self-assurance, she reflects. “What I love about being in my 40s is that confidence you find, and not feeling shy about embracing that inner goddess that we all have inside of us, showing it through my jewellery and what I feel like wearing on any given day.”
On future additions to her collection, Andrea points out several pieces from Cartier’s Panthère collection. “I love the brand’s statement pieces and legacy,” she remarks. Eye-catching watches are always welcomed. “You cannot have too many of those but they have to be acquired with thought and meaning, and to honour an occasion or moment,” she says, listing a current watch collection that include pieces from Valentino, Chanel, Tag Heuer and Cartier.
Andrea also intends to head to her jeweller in Sydney, King Street Design, to have some new pieces made that are “Art Deco-inspired, with enamel and diamond inlay”. Savage’s engagement ring was made by the family-run business.
“When I was a model, I was booked for a Bvlgari show and they asked us to take our own jewellery off. I kept my engagement ring and other pieces on their velvet trays while parading the catwalk and when I came back, the sales lady asked where I had my jewellery made because she had not seen workmanship like that in such a long time,” she shares on why she loves to customise pieces with them.
INSPIRATION AND HOPE
For now, she is kept busy with her work, as well as her contributions as part of the committee of the Interior Design Confederation Singapore. Andrea is also a member of global leadership community YPO (Young Presidents Organisation, Singapore Lion City).“We openly share our resources and experiences, drawing on high-level resources from each other and from a wider field, sharing this to enrich and inspire as well as the foster growth of better leaders,” she elaborates on the importance of the organisation.
A recent attendance at the YPO Global Leadership Conference in Istanbul provided a resonant take home: “The future is uncertain; we don’t like that as humans but our environment is changing and we need to be open to changing with it.” Andrea’s life by design is certainly heading her in that direction.
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Text LUO JINGMEI
art direction LEYNA POH
hair and make up SHA SHAMSI
photography ZULFADLI BIN RAHMAN, ASSISTED BY TRACEY NGUYEN
OUTFITS COURTESY OF COBALT ROOM
