Interiors: Cover up with Caprice
Caprice Bourret is a lot like her house. Sleek, glamorous and perfectly presented
Alex Galbinski is a Jewish News journalist
The model and businesswoman, who has graced the covers of more than 300 magazines, has considered literally everything to make sure that the four-storey Notting Hill home she shares with her financier partner, Ty Comfort, and their four-year-old boys, Jett and Jax, is welcoming yet also practical.
So while there is beautiful grey/black/white and blue striped carpet on the floor, it is actually made up of single removable tiles should her 13-year-old Chihuahua, Stinker, make, well, yes, a stinky mess.
The huge pale grey sofas in the spacious living room of the Grade II listed Victorian house are custom-made by designer George & Son in fabric that is hotel grade, so any spillages can, she says happily, be quickly mopped up. Glamour meets functionality.
When I visit, Caprice is enjoying being at home. At the end of February, she pulled out of the Channel 4 reality show The Jump, citing an “illness”. It was actually a tumour – thankfully benign – that doctors removed.
“You want to see my war wound?” she asks. “They shaved about 8mm from ear to ear and then of course my skull came off, so they reconstructed it,” she laughs. “But they took it all out, it’s gone forever. And now I’m fully recovered.”
Caprice, now 45, came to the UK aged 23 and started working as a model before turning her hand to acting, starring in dozens of films and TV shows, including our very own Hollyoaks.
But, in her 30s, she decided she needed a plan B, and set up By Caprice Lingerie, seeing success with a range she licenced in her name for Debenhams. She has since added swimwear, sleepwear, occasion wear, casualwear and bedding to her stable, forming By Caprice Home.
“When I started, I decided I was not going to compete against everyone. With the underwear it’s a tough, tough market out there,” she admits. “But for bedding, there was a niche. And there’s a demand for it.”
She describes the collection, which changes every season, as “glamorous”. And her target customer? Well, she’s about 18 to 35, a fashionista and loves her brands. She wants something elegant for her house.
“What’s interesting about my bedding is you could have plain white walls and just grey carpeting and put By Caprice bedding in your bedroom, and wow! It is a massive statement and that’s what I wanted. I think what people also like is that you can buy bedding in different seasons and all the accessories will match. It’s really versatile.”
The range features diamantés, sequins, organza, ruffles, and other embellishments. Her favourite design is the Valeria, named after her mother, Valerie, who runs an interior design business and brought her up single-handedly in California, after splitting up with Caprice’s Canadian-French father.
“The Valeria – along with Sensi – is probably one of the top two bestsellers, and has an old-school Hollywood vibe. Of the newer range, I love Serenity – it’s classic and timeless.”
Caprice also describes her own style as “classic and glamorous”. “I can do fun and functionality, especially now I’m a mom,” she says. The couple, who also own two homes in Ibiza, moved into their London house four years ago. They are hands-on and, having bought it as a wreck – “it was a proper building site” – spent a year doing it up without interior designers.
“We wanted it to be minimalistic and timeless. And so we went with the grey, the black and the white,” she explains.
“Of course, with the children, everything is based around durability and not being precious because, you know, Stinker has a problem with her bladder and having two boys running around like mad… Everything is incredibly durable, but it shows well.”
There are mezuzot in each room, and when I ask Caprice, who is a member of the Village Shul in Hampstead, what Judaism means to her, she replies: “It always means something, but when you have kids, it becomes more important.”
She is extremely grateful to Rabbi Yisroel Weisz for his support during her tumour. “He had 4,000 and something rabbis across the world davening for me to get me through my surgery. I told him, ‘Rabbi Yisroel, my recovery took only a week and I was back working again – you davened too much, you guys are too powerful!’” she laughs.
While she didn’t have a religious home growing up, Caprice became shomer Shabbat as a teen in California. Why? “I don’t know,” she admits. “It just became important to me. And that’s when mum koshered the kitchen. I’d take shiurs.”
She keeps kosher – “I’ll never mix fleishig and milchig, or eat shellfish. I don’t even know what it tastes like – and is adamant her boys will have an Orthodox Jewish education. “I’ll start with Sunday classes, probably in Belgravia because the Chabad programmes are amazing.”
She admits to being a Jewish mother – “I’m stereotypical, not just with my kids, but with my girls [her staff]. It’s a little bit much, but it’s in you. I worry for everyone – I’m plutzing 24/7,” she laughs . “My mom, who is my best friend, was the same. When she came home from a stressful day at work, she left work problems at work. It was always family, family, family.” And should anyone need a lie down – it’s on By Caprice bedding.
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