My personal style signifier My uniform is as follows: I have one outfit for cold weather and one for hot weather. When it’s hot, I wear beige cotton trousers and a blue cotton jacket; when it’s cold, I wear a brown corduroy suit. That’s it. I have many jackets and trousers, but I always dress the same. I’m lucky because I’ve been living with fashion designer Stephan Janson for 42 years and he designs my outfits for me.
The last thing I bought and I loved it. It was a 15th-century wooden frieze that belonged to an antique dealer in Tangier. It is about 20 cm high and 3 m long and really dances. A frieze is the connection between the wall and the ceiling; you see it in mosques and religious buildings. I have mine in my living room.
The place that means a lot to me. This is Rohuna, my country house, which overlooks a wonderful valley in the north of Morocco. I started building this huge garden and this little house 25 years ago and since then I have planted more than 1,500 trees: oaks, strawberry trees, palm trees and plane trees. Now we receive many visitors, so we can help our neighbours in the village. It is a very beautiful place; I spend more than six months of the year there.
And the best memories I have brought home. These are the things I find when I walk. Every day when I am in Rohuna, I bring back a nest, a bone, a pretty root, a dead butterfly or a twig. I love the shapes and textures. I couldn’t say I have a favorite because I have tens of thousands of these things. My pockets are always full. I keep them in my houses in tangier and Rohuna, where they are everywhere. It’s crazy.
I’ve been rewatching it David Attenborough’s documentaries, in particular The episode about the birds of paradiseThe seduction scene is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen: to seduce a girl, a boy transforms into a dancer, he could be Nijinsky! It’s amazing what nature can do.
In my fridge you will always find Salad, tomatoes, grated carrot and little else. I love grated carrots, which I buy from the vegetable vendors below my house. I like them with oil and vinegar or with lemon, or with orange and mint, like the Moroccan salad.
I have recently rediscovered Marcel Proust, who was an obsession for me when I was younger. I’m rereading In Search of Lost Time for the third time. It’s not the only book I’m reading, but it keeps me company on the table next to my bed. One of the things I like is how different your understanding of the book is depending on your age and what’s happened in your life: when I was young, I loved all the love and jealousy. Now I’m completely fascinated by social relationships. It’s so complex.
My style icon is the late Christopher Gibbs, an old friend and antique dealer. Also Martina Mondadorifounder of Cabin magazinewhich is full of interest. More than style icons, they are two people I admire. Both moved or move in their own time: Christopher in the 70s and 80s, and Martina now.
The best way to spend 20€ is to go to a bookstore in Milan, where I spend four months of the year, and buy a good bookUnfortunately, all the small bookshops are closed, but even if it’s a big chain bookshop, I visit them three times a week. As a writer, I’m always interested in seeing what’s being published.
I laugh a lotAnd, happily, very stupid jokes. And while I read novels, mostly classic 20th-century British novels: Angus Wilson, Ivy Compton-Burnett, Ronald Firbank, that sort of thing. Then there’s bitter laughter, which is when you laugh at the pretentiousness of people, mostly wealthy people, and how they take themselves seriously. But age makes you more tolerant… or more indifferent.
I do not believe in Life after death, but I hope there is happiness after death. I have always been an optimist.
The best gift I’ve given lately It’s a small collection of begonias for my Moroccan assistant, Mohamed. He is becoming more and more interested in plants and loves begonias in particular. The collection started with 12 or 13 species, but now I’m excited because he called me to tell me that he’s getting more. There are hundreds of species of begonias. The most amazing thing about them, more than their flowers, is their foliage: the leaves have incredible shapes and can be pale green, yellowish or dark green with white dots. The world of begonias is very big.
And the best gift I have ever received It’s a huge whale skull that a friend found on the beach overlooking Rohuna. When I say huge, it must be 4-5 metres long. I hung it at home in Tangier, which was very complicated because we had to find a big chain.
I have collections of There are many things: Islamic tiles, old toys, fragments of carpets, old fabrics… Do you want me to go on? I also have collections of ferns, begonias, lilies and daffodils. At the moment I am more involved in my collection of Moroccan wild flowers, which may be the most important collection of its kind in the world.
The latest items I added to my wardrobe There were 12 shirts made by Stephan. I don’t buy them often, but Stephan knows what kind of fabrics I like. I prefer to have 12 made at a time because they will last me for years.
An object I would never part with It’s something I’ve been building for over 10 years: a tower made from ancient capitals. [the top sections of columns] I have one in my living room. There are currently nine stacked on top of each other, including Roman, Byzantine and Merinid, an Islamic dynasty that ruled Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century. It is over 4m high and I would love for it to reach the ceiling. It looks like a Piranesi fantasy.
A whim I would never give up It’s a red wine that I drink when it gets dark. I love Italian wines. I’m not a big fan of Chianti, but I like a lot of wines from northern Italy: Barolo or something from Piedmont.
If I could, I would collect it. Oceanic art drives me crazy. It’s so beautiful, crazy and free. These huge, impressive pieces are made from nothing and have a strong religious feeling. I have some pieces from Papua New Guinea, but they cost too much to have more.
The personal care staple I never forget It is sunblockMy doctor tells me that I should always carry a tube in my pocket. I don’t have a favorite one: I just go to the pharmacy and buy one with a strong filter.
My favorite room in my house. This is my big living room in Tangier, where I keep my column of capitals and my whale skull, and where I like to read, chat with friends… and sleep. I usually take a very pleasant nap on the sofa after eating.
My favorite building There is a very moving mosque in Cairo called Ibn Tulun. I have been there many, many times. The tower is elliptical in shape; seeing other cities from there is something extraordinary.
My favorite app is Wind FinderI use it for gardening. In Morocco, the wind is very important, not only because of the rain, but also because if there is a dry wind, it is impossible to plant and you need a lot of water. The best time to plant here is earlier than it used to be: in the past you could plant in February and March; now I wouldn’t plant anything after the beginning of January.
The piece of art that changed everything for me It was Botticelli’s Springthat my mother took me to see in the Uffizi Gallery In Florence when I was a child. It’s a garden full of beautiful creatures and jewel-like flowers. I wanted to see the world that way.
When I need to feel inspiredI take a long walk in the forest near Rohuna. The wonderful thing is that I can see the sea below, but I walk in the shade of the trees. I look at the myrtles, the strawberry trees, the cork oaks, the insects, the birds and their nests… and then I think. But it is thinking without thinking: when you lose yourself in nature, a good idea can emerge.
The best advice I have ever received It’s an Italian saying. When I complained that things were difficult, my mother would tell me: “You wanted the bike, now pedal!” Be careful when you want too much.
The house of a lifetime: a collector’s journey through Tangier by Umberto Pasti and Ngoc Minh Ngo is published by Rizzoli for $65