Alexandra Tolstoy is a British equestrian adventurer, presenter, and entrepreneur; after studying Russian and starting her career in banking, she gained recognition for documentaries such as *Horse People with Alexandra Tolstoy* for the BBC. Today, she runs The Tolstoy Edit, where she combines her travel experience with design and the equestrian lifestyle.
You’ve lived in different countries and travelled all over the world.
What have you learned from all of that?
“How important the simple things in life are – I have travelled mostly in Kyrgzystan over the last decade, running my business, and have learned so much from the shepherds we work with. Happiness comes from connection to nature, family and friends and living for the day.”
How do those experiences influence your personal aesthetic and interior design?
“Riding through Siberia, I fell in love with the folk aesthetics of the wooden villages – craftsmanship that has been handed down for generations and is deeply entwined with nature. I think interiors and aesthetics should be individual, handmade and natural – they make us feel more grounded and a connection with our past. An earthy colour palette connects us with our surroundings – something that is so important in today’s world that has often become horribly disconnected from nature.”
What is it that propelled you toward adventure and writing?
"I think a love of reading – I spent all my teens reading the classics and they fired a love of adventure and romance. And then six months spent living in Moscow when I was 18 – it was such a radical change from my very English childhood spent in the countryside and showed me how big and exciting the world is.
On your journey along the Silk Road travelling by horse and camel:
What was the biggest challenge you faced and what did it reveal about yourself?
“Probably not the physical side – I love camping and riding – but it wasn’t always easy to live intensely on top of each other as four girls! It taught me a lot and I still think back to what I learned about relationships from that experience.”
What values do you believe the new generations should cultivate?
“A love of nature – I feel frightened by the building and destruction that is happening in today’s world – and a love of reading, in particular classic European literature. Reading is the best tool for resilience and imagination.”
Your favourite hotel and your favourite book?
“I don’t really love hotels – I prefer to rent a house and it has to be a simple house we rent on Corfu each summer. It feels like the Durrells’ house and takes us back to simpler times. My favourite book – impossible to say as so many but I can re-read Jane Austen infinitely for her perfect prose, wit and insight into psychology.”
What place in the world would you like to explore wearing your friulane?
“I travel so much to Kyrgyzstan for work (where I often wear my velvet slippers – they’re so easy to pack!) that I’m excited to take my children to Paris this autumn and will be wearing them for a cosy bistro dinner.”
