documento

‘Moving away was the best
thing I’ve done. I’d always
dreamt of living in Paris and
it’s been much more than
I could have ever imagined’
100
Boho chic could have
been invented for
photographer
Anouska and Max, a
composer and
musician. Their
elegant apartment is
in the historic Marais
district of Paris, where
she explores on foot
with Yorkshire terrier/
chihuahua cross Gigi
(above). When
Anouska and Max met
two years ago, he had
no idea that her mother
was famous. “I didn’t
have any preconceived
ideas of her,” says
Max of Tamara. “I just
saw someone who
was friendly and
welcoming.” He’s
equally at ease with
Anouska’s sister.
“He is amazing with
Vivi,” she says. “She
adores him”
COAT: RED VALENTINO. SHOES: RUSSELL & BROMLEY. TIGHTS: FALKE
(LEFT) DRESS: VINTAGE MASHA TSIGAL. GILET: ME + EM. BOOTS: BIONDA CASTANA. HAT: AMERICAN APPAREL. (RIGHT) DRESS & SHOES: ELIE SAAB
and musician Maxime Sokolinski. The pair, both
effortlessly cool like a young Jane Birkin and
Serge Gainsbourg, seem totally in sync, gliding
through the Bohemian-style rooms as they
prepare for our photoshoot. The décor includes
deep sofas, shabby chic cabinets, posters and
photographs, including an “Elvis shrine” in the
bathroom, Indian wall hangings and a treasure
trove of trinkets. “I’m not a minimalist at all,” she
says. Proudly on display (and probably much to
Tamara’s horror) are photos of her mother from
the 1980s sporting bouffant hair and questionable
outfits.
Anouska jokingly apologises for Max’s
housekeeping skills, telling us she only returned
the previous day from London, where she stayed
for a month to help her mother in the lead up to
the birth. “I told her I would be there to support
her and help with Vivi,” she says. “It was just nice
to be there and be a family.”
What were her first impressions of her new
baby brother, Vero Pierfrancesco Winston
Veroni “He’s just so cute and tiny,” she smiles,
explaining that Pier is in honour of his maternal
grandfather, property magnate Peter Beckwith,
while Francesco is a nod to 42-year-old Giorgio’s
Italian father. “He’s got more of the Beckwith
side – he’s quite fair whereas Vivi was very dark.”
The new addition is the first boy in the
Beckwith family in three generations and,
unsurprisingly, Peter, 69, is “over the moon”.
“He’s thrilled he’s finally got a boy to play and go
to the football with – and hopefully he might
go to his old school, Harrow,” says Anouska.
The one sadness is that Vero will never know
his maternal grandmother Paula, who died aged
68 in December 2011 from endometrial (womb)
cancer. Anouska, who grew up with her mother
in her grandparents’ home, firmly believes he
represents “a gift from Nanny” because the baby’s
original due date was 5 November, the same
month as Paula’s birthday.
“I believe in reincarnation, I really do,” says
Anouska, who is a very spiritual person. “In Latin
America and Russia there’s this saying that when
somebody dies in a family, the next birth is a
Scorpio – and he [the baby] is a Scorpio.”
FRENCH CONNECTION
It was partly because of Paula that former model
and actress Anouska decided to change careers
and fulfil a childhood fantasy of living in Paris
after hearing her grandmother’s tales of studying
French at the Sorbonne in the ’60s. “To be
honest, moving away was the best thing I could
ever have done,” says Anouska, who set up home
across the Channel two years ago. “I’d always
dreamt of living here and the dream has been
much more than I could have ever imagined. My
grandmother taught me that you have to live in
the present and do what makes you happy. In a
way, moving here made me feel like I was
experiencing something she had already done.
“It’s not that I don’t love London; I just think
there’s a lot of pressure there to have a certain life
and, for me, Paris is more about enjoying life and
taking your time. As a creative person you are
always inspired by it and even if it’s raining, you are
just like, ‘I’m in Paris, I can’t complain too much.’”
An added bonus, of course, is Maxime – Max
for short. They met at a party and the attraction
was fairly instant.
“He was wearing this amazing turquoise
necklace and I went over to speak to him about
it,” she recalls. “We sat talking for three hours
and saw each other a week later and he pretty
much moved in two weeks after that. We just