Trickett's eclectic mix and match

"You can never be overdressed or overeducated," Neville Trickett announces, quoting Oscar Wilde's famous maxim while sitting on a gold-fabric quilted chair in a tailored suit, red tie and black multi-textured Church lace-ups.

Speaking of Wilde's originality, the dexterity of his wit and cynicism, the famous quote, perhaps unwittingly, perfectly personifies Trickett and his home.

His sharp mind, interest in fashion and dressing seamlessly extend into his home, without being showy.

Trickett's love of fashion began at a very young age as his mother was a clothing buyer for an outfitter shop, so he quickly developed an interest in and understanding of the manufacturing process. Attending art school cemented this passion and ultimately set him up for a career that perfectly combined fashion, trends, art and ideas.

What started out as labelling and design concepts for some of the biggest retailers in South Africa eventually led to controlling and developing the advertising and brand custodianship for Mr Price through his own agency, and, later, a collaborative menswear collection with the retailer called Mister Trickett.

Trickett is interested in the classic architecture of clothing, from the sensitivity and thinking of Japanese casualwear to the precision of Saville Row suits and Nigel Cabourn workwear. He describes his look as "classically sloppy". He comfortably combines an expensive pair of dinner shoes with a R29 T-shirt, and is constantly drawn to the classic, dressy menswear of the 1940s - the cuts and silhouettes - and celebrates Chanel's mastery of masculine shapes.

These influences and ideas are apparent in Neville and Sharon Trickett's Durban home, which is a masterclass in originality and refined taste: Chateau Marmont-Hollywood-style glamour is combined with a reinterpreted "kitsch-free" Moroccan theme layered with Japanese influences and 1940s French drama. "I would describe the house as the journey, perhaps by boat, of a North African explorer and collector who sets sail and ends up in Japan," Trickett says.

With a love of Mattia Bonetti, diamond and diagonal shapes, velvet and glass, the thinking was to create an interior that looked like a beautiful hotel, which was easy and comfortable to live in, where "the TV works, the lights work, the aircon works". This mash-up of styles, the cerebral approach to their home's interior, matches the owners.

While it may not represent universal taste, the space is testament to the joys of individual, personal choices as Trickett concludes, "taste is what tastes good to you". - Elle Decoration

This article first appeared in the August/September issue of Elle Decoration, on sale now