Finstock-based Chloe, the eldest of the Delevingne clan, talks about the prosecco she’s released with the help of her two sisters, and why women shouldn’t be embarrassed to talk about their lady garden
It’s been nine years since Chloe Delevingne moved from London to the Cotswolds but that time, she tells me, has gone by in a flash.
‘I’d always lived in London, and I’d always desperately wanted to not live in London – I even went to university in London, so just wanted to get out and move to the countryside,’ the 39-year-old mother-of-two says. ‘One of our best friends, the amazing florist Willow Crossley, lives out here so we’d visit a lot and decided this area made sense and I adore living here, although it certainly doesn’t feel like we’ve been here almost a decade.’
Chloe, the eldest of the well-known Delevingne sisters, chose to settle in Finstock, where she and her husband, property developer Ed Grant, bought a former pub and village shop, which they have renovated into a five-bedroom family home.
‘I’ve never been one with an eye for interior design, so we’ve just gone for what we like the look of; it’s a bit of a mish mash, but I love it,’ says Chloe of the rural retreat, which she and Ed have put their touch on, with contemporary features, including a bright blue and neon yellow staircase. ‘I love the staircase, but when we moved in here I was very heavily pregnant with my second child and I find hormones can do something to your taste... there were some other questionable, rash wall colour decisions that we’ve had to re-do because they just weren’t quite right. We still haven’t really finished decorating, but that’s probably a good thing because the house is now well and truly lived in, so when we do change things, it will be a well-thought-out decision.’
The house, which still features a host of the pub’s original features, including beams, inglenook fireplaces dating back to the 15th century, and a beer drop (trapdoor to the cellar), has been the perfect place for Chloe and Ed to bring up their two children, Atticus, nine, and Juno, seven.
‘We also love going to Combe, which is near my children’s school and is a joy on a summer’s evening as you can go down and catch crayfish and jump in the water – life experiences like that you just don’t get living in London.’
Indeed, it’s a life that seems quite removed from that of her sisters, model, Poppy, and actress, Cara, who are regularly photographed out and about enjoying London’s social scene. But while Chloe may not be one to seek attention from the paparazzi, she and her sisters have always been quite competitive.
‘We’re much closer now than we were growing up, there was always a bit of competition back then – who was going to wear what outfit and who might be which Spice Girl when playing out their songs,’ she laughs.
There are just two years between Chloe and Poppy but eight between her and Cara, however Chloe says that didn’t necessarily mean Cara needed too much looking after. ‘We used to call her ‘Mini Yoda’ because she always knew exactly what she was doing,’ she adds.
A couple of years ago the trio decided to join forces on their first professional project together – creating a Valdobbiadene Prosecco called Della Vite (meaning ‘from the vine’ in Italian).
‘As sisters, we always wanted to work on something together but struggled for a while to work out what that might be. We all love each other dearly but we’re very individual – we have a different sense of style and likes and dislikes,’ Chloe explains. ‘But the one thing we landed on that we could universally enjoy was prosecco because we’ve always enjoyed drinking it as a family, and the winery we’ve partnered with has the same values as us – the prosecco is vegan and sustainable – so it’s something we all genuinely believe in.’
While Chloe might generally shun the limelight, she is prepared to put herself out there if it’s for something she is truly passionate about, whether that’s prosecco or something more serious like cervical cancer.
In 2019, Chloe had a smear test live on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme as part of her work for the Lady Garden Foundation, a charity she founded in 2014 along with seven other women, including socialite and TV personality, Tamara Beckworth-Veroni; Halpern PR founder and CEO, Jenny Halpern-Prince; and actress and host of The Happy Vagina podcast, Mika Simmons, to raise awareness of the five gynaecological cancers – ovarian, cervical, uterine, vulval and vaginal.
Chloe first became involved in research into the gynaecological cancers, which are regularly referred to as ‘silent killers’ because of their complicated symptoms that are often missed by healthcare professionals, after she discovered she had pre-cancerous cells while studying for her biomedical science and human biology degree at University College London.
‘I did my dissertation on cervical cancer and noticed I was suffering with some of the symptoms,’ she explains. ‘I was diagnosed with pre-cancerous cells in my cervix, which I had to have removed. I was only 21 at the time. It led me to talk to various groups of girlfriends and low and behold a number of them had lost mothers, or aunts or sisters or had had a similar experience to me and so we co-founded The Lady Garden Foundation together.”
The charity also works to combat the stigma around gynaecological healthcare so more women feel comfortable talking about it – Lady Garden’s initial research revealed 41% of women were too embarrassed to go to the doctor about a gynaecological issue, let alone talk to a friend.
‘My role with the charity is to get women – and men – to talk about their ‘lady gardens’, their vulvas, because the more we talk about it, the more symptoms will be recognised sooner,’ she says. ‘And I think things are changing. My daughter came home from school talking about that she’d learnt that boys have penises and girls have vulvas, whereas I would have never been taught that at school at seven years old so there’s certainly a generational shift happening.’
And Chloe’s work in gynaecology doesn’t end there as she’s currently training to become a midwife.
‘It’s hard but good and very rewarding. They really throw you in at the deep end pretty early on. I’ve not done a delivery yet, but have been very involved doing observations on soon-to-be mums,’ says Chloe, who gave birth to her own children at The John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and is carrying out her midwifery studies in Aylesbury. ‘It’s intense but amazing – I think if you can help any woman when she is at her most vulnerable to have the birth she wants then there’s a lot gained.’
You can find out more about The Lady Garden Foundation at ladygardenfoundation.com and where Della Vite’s pink-coloured car – Penelope – will be making its next pit stop by following @della_vite on Instagram.
