Wendy Darling

Wendy Baker is a designer, entrepreneur and author whose books on curtains, interiors and creative living have inspired hundreds of thousands of readers worldwide.

Wendy was born rather a long time ago. She was not very clever and at school her only achievement was winning several cups for gymnastics, swimming and netball. She was also a creative artist, she shone at this subject and at the age of 13 she designed a hat collection. Something that lead her up a certain path years later. She was not very pretty and had zero confidence along with a stutter.

Nobody expected much of her, she was expected to become a Secretary, get married and have babies. That was it. Wendy’s mother believed she had a very special daughter, so she pushed her to accomplish far more. Wendy never wanted to let her down so she too pushed herself to her limits. She did, in fact, make her mother happy as she achieved far more than either of them had ever dreamt. Wendy had determination. She went to business college at 15 and loved the business world and that, later in her life, led her to open several successful companies.

At 16 she started work at UMP, a small film company. She was sacked 3 days later! A well-known news broadcaster, Frank Phillips, at the film company introduced her to Lucy Clayton, a modelling school, where she learnt to swirl around a catwalk. Within a few weeks she was discovered and her career as a mannequin took off. She travelled the world, wined and dined in Paris with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and soon became one of the most sought after mannequins in Europe. She fell in love with Rome and a Roman, but they never married. By the time she was 22 she had had enough of twirling and ‘hung up her eyelashes.’

This was the 60’s and Wendy, who had always been interested in designing clothes, opened one of the first boutiques in London. She designed collections for all the debutantes and the stars at the time, including Sandie Shaw, Julie Christie, Warren Beatty, Bianca Jagger, Edina Ronay and the great cook Fanny Craddock. She danced on the tables at the Ad Lib club with John Lennon and Vidal Sassoon. The stories from this part of her life are quite unbelievable. The boutique was called Harriet and after 2 years Wendy moved to the real ‘rag trade’, supplying Harrods, Simpsons, Harvey Nichols, Bloomingdale’s and Bonwit Teller in the USA and around the world. When Wendy was 29 she had a beautiful baby called Sarah and closed Harriet to spend more time with her daughter.

After a while, when Sarah was at nursery school, her mother took over and Wendy opened a beauty salon with her best friend Jean. Together they were often in the news. The salon was so busy that you had to book weeks in advance to get an appointment. They loved their clients, including Vera Lynn, Sylvia Syms and many more, but as the salon was called Secrets, some names remained just that.

The next adventure came when she decided to become an interior designer. Her clients were wealthy and there was always some drama in the air. Tom Cruise was one of her clients and many came from far and wide. She worked with several Sheikhs and their palaces. During this time she began sketching ideas for window treatments and, with the help of her dear friend Chrissie, produced a series of books called The Curtain Sketchbooks, a bestselling series that went on to sell over half a million copies and remains popular with designers and home enthusiasts today. No publisher believed in it as there were no words and many later regretted missing out.

At last Wendy has decided to write her memoir so you can share in her remarkable story. Today, Wendy continues to share her creativity and life experiences through her books, from practical design guides to her long-awaited memoir. Explore her books below to discover her remarkable journey and timeless ideas.