Arabella Pollen (born 22 June 1961) is an English fashion designer and, as Bella Pollen, journalist and author of five novels published between 1997 and 2011.

Early life

Arabella Rosalind Hungerford Pollen, known as Bella Pollen, is the daughter of Peregrine Michael Hungerford Pollen, a former chairman of

Sotheby Parke-Bernet Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and maintain ...

auction house, and Patricia Helen Barry. Born in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, she was raised in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Fashion career

In 1981, Pollen founded the eponymous design company Arabella Pollen, described by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' as: "designer of crisp, colourful clothes for the young social set". Among her private clients were

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

Margaux Hemingway Margaux Louise Hemingway (born Margot Louise Hemingway; February 16, 1954 – July 1, 1996) was an American fashion model and actress. The granddaughter of writer Ernest Hemingway, she gained independent fame as a supermodel in the 1970s, appear ...

and

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (29 December 1946 – 30 January 2025) was an English singer and actress who achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her UK top 10 single " As Tears Go By". She became one of the leading female art ...

. Between 1981 and 1994, the company was nominated for eleven major fashion awards. In 1984, Arabella Pollen won the contract to design staff uniforms for the newly launched Virgin Atlantic Airways and created suits in the 'Virgin Red' that is still the airline's signature colour. In 1990,

Courtaulds Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals. It was established in 1794 and became the world's leading man-made fibre production company before being broken up in 1990 into Courtauld ...

acquired a minority share in the company, later increasing this to a majority stake. Arabella Pollen closed in 1994, following Courtaulds' withdrawal. Pollen continued to advise the textile giant as a design consultant.

Writing career

In 1995, Pollen became a writer, working as Bella Pollen. Her third book, ''Hunting Unicorns'', became a best seller in 2004. ''Midnight Cactus'' (2007) was sold to

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. ''Summer of the Bear'' (2011) was an Oprah summer pick and a Richard and Judy best summer read. Pollen has contributed to numerous magazines and newspapers including ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'',

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

, ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' and ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

''.

Personal life

Pollen's first marriage was to art dealer Giacomo Dante Algranti in 1985, with whom she had two children, Jesse and Samuel. In 1995, she married David Macmillan, the grandson of former Prime Minister

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nickn ...

, and director of the book publisher,

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd in the United Kingdom and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC in the United States) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be on ...

. The couple have two children, Finn and Mabel.

Bibliography

* ''Meet Me in the In-Between'' (2018) * ''The Summer of the Bear'' (2011) * ''Midnight Cactus'' (2007) * ''Hunting Unicorns'' (2004) * ''B Movies, Blue Love'' (1999) * ''All about Men'' (1997)

References

External sources

Short profile

Author website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollen, Arabella 1961 births 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English writers 21st-century English women writers English fashion designers English women journalists English women novelists Living people English women non-fiction writers English women fashion designers

Arabella ''Arabella'', Op. 79, is a lyric comedy, or opera, in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration. Performance history It was first performed on 1 July 1933 at the D ...

Writers from Oxford