Job: Art director
Age: 29 years old
“I’ve been in Fulham for about three years. I really like the area, especially around Parsons Green. In the summer everybody spills out onto the Green with their beers and has picnics. It’s a lifestyle you can’t have in the more urban parts of London.
My favourite pub is The Crabtree on the river. I feel as though not many people have discovered it. Even though I like places like The Ship, just over Wandsworth Bridge, everyone goes there and it’s nice to go somewhere where it’s a little bit quieter and you can get a seat. When I first moved to Fulham I went to the Sloaney Pony on Parsons Green, that’s a classic, you go there and then you realise how overpriced it is!
I’ve found an amazing new organic butchers, just near Baron’s Court tube station. It does gorgeous food – if you’re feeling lazy it’s got pre-marinated chicken breasts and pork. It’s a little bit more expensive than Sainsbury’s but the quality is so much better. When I can I eat organic, I try and shop locally, but there’s a Sainsbury’s at the end of my road which is really convenient, I try not to go to it! Sometimes I go to the vegetable market on North End Road at the weekend. When it’s sunny it’s like being on the continent. There’s loads of shops where you can get really cheap clothes and jewellery.
There are some very expensive interior design shops along the New King’s Road, they’re amazing! It’s quite a challenge in Fulham to get a bargain. I don’t like the over-pricedness of things in Fulham, it’s amazing how much people will pay, but that’s London. I sometime shop at American Apparel on Carnaby Street, near where I work. They don’t use sweatshops, that persuaded me to shop there.
There is a sense of community here – it feels like people actually talk to each other. Loads of my friends have moved to the area over the past couple of years, so it doesn’t feel so anonymous. I’m a swimmer not a gymmer! I go to Fulham pools. It’s quite nice paying £3 for a swim, and I think it’s cheaper for Fulham residents, but I haven’t explored that yet.
I try to recycle but you have to go down personally to the Town Hall in work hours, which I can’t do. In Parsons Green they post the orange bags through your door. I need a day off! I always take my clothes to charity shops, there are some good ones along the Fulham Road.
I’m an art director. I think up ideas for ads. I get ideas from being really nosy and listening to conversations in cafés or on the bus. My boss came up with the original ‘You’ve been Tangoed’ ads. He gets most of his inspiration from films, whereas I get it from everyday life and experiences. I think consumers respond when you tap into a human truth, something people can relate to, not clichés. Weirdly I wanted to be in advertising when I was little! I was a real anorak, I knew what I wanted and worked for it.”
Photograph: Richard Jones
