Words Billie Brand
Photography Kane Hulse

“For me, the idea of not being busy is terrifying. I love having a thousand things going on at once.” In a rare moment of calm, Isabella Burley is sitting at her dining table in the living room of her home – which is new to the market – in Whitechapel, east London, sipping on a matcha tea. The chief marketing officer of the Swedish fashion brand Acne Studios has been particularly hard to pin down. Although she arrived home from the label’s autumn/winter 2023 show in Paris yesterday, Isabella is packing to leave for New York tonight. “Because I’m barely here, just being in the flat is really special,” she says. It’s from here that she also runs Climax, her self-started business that sees her source and sell “specialist materials” dedicated to subversive countercultural moments, such as books and ephemera. “It’s the most fun project to work on,” she smiles.

A born and bred Londoner, Isabella spent many of her teenage years venturing from her home in Forest Hill to her now-neighbouring areas of Brick Lane and Shoreditch. “I have such a soft spot for them. A big part of being 16 for me was going to places like Boombox,” she says, referencing the 2000s east London club night. “The city is where I figured out who I am.” By 17, Isabella was working on the shop floor of Dover Street Market – a job she dubs her “fashion education” – and interning and writing for platforms including Dazed. The British style and culture title later hired her as fashion features editor in 2013 – and two years later, at the age of 24, she was made editor in chief. While commissioning photographers such as Harley Weir to shoot the likes of Rihanna and Chloë Sevigny for the cover, Isabella also became editor in residence for the New York-based label Helmut Lang. No wonder she finds it hard to sit still.

But what about when Isabella does have a day to herself? Climax, being her baby of sorts, naturally takes up much of her spare time – not that she’d have it any other way. She spends hours in the second smaller bedroom of her flat, which she’s converted into the Climax headquarters and is stacked high with her pink-tinted stock (she swears the colour scheme is accidental). But touching down in the city she’s always called home also provides Isabella with time to catch up with friends and visit her favourite institutions. “London is so culturally special,” she says. “For me, it’s important to really interact with it, feed it and create space for new generations to come in and run with it in their own way.”

Isabella, can you tell us about your home?
I live flat in a 1920s building in Whitechapel, with parquet flooring and high ceilings. It’s interesting because it has no skirting boards and odd piping. When I had the surveyor round, he said: “There are all these hideous exposed pipes.” But I thought: “That’s what makes the place so special.” There are also a concrete patches in the bedroom and living room where the original fireplaces used to be, which I love. I’ve been here for two years and it really feels like home.

Would you describe yourself as a morning person?
I am, which is an achievement. As a teenager, I was a night owl and would work into the early hours. But now, I really enjoy getting up early. I love that moment when no one else is awake. When I’m in Stockholm or New York for work and staying in a hotel, I often get up at 6am, whereas in London, I’ll wake slightly later. Ideally, I’ll be up at 8am.

What’s your morning routine?
I always start my day with matcha and a workout of some sort. I love Pilates – it completely shifts my perspective and has a positive impact on my mental health. My work is so crazy that I need to find a way to ground myself and Pilates really sets the tone for the day. Then, during the quiet time before I start my work for Acne, I’ll check in on Climax.

What does your work for Climax involve?
In the morning, it’s important to see what orders came in overnight and who’s buying stuff. It’s also my time to do research. I might be on unusual Japanese websites, sourcing new stock. Sometimes I’ll be researching an artist for Climax, which then informs a project I’m doing at Acne. It’s all weirdly connected. But because Climax is such a personal project, it doesn’t feel like work to me and it’s a really nice way to start the day.

You officially launched Climax in September 2020. How long had you had the idea for?
Climax is something that’s been in my head for seven or eight years now. I spent a long time building up a body of books, ephemera and old VHS tapes that felt right. A lot of stuff I’d found in Tokyo or New York but when I launched Climax during the pandemic, I couldn’t travel, so I had to find new ways of sourcing – and that was online. It was a fun challenge. But now I think I’m one of the best internet researchers in the world.

What’s the most thrilling thing about running about Climax?
It’s so exciting finding a book or discovering an artist I’ve never heard of.

Is there anything you’ve found that won’t let go of?
A pink VHS tape of a Cosey Fanni Tutti performance she did in 1987. Only 160 were ever made – all produced by her using domestic VHS equipment. The idea that it exists and ended up on eBay, which is where I bought it, is crazy to me.

Where do you like to work at home?
I have my Climax room, which I really love and run appointments from now. But the light in the living room is so beautiful – sometimes I flow between the two. I love working at my flower table, which my friend Emmanuel Olunkwa designed in lockdown. He’s based in New York. It was a nightmare getting it back to London but it’s so fun and joyful to work at, so it was worth it.

What are some of your favourite ways to spend an afternoon in London?
On the weekends, I like to pick up fresh flowers from my friend Lily Evangeline, who runs Lys Flowers. She has the best taste. My apartment feels empty without her flowers. I love going to galleries too. Carlos/Ishikawa is a 30-second walk away and one of my favourites in London. It represents a friend of mine, Rose Salane, who is based in New York. I have one of her sculptures – a pink deflated balloon-like piece made of concrete – in my bedroom that I saw at a Carlos/Ishikawa show six years ago. I need to build a little plinth for it because people are always stepping on it.

Do you miss London when you’re not here?
I really do. In London, there’s an acceptance of creativity that’s so wildly unique. And I love being able to support my friends who are doing incredible things here. I think what Ronan Mckenzie’s done with her gallery, Home, is exceptional. She gives so much and the people she works with are always so interesting. She’s become a good friend over the last year. And I’m in awe of my friend Max Rocha, who runs Café Cecilia. I love to pop in there for a fizzy water and say “hi” when I can. It’s such a beautiful space.

What do you love most about living in Whitechapel?
The energy. I love how, if I leave my flat at 6am, I can see the market stalls going up. For me, the strong sense of community, which is cultivated at the market, is what London has always been about. There are so many galleries nearby too, such as Soft Opening and Maureen Paley, which are both down the road in Bethnal Green. And I have the Genesis cinema right here. From Monday to Thursday all tickets are £6. I love going to watch movies at the cinema.

What’s your go-to film genre?
I like all the tacky shit. It feels like you have a licence to watch cheesy films at the cinema, so it’s fun to go and see what the new releases are. But I’m into a real mix of stuff. Heaven, a brand I work with, recently collaborated with the director Wong Kar-wai, so I’ve been going down a Wong Kar-wai rabbit hole recently.

What does a good night look like to you?
I’m normally on my laptop researching until I go to bed, though sometimes I’ll have a bath, which I love. Every time I visit Japan, I come back with hinoki-wood bath salts, which smell so good. I like lighting candles too. I don’t wear a fragrance myself, but I find smell so powerful. I like musky, masculine fragrances.

How do you prepare for the day ahead?
Every day is so wildly different, so getting good rest is important. I stopped drinking coffee and alcohol a few years ago and it’s been a game changer. I feel like I have energy all the time. I now have so much more to give projects and people that I work with.

Is there a home for sale on The Modern House that’s caught your eye recently?
I like this loft a lot – it has big windows, an open-plan layout and it’s bright. Light is the most important thing for me in a home and this has it in abundance.