GIRL OF THE MONTH: HENRIETTA RONSON

Valentine’s Day is coming so we’ve been thinking about different types of love. Of course, there’s the romantic love that this day is all about – but what about all the other types of love we have in our lives? If you’re lucky, you have a lot of it in your life—and if we look, we’ll usually realize that our lives are full of it. We have love for our kids, our pets, grandparents, cousins, even the barista who makes the perfect latte or the strangers in the dog park.
Then there is that best friend type of love. The one that is steady, the one that’s seen the absolute best and the absolute worst of you but loves you anyway (they have to, they’re your best friend). The one who has been with you through break-ups, teenage crushes, that person you just wish you hadn’t dated, who knows (and keeps) your deepest secrets for you and who is loyal to a T.

The one who was with you in the rough times – who has seen the failures and successes. The only one who will tell you when you have food stuck in your teeth. The one who danced on tables with you at the club and stayed out with you the latest because you were just as wild as each other.

So we thought, who better to interview for our girl of the month than Henrietta Ronson, Clara’s longtime BFF, and OG Pitusa muse. They have a 20-year friendship and are an example of what real and true sisterhood looks like–enter 25% off discount code HEN25 at checkout to celebrate them! Even though they’ve had a transatlantic friendship for the better part of 10 years – Clara here in Miami and Henrietta in London – they’re as close as ever. Henrietta works as a defense lawyer in London and moonlights as a Pitusa muse and sweets scavenger.
What do you love about Pitusa?

I love Pitusa because it is a version of Clara’s wild and unique dress sense that is easy to incorporate into my own more conventional style.

What’s your favorite Pitusa piece to wear?

This is an impossible question. I have too many favorites.  If we narrow it down to the newest Pitusa collection, my absolute favorite is Cheetah Jumpsuit.

How did you and Clara (our founder and CEO) become friends?

Clara and I have been friends for over 20 years. I saw her across the classroom on my first day at school and concluded there and then that she was going to be my best friend. Either she too decided the same thing about me or I was one persistent 10-year-old.

You’ve been with Clara since the start: what has it been like to watch Pitusa grow to what it is now?

Clara is a true example of hard work and dogged determination. Clara continues to dominate the market, year by year, but I still feel immense pride when I catch someone in a Pitusa on the beach, on the street, in a magazine!

What’s your favorite place to go on holiday?

Miami – for me the city holds my most wonderful and nostalgic memories.

3 must-haves for a holiday with your bestie?

An Abaya, of course, a good book to read whilst we suntan and a list of the best restaurants – I’m a big foodie.

Perfect plan with your best friend for Valentine’s Day?

“50 Shades Freed” at the cinema.

Any plans with your husband for Valentine’s Day?
No, my husband likes to describe himself as a non-conformist. He will be spending Valentine’s Day alone.
Flowers or chocolate or Pitusa?
Chocolate whilst wearing Pitusa. [ed. note: inspired answer!]
What’s one thing you wish you could tell your 16-year-old self?
Read everything you can because books contain most of, if not all, the knowledge in the world
What do you do in London?
I am a criminal defense solicitor in a central London law firm.
What’s the most satisfying part of your work?
I enjoy advising people who find themselves in challenging situations because of a moment of weakness or poor judgment or just through being in the wrong place at the wrong time, trying to rescue them and manage the crisis they find themselves in.
We know you’re a big reader (and married to a culture vulture). What’s the last book you read and can you recommend it to our Pitusa fam?
The last book I read is called When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalinithi – a devastatingly beautiful memoir of a man about to die. He does not dwell in self-pity but instead, with candor, offers the reader incisive observations on life and priorities. His prose is poetry. Read it Pitusa fam!
You’re always watching the best shows – can you give us some inspo for the long (and boring) winter nights? What’s the last film you saw? And TV show?
I highly recommend Call Me By Your Name – a coming of age love story that left me overwhelmed. A film so deserving of its Oscar nomination. David Attenborough’s TV series Planet Earth had me spellbound from the second I set my eyes on the screen! The iguana vs. snake battle is brilliant.

When you were 10 years old, what did you and Clara think you wanted to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a Spice Girl and join their Spice World tour. Clara loved acting – being the most magnetic girl in our year, she always won the best roles in our school plays.

What’s one thing you would say people HAVE to do when they visit London?

The Tower of London to marvel at the Crown Jewels.

You and Clara BOTH got married last year – within months of each other! Do you have a favorite memory of her wedding?

My absolute favorite moment was watching Clara marry the man she has loved and who has loved her for so many years.

Valentine’s Day is pretty polarizing – kind of like Marmite, people hate it or love it. Where do you land? 

I love the romance! There’s something so lovely about seeing people do nice things and that I find is most noticeable on Valentine’s Day.

What’s your guilty pleasure?

Eating the sweets my husband saves especially for his Sunday cheat day.

Fave food?
Sweets, crisps, and chocolate.