Индия Хикс: Дизайнер, модель и филантроп из британской аристократии.

British designer, writer and businesswoman

India Amanda Caroline Hicks (born 5 September 1967) is a British designer, writer, businesswoman and former fashion model. After graduating from the New England School of Photography, Hicks became an interior designer and a model for Ralph Lauren, among others. She moved to the Bahamas in 1996, where she published books, promoted home and beauty products, and introduced a line of jewellery. Hicks travels frequently to disaster sites in her role with the non profit organisation Global Empowerment Mission. A daughter of Lady Pamela Hicks, she is a descendant of the Mountbatten family and a relative of the British royal family.

Hicks was born in 1967 in London. Hicks is the third child of Lady Pamela Mountbatten and David Nightingale Hicks. Her mother was a lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth II and her father was a famous interior designer. She is the granddaughter of the Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma and the second cousin and goddaughter of Charles III. Hicks grew up in Oxfordshire, England. She spent holidays at the family estate in Ireland and at her father's self designed and built Bahamian holiday home. Hicks was exposed to design at an early age through her father and brother, who were both architects. In 1981, she served as bridesmaid to Lady Diana Spencer at her wedding to Prince Charles. at the New England School of Photography, where she graduated in 1990.

After graduating college, Hicks' father introduced her to Emilio Pucci in Florence, Italy, where she modelled swimsuits. Later, she modelled for Ralph Lauren in New York City, J. Crew, and others. She lived in Paris for three years, before moving to New York City for three years. Hicks also started a boutique shop in the Bahamas called the Sugar Mill Trading Company with business partner Linda Griffin. In 2015, Hicks created an e commerce venture called India Hicks Inc. with partners Nicholas Keuper and HauteLook. She married Flint Wood on 10 September 2021 at St Bartholomew's parish church in Brightwell Baldwin, Oxfordshire. Guests at the wedding included Brooke Shields, Kirstie Allsopp, and Sophie Dahl. Hicks' book about the project, India Hicks: The Story of Four Houses – A Slice of England, was published by Rizzoli International Publications in 2018. Hicks has competed in several marathons. She also rode a bike ride to raise money for cancer victims, in memory of her adopted son's biological mother. and with the disaster relief agency Global Empowerment Mission (GEM). She joined the Global Empowerment Mission's board in 2019. On behalf of GEM, she visited the Abaco Islands after Hurricane Dorian, Alabama after it experienced a tornado, Florida after the surfside condominium collapse, and Poland during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In 2020 Hicks pleaded guilty at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court to shoplifting a coat and was ordered to pay costs and a victim surcharge. Her spokesperson stated "The court accepted that at the time of taking the coat, India had simply been absent minded and hadn't intended to leave without paying for it".