It was touching and inspirational to see Pearl Lowe talk about her eight years of sobriety in The Telegraph this month. Pearl is often better known as the mother of Brit ‘it girl’ model Daisy Lowe, however Pearl has her own past and part of that has been her recovery from heroin addiction.
Pearl was in the Indie band ‘Powder’ in the mid 1990’s, she also has been in a relationship with Danny from the band ‘Supergrass’ since this time and they have four children. Pearl was part of the notorious and hedonistic Primrose Hill Set in Camden at this time and was best friend’s with the likes of Kate Moss and Sadie Frost. Like her friends Pearl was known for hard partying, Pearl described to The Telegraph that she became friends with someone who was a heroin addict and “it was so easy- there’ s this euphoria where you think that nothing matters.”
In the past Pearl has been open and honest in the press about her struggle with addiction. For her this has included taking responsibility by talking about the consequences of her addiction not just on herself but on her family. Pearl has previously discussed how when her son Alfie was three years old he took a bunch of her sleeping pills in her home while she was upstairs using heroin. She has also been honest how after she stopped using heroin she cross addicted with cocaine use.
Like any addict who is serious about recovery Pearl needed to make serious changes in her life. This involved leaving friendships behind which weren’t healthy for her on-going recovery and moving out of the area where she was using drugs. Pearl and her family moved to Somerset and started to engage with Narcotics Anonymous and an addictions counsellor.
Today Pearl is a successful designer of clothes, home wares and stationary. She also wrote a book in 2007 about her experiences with fame and addiction called “All That Glitters.” Her story is often brutally honest and candid but with a powerful message that recovery is possible and happiness is everyone’s birthright.