1 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:08,440 Welcome to Style DNA, the podcast I created to uncover the 2 00:00:08,440 --> 00:00:12,160 lives behind the looks of your favorite well known faces and 3 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:17,120 help unveil their style DNA. As a designer, I've always been 4 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:20,280 inspired by the premise that wearing the right pieces should 5 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,600 make you feel the best version of yourself, gorgeous and 6 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:26,920 confident, and that these pieces should be designed and crafted 7 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:30,560 for longevity. I'm delighted to share that this 8 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:34,600 episode is supported by Karen Millen, a brand that has a 42 9 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:36,360 year legacy in the world of fashion. 10 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,800 Their commitment to affordable luxury and making investment 11 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:42,920 pieces accessible has truly stood the test of time. 12 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,080 Whether you're searching for a timeless winter coat that will 13 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:49,880 serve you for years to come or an elegant evening dress, you'll 14 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,080 find both classic and modern designs that are perfect for 15 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,840 refreshing your wardrobe for the season ahead online at 16 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,800 karenmillan.com, head over to my Instagram for a link to a 17 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:07,720 special treat for listeners. Today, I'm going on a sartorial 18 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:10,360 journey with Melissa odebash MBE. 19 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:14,400 Entering the swimwear industry as a model, Melissa launched her 20 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:18,840 eponymous label in 1999. She's credited with introducing 21 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,520 high fashion into resort wear, with her swimwear being quickly 22 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:26,040 described by Vogue as the Ferraris of the bikini world. 23 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:29,960 Her first collection was created with chic, solid colored 24 00:01:29,960 --> 00:01:33,760 bikinis, however this soon expanded into beachwear, often 25 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:38,120 inspired by her mother's 1970s crochet pieces before developing 26 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,560 and growing into the collections that we know today. 27 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:45,400 Her collections are distributed in over 65 countries and 28 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,920 throughout 600 luxury department stores, boutiques and resorts, 29 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,360 including her own online web store and two stand alone stores 30 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,240 in London. Melissa is passionate about 31 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,400 supporting her philanthropic ventures including Fashion 32 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:02,760 Targets, Breast Cancer, The Prince's Trust, Kids Co, Chiva 33 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:05,800 and has partnered with the Elton John AIDS Foundation. 34 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:10,280 In 2015, Melissa launched her debut mastectomy line with the 35 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:13,480 Future Dreams breast cancer charity, and she continues to 36 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:16,400 support, partner and champion their 'cause whenever she can. 37 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:20,760 Hello. And welcome, How lovely to have 38 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:22,480 you here, Melissa. Nice to be here. 39 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:24,840 Oh, we last met up at the spa at the lake. 40 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:26,720 Yes, we were actually paddle boarding, right? 41 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:30,080 And we were, I have to say, you saved my bacon because the 42 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:34,600 concept or the thought of paddle boarding or doing stand up yoga 43 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:36,600 or. There was photographer videoing 44 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:38,640 us too. That was a bit with a drone 45 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:41,840 overhead in a bikini. I thought, I'm, I think I might 46 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:44,480 cancel. And then you arrive with this 47 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:51,240 glorious zip front long sleeve khaki, the perfect one piece. 48 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,200 Basically covers everything. So it's not so intimidating. 49 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:55,920 I loved it. I mean you. 50 00:02:55,920 --> 00:03:00,120 Were like cold water plunge afterwards you were like the 51 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,640 Bond girl that you are. And I really cannot thank you 52 00:03:03,640 --> 00:03:05,720 enough. But those those were genius. 53 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:07,960 Those pieces. Therefore, the new cold water 54 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:10,840 plunge. Idea or surfers or paddle 55 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:12,320 boarding. And also you don't have to put 56 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:14,800 some luck on all day. And I love the idea that I've 57 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:18,720 got my arms a bit covered. So that was just perfect. 58 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:23,000 We must have known each other for at least 20 of decades. 59 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:27,640 To the two, let's say 2020 years, should we just, I think 60 00:03:27,640 --> 00:03:29,240 we both were starting at the same time. 61 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,000 I started a little earlier. Again, a little earlier, yeah. 62 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,400 But I was living in Rome before, so yeah, exactly. 63 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:38,640 And the industry's changed a lot. 64 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,600 Do you think for the better? Some things for the better, some 65 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,320 things especially for people starting out, I think it's it's 66 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:49,440 for the better in the sense that you can promote things for free 67 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:53,400 because of Instagram, everything is free. 68 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,640 You can launch, you know, any brand without having to pay for 69 00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:59,840 an advertisement in a magazine. But then there's the drawback. 70 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:03,640 Sometimes there's this new generation so used to instant 71 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,520 satisfaction, so. They think all of a sudden they 72 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,320 get so many followers so that their brand is so well known, 73 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,320 but it can also finish that quickly. 74 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,120 So it's it's it's got its plus and minuses, and the whole 75 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,200 catwalk world has changed dramatically. 76 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:21,720 Dramatically. And actually yesterday I did a 77 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:24,160 show in Miami for Sports Illustrated. 78 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:26,920 They got some of the old supermodels. 79 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:33,360 They're 6364, Carol Alt and I. They wore my swimwear on the 80 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,840 runway and they looked. Amazing, which you would never 81 00:04:36,840 --> 00:04:40,600 have seen 6 year old women back on the runway. 82 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:44,560 You know, 10 years ago. I That makes my heart sing, 83 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:47,840 because I love the fact that our generation is much more 84 00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:52,160 represented now than it. And also different body shapes. 85 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,240 Everyone's accepted. There's no such thing as like 86 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:57,480 models anymore. I kind of feel like everyone's 87 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:01,160 inclusive, you know, it's about embrace your body, which is 88 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:03,200 great, like everyone should embrace the body. 89 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,720 No more body. Shaming imagery and all of that. 90 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,120 I personally, in my business, I love curvy women. 91 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:12,840 I wish I had curves. I always found curves. 92 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:15,560 The Raquel Welsh's, the Sophie Lorenz. 93 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:18,520 For me, that's woman that's sexy. 94 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:21,640 That's everything. I, you know, not all of us get 95 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:24,960 curves, but I always, always, it's like my favorite type of 96 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:26,800 model would be a woman with curves. 97 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:29,840 Well, it's interesting. I mean we both started out in 98 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:35,400 the modeling world and that gave us the opportunity to try on an 99 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:40,320 awful lot of clothes or bikinis or what whatever and gives gave 100 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:44,960 us the opportunity to really feel when something was well cut 101 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:47,960 or not or what made us feel good. 102 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:53,080 And what what I love about what you do is, is it was very much 103 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:58,320 how I approached designing. Designing was I just wanted to 104 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:01,400 elevate the woman I wanted. I I wanted to feel the best 105 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,240 version of me and my woman, to feel the best version. 106 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:07,600 Well, I was also besides modeling, I also was a fit model 107 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:11,200 for Prada for all the because I lived in room. 108 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,280 So I was working in Milan, so I was working for all the brands 109 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:17,600 and my proportions were I guess the sample proportions. 110 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:21,480 So I would stand on like a platform for hours while they 111 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:23,640 pinned me. So it was like a good learning 112 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:25,360 lesson. Italians do the best fabrics, 113 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:29,160 you can't beat them and it's so. And it's all about the fit. 114 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:31,960 At the end of the day you can come up with the funkiest 115 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:34,200 designs but if they don't fit to the body. 116 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,640 So that's how I slowly, slowly learned about what's good 117 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:42,040 quality fabric and it's but it's more sustainable to pay a little 118 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:44,920 bit more but get the best of the best quality that will last for 119 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,800 years. So it's about, you know, I've 120 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:50,640 for me, I've been sustainable for 20 something years because 121 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,760 the product lasts. I've always loved the fabrics 122 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,480 that you use. I love fabrics, but for me your 123 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:02,200 fabrics do put the body in the right place, which the swimwear 124 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:05,280 is pretty fundamental. Fundamental completely. 125 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:09,880 But I also use my outer fabric which is high end like super on 126 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:11,720 the inside. So my lining is the same as the 127 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:13,800 outside. So because you know, I believe 128 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:16,960 that if I believe in something that lasts, like if you're going 129 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:18,920 to. Pay a lot of money for my 130 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:21,120 swimwear. I want it to last 10 years, 20 131 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:22,600 years. I still wear swimsuits of mine 132 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:26,120 that were 20 years ago. There's the plus that, OK, maybe 133 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,080 people don't rebuy one because it lasts so long, but at the 134 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:32,400 same time it's sustainable. Now there's been a lot of 135 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:35,440 controversy with man made fibers. 136 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,440 How are you approaching that in terms of your? 137 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:43,680 Capability, so I took. As much plastic as I can out of 138 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:45,800 the company. No more, no plastic hangers. 139 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:50,360 Everything is recyclable, recyclable plastic. 140 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:55,480 All our bottles, we've gotten rid of every kind of plastic. 141 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,520 My I do a sustainable swimwear line, which is from recyclable 142 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:03,840 bottles and all my factories now recycle the water, recycle like 143 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:07,880 it's a whole different system. I mean, then you can only get so 144 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,440 far because they're not as tech savvy and the swimwear business 145 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:13,600 because. Some fabrics are made out of 146 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:17,560 corn, which will disintegrate in the water, so you have to be, 147 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:19,720 yeah. So you know you can only do so 148 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:24,080 much, but I'm trying to go as you know as as much as the 149 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:26,640 fabric companies are advanced then I'm just following right 150 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:31,120 behind them and for every purchase I do online I pull 151 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:34,200 thousands of plastic bottles out of the ocean. 152 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,559 So so like I'm trying to do a a circle of. 153 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:42,760 You know, sustainability by taking plastic out of the 154 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:46,920 oceans. Coming and coming back to sort 155 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:50,440 of preparing for this interview, I found myself reflecting on my 156 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:55,600 first bikini experience. And it will make you laugh 157 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:59,720 actually, because I was 14 years old and my parents had just 158 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:03,200 opened a bank account for me, given me a monthly allowance and 159 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:07,600 was and I was told strictly you make that last and we're not 160 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:11,040 topping it up. And I had been invited on a 161 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:13,560 family holiday with a a great friend to Mayorco. 162 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:17,160 It was my first time to the Mediterranean and I thought it 163 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:21,040 made a lot of spent sense to spend my entire month's 164 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:25,600 allowance on one French bikini that I would wear 24/7 for seven 165 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:27,440 days. I think you're absolutely right. 166 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:31,840 You you already were in fashion at the age of 14, but you grew 167 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:36,240 up with four siblings, 55 siblings. 54 girls and a boy. 168 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:40,120 And what's funny, I probably had swimmer engraved to me because 169 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:42,160 my parents probably couldn't handle having five kids. 170 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:44,960 So they went away every year to Saint Martin, which is in the 171 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,320 Caribbean. And they went to the French side 172 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:49,320 of the island. And every year when they came 173 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:53,360 back, after probably a month later, we all got a bikini. 174 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:59,080 I don't know why, but we all got like skimpy, skimpy, tiny 175 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:01,600 bikinis that were French. You know, I'm from New Jersey, 176 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:03,080 OK? There's no such thing as they 177 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:04,560 don't even know where France is, OK? 178 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:09,320 French bikinis and they were like beaded on the hips, metal 179 00:10:09,680 --> 00:10:15,360 like insane pile of Perla style. Back in the day, bikinis. 180 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,960 And I remember my mother, you know, never putting tops on us. 181 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:21,720 I'm like, when we're from New Jersey, like put our tops on, we 182 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:23,280 can't just go around. We're not in Saint Martin. 183 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:27,240 We're at the Jersey Shore like put our top, being mortified, 184 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:30,440 not wearing a top. Probably half my pictures I have 185 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:32,160 as a child. I'm just wearing like little 186 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:33,520 French bikinis. So maybe. 187 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:36,400 My mother was totally into fashion, loved it. 188 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:40,000 She, you know, she stayed home. She was a housewife for us five 189 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,920 kids. But she sewed, she crocheted, 190 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,880 she made stained glass window. She was completely art like into 191 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,000 art and very artistic. So I just, I don't know. 192 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:52,520 I think it just was embedded in me as a young kid bikinis and 193 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:54,240 just got into it. What? 194 00:10:54,240 --> 00:11:00,600 What a great story. I know that you've done this 195 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:05,000 incredible mastectomy line, which I think is just awesome 196 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:10,080 because I think, you know, in swimwear we're just so we're at 197 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:13,280 our most vulnerable, most vulnerable. 198 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:18,080 And then if you've had a mastectomy, Art, so tell me a 199 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:19,600 little bit. About us not having a 200 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,360 mastectomy. How, How insecure we are already 201 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:24,360 going to the beach, Whether you're a supermodel. 202 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:26,720 We all as a woman, we're all insecure. 203 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:30,160 I don't know why, but we're always so like, Oh no, my legs 204 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:31,640 my this. I mean, I've heard everything. 205 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:36,400 And I went to a charity event for women who have been through 206 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:39,560 breast cancer and of course cried the whole entire lunch. 207 00:11:39,680 --> 00:11:42,800 And then future dreams approached me and they said, 208 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:46,360 would I do something with them? And my sister had breast cancer, 209 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:48,080 and there's no breast cancer in my family. 210 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,600 And she's fine, thank God She caught it on time. 211 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:54,720 So I said, why don't we do a mastectomy swimwear line? 212 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:57,360 And I'll donate everything to the charity. 213 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:01,200 And we, I had old women who have been through bus guns come to 214 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:03,040 the office and they were not embarrassed. 215 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:06,040 They tried on all because, you know, it's a learning lesson. 216 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:08,600 It's completely different who has scores here? 217 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:12,240 Who has scores there? They need it higher, higher 218 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:14,240 under the arms to hide the scars. 219 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:20,000 And it sold really well. So, you know, we have five 220 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:21,320 years. I've been doing it now. 221 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:24,480 So we're working on the next collection and hopefully. 222 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:29,000 It goes well and and I hope one day it's not not needed anymore 223 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,480 that they find a cure for it. But you know, it's for me. 224 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:34,560 It's all about what you give back, yeah. 225 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:37,640 And it's all about like even the doctors said to me, you know, 226 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:40,400 it's funny, I know it's a materialistic thing. 227 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:43,480 But when women find out they've had breast cancer, the second 228 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:46,960 question is, will anyone notice a difference when I go to on on 229 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:50,840 family holidays? Oh, so it is it, you know, 230 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:52,800 retail therapy I think is always good. 231 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,760 You know, and if it makes you, brings you back your confidence 232 00:12:55,760 --> 00:13:00,040 because you know I have special pads for your for your 233 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:04,840 prosthetic that you put inside the pockets, you know, so no one 234 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:07,840 notices and it's you feel good. It's all about making women feel 235 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:08,480 good. Yeah. 236 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:10,000 Yeah. And for a good cause? 237 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:12,480 Brilliant. Well, today we're going on a 238 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,760 style journey. Great your style journey. 239 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:19,320 So how did you decide what to wear when coming here today? 240 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:22,800 I actually had four meetings today so it was pretty. 241 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:27,560 I have a standard I always I have like 17 white suits. 242 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:29,640 I've always loved. I think you do too. 243 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:33,960 I've always I think everyone looks good in a white suit or 244 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,520 white Blazers or cream. So I have got many. 245 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:39,240 So it's like my go to when I don't have a lot of time and 246 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:41,920 just grab my cream blazer. I'm wearing white jeans. 247 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:45,960 I don't know if you could see below cream blazer, white 248 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:48,200 blazer. Every time I have meetings or 249 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,160 black blazer, it's like simple I think there's like core pieces 250 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:53,040 everyone, every woman should have in their closets. 251 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:54,880 Navy blazer, white blazer, black blazer. 252 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:56,920 So you're quite a uniform person. 253 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:00,080 Uniform for that, Yes. Easy. 254 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:01,440 Easy. I like. 255 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:03,760 Easy, fast, I don't. I like. 256 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:05,920 I do my own hair. I cut my own hair. 257 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:07,600 I'm like. I don't have the patience. 258 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:09,440 Oh, fantastically low maintenance. 259 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:11,480 Low maintenance. Don't ask my husband to probably 260 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:13,240 say I'm high maintenance, but I am low maintenance. 261 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:15,040 Oh, boys just don't understand it. 262 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:17,640 I loved when I spoke to Anya Heinmark. 263 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:20,640 She was saying, I think women should get paid more because 264 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:23,800 we've got blow dryers and manicures and it just costs more 265 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,680 being a woman and I. Completely, completely. 266 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:32,160 Now with this podcast, I always ask what's your earliest 267 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:35,080 sartorial memory? But I I wonder whether that's 268 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:36,840 your French bikinis on the I probably. 269 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:39,520 Say French bikinis, but I don't know if you remember, but it was 270 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:42,360 like, you mean like an error where you went totally wrong. 271 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:44,960 Oh my God, I'll tell you what, I already know it so well. 272 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:47,440 Do you remember? I think it was like Capezio 273 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:50,880 Pants, but the crotch was like to the knee and they were shaped 274 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:53,760 like that, but then the crotch came way down. 275 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:56,280 That was big mistake. But I have a sartorial. 276 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:00,680 When I started my swimwear line, it was when wonder bra came out. 277 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:03,960 I don't know if anyone remembers it, but it's it used to lift 278 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:05,240 your boobs up. Amazing. 279 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:07,960 So I thought. And I was living in Rome with 280 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:10,600 all the beautiful, gorgeous Italian men, and I thought, 281 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:13,040 well, you can't go around all day. 282 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:15,800 That's the way I was thinking, with boobs. 283 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:17,960 And then you get to the beach and you have no more boobs. 284 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:21,200 So the guy you're with is going to be like, I don't know if I'm 285 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:24,400 allowed to say boobs on this, but you know, let's say boobs. 286 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:27,000 It's all about boobs anyway. So anyway, you can't. 287 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:28,400 Like, it didn't make sense to me. 288 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:32,600 So I said I'm going to create a wonder bra but in a swimsuit so 289 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,000 that you could continue having the same boobs you had during 290 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:36,520 the day when you're on the beach. 291 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:40,360 But what happened was it was like when padding for swimwear 292 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:43,920 just came out and it absorbed all the water when you went 293 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:47,920 inside the the ocean. And I remember watching girls 294 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:51,480 coming out and it was like squirting everywhere out of 295 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,320 their swimsuits and then just like deflating on them and. 296 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:58,640 And that was just a lesson I learned in my business early on, 297 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:02,640 not to be repeated. Not to be repeated. 298 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:07,640 Do you remember the first time you put something on that you it 299 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:13,040 just elevated you? You just felt different or 300 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:17,720 you've really didn't like it. Probably when I put on one of 301 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,840 Julian's couture dresses. I'd say like not until then. 302 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:24,880 Oh no, I've had so many like I used to collect. 303 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:30,920 Vintage Levi's So I'd say. I'd say my Levi's always was my 304 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:33,680 major thing because it lifted your butt. 305 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,120 It was all like I was like a pro on five O1 jeans. 306 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:39,760 Like it had to have the perfect fit. 307 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:43,320 So I probably say my first Well, there's a few. 308 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:44,800 I don't know. I have so many I couldn't even 309 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:47,000 place one. My first fry boots thought it 310 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:49,040 was the coolest thing. Satin jacket after Saturday 311 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:51,000 Night Fever came out. Thought it was the coolest 312 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:52,640 thing. Like, I'm from New Jersey, so 313 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:55,280 these things are like major they were important. 314 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:57,360 Like major. Soon as Saturday Night Fever 315 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:00,040 came out, I was like, mom, I want the satin blue jacket with 316 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:03,640 the star on the back. You know, I have so many I 317 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:04,839 wouldn't even know where to start. 318 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:10,200 I know you're someone who is passionate about design and you 319 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:13,119 really appreciate those tiny details, the cut and the 320 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:16,920 crafting. What ignited that passion in 321 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:20,280 you, do you think? I'd say probably. 322 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:22,480 I mean, I've always been like this, even as a kid I used to 323 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,200 always go into my friends houses and dress them, do their hair. 324 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,400 I love makeovers, I love it. I love taking someone changing. 325 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:31,080 I used to go into the bedrooms, redo their bedrooms even though 326 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:33,880 I haven't, not interiors, but just redo everything. 327 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:39,320 I think from my mother. She's such a like glamorous, 328 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:42,440 always was impeccably dressed, even with like 5 kids, and she 329 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:44,560 wasn't going anywhere. She woke up. 330 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:47,840 Her bathrobe matched, her slippers matched and then 331 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:49,880 perfect hair. She's never had a bad hair day 332 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:52,560 in her life. She just was always impeccably 333 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:54,840 dressed and just always had style. 334 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:57,240 She would wake me up when I was nine years old and start 335 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:02,000 watching Elsa clinch's what was it, CNN style? 336 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:05,520 And we would sit and watch all the European fashion shows and 337 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:08,520 as I sat there, I'd say, well that skirt is definitely too 338 00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:10,200 long for her legs and I would just. 339 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,280 I don't know. I think it was like something 340 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:14,360 she got woman's wear deli everyday. 341 00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:17,280 So I think, and I was the only child that was into it. 342 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:19,320 Everyone else ignored it. So me and my mom would just 343 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:22,040 watch it all the time. Did she have an opinion on your 344 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:25,720 sense of style? No, Never and didn't influence 345 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:26,920 it. No, never. 346 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:29,320 But she like, if I say, oh mom I'm looking for this white 347 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:30,920 T-shirt. She was like, I know which one 348 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:33,280 and she would get it for me and she would know exact like that 349 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:36,640 exact fit. She was very, I don't know, very 350 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:39,520 stylish. But your siblings are not 351 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:42,760 interested in fashion, no. Not at all fascinating. 352 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,000 Yep. Do you remember what you put on 353 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,320 for your first date with your husband? 354 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:50,640 Yeah, I do, because I still have the picture. 355 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:54,640 It wasn't even a date. I was meeting a friend who she 356 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:58,280 he happened to be with and I had a cheetah, I don't know Cheetah 357 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:00,400 printed shirt with leather jeans on. 358 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:03,320 I remember it perfectly. And do you still have it? 359 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:07,480 Maybe my kids have it now. I don't know. 360 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:09,840 Actually, I don't know where it is, but I remember it perfectly. 361 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:11,400 What did you wear to get married in? 362 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:16,720 One of my beach dresses. A knit beach dress to the like 363 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,280 one of my knit beach dresses. We want a beach. 364 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:22,840 I was in Palm Beach. Beautiful dad. 365 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:27,040 So you then wore at that again. Well, it worked straight to 366 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:30,560 dinner because it was like beach dress, but have you kept it and 367 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:33,960 worn it again? No, no. 368 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:35,560 Is it? Is it? 369 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:37,400 Sort of? I make so many collections every 370 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:40,640 year, I have to still keep keep up with whatever I design I wear 371 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:43,000 that year. Is it tucked away especially? 372 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:45,200 Yeah, I definitely have it tucked away somewhere. 373 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:47,680 I don't know where. Now I have to ask you this 374 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:51,680 because of the mother of two daughters, the mother of the 375 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:54,600 bride conundrum. I know we're not there yet, but 376 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:57,320 if one of them was getting married, say, this summer, 377 00:19:57,480 --> 00:19:59,200 right? What do you think you would wear 378 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,520 to their wedding? Good question because I just 379 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:07,360 went to my niece's wedding in room and it was probably one of 380 00:20:07,360 --> 00:20:09,560 the most beautiful weddings I've ever been to because the church 381 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,000 was a cathedral. It was just absolutely stunning. 382 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:19,720 And my sister-in-law wore the most stunning, like pink beaded, 383 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:24,280 stunning, Chinelli looking suit. She looked like so chic. 384 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:27,000 So I don't know, it's funny, I think of that sometimes when I'm 385 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:28,880 at other people's weddings. Like, what would I wear? 386 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:30,640 Probably a pantsuit, I don't know. 387 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:33,480 Something not to take away from my daughter. 388 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:36,000 I see you in a white tuxedo suit. 389 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:39,200 Totally, totally, totally my look. 390 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:42,800 I mean, you've worked in and around the fashion industry all 391 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:48,480 your life, but when do you feel you really discovered your 392 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,920 personal style DNA? Oh definitely. 393 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:56,200 When I was young, I was like, I mean, I used to like, you should 394 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:58,600 have seen me as a kid. I purposely would wear my 395 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:00,800 sweaters backwards to do something different. 396 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,760 In my high school. I bought boxing sneakers, high 397 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:07,040 top sneakers, but they were for boxers because no one's ever 398 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:09,240 seen high top sneakers. And I would wear them and my 399 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:10,440 whole school would make fun of me. 400 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:13,000 I I could care less. I was like, I'm going to stand 401 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:15,000 out. I'm going to be like, I don't 402 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,720 know, I just always did something weird, Always not 403 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:20,400 weird, because of course, two years later, the Jersey kids 404 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:21,840 were wearing their sweaters backwards. 405 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:24,920 But I would always do something that maybe I saw in New York 406 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:28,440 City, which to them was like a foreign country when you grow up 407 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:31,240 in New Jersey. And I was always sneaking out 408 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,480 and going to New York. So yeah, I would just pick up 409 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:37,160 trends in New York and then find it and bring it back to New 410 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:39,600 Jersey. But when did you refine that 411 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:43,320 into your well, I moved to Paris when I was 19, so probably when 412 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:45,680 I moved to Paris. And then, you know, I started 413 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,280 with the French accent where my parents came over, did the whole 414 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:53,040 clench thing and, you know, Mama and started, you know, copying 415 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:55,240 the French style. Then I moved to Milan and then I 416 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:57,840 did the whole Italian style, and then I moved to Rome. 417 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:01,040 I think from traveling you learn something everywhere you go. 418 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:05,880 My mother is very, also very traditional and preppy. 419 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:09,360 So, you know, like that never goes out of style for me, like 420 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:12,200 the Navy blazer, still the Navy blazer 50 years later. 421 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:16,040 So I'm tradition. Like I have my traditional style 422 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:19,800 that never goes out, but elegant, classy and sexy. 423 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:23,040 But with your sexy spin, I You have to have a sexy spin on it. 424 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,560 Always. You're an incredibly chic woman, 425 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:31,680 but what would you say? The secret is to staying stylish 426 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:35,760 as the years creep by? I feel like don't follow trends. 427 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:38,440 And I think a lot of people follow trends and get it totally 428 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:41,560 wrong because not everyone can wear what's in fashion at the 429 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:43,560 moment or it's not the right color for them. 430 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:48,480 I always liked classic. I always think even young girls, 431 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:51,400 even 20 year old girls when they wear one piece and it's not AG 432 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,560 string. And I find it 10 times sexier 433 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,520 than AG string on them, even if they have the perfect body and 434 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:01,360 they're 18 or 19 or whatever. So I always find that like 435 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:05,600 having a little bit of class, you know, and I think our role 436 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,000 model that they have, you know, Kate Middleton is a perfect role 437 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:13,160 model because she always looks beautiful and she's not flashy. 438 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:16,320 Like I don't believe in being so flashy sometimes. 439 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:20,720 Like I just think, you know, find your personal style, don't 440 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,840 follow the the trends sometimes because it'll be easier to get 441 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:28,080 dressed also and just find what gives you confidence. 442 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:32,960 That's really important. If someone was to describe your 443 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:37,960 style in three words, how would you want them to describe it? 444 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:40,640 Casual chic, I guess. And the third word. 445 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:45,640 Casual. Casual. 446 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:53,040 Timeless. It's pretty good, I think as 447 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:57,840 human beings where can be, and particularly in the fashion 448 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:04,760 world, a little bit guilty of judging people on their style 449 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:10,760 and the labels they wear and. Do you find yourself looking at 450 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:16,600 someone and and not not judging them but sort of working out who 451 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:20,760 they are by what they're wearing and their look? 452 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:24,560 I think we all do that. We've all guilty of looking at 453 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:29,600 someone and prejudging you know. But I think styles an individual 454 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:31,720 thing like I don't believe that you. 455 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:34,960 I don't believe you buy style because you know, I think you 456 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,920 can trust impeccably by High Street stores. 457 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,120 You don't need to have brands and wear brands to become 458 00:24:42,120 --> 00:24:44,040 stylish. So it's all about how you put 459 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:48,120 together yourself. And also like I did this show 460 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:50,800 once with, I think it's how you carry yourself. 461 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:53,880 I grew up with. Like I had friends that you 462 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,320 know, maybe they weren't the best, you know, the most 463 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:59,840 beautiful, but they had so much confidence that made them 10 464 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:02,160 times more beautiful than the best looking girl in the school. 465 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:04,840 It's the how you carry yourself, how you walk into a room and 466 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:09,200 confidence for me is, is beauty. Like that's 10 times better than 467 00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:13,320 having a logo shirt or it's the way you carry yourself. 468 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:17,560 So just, I just feel like this younger generation, you know, 469 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:21,000 are missing a bit of confidence because there's so much social 470 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:25,080 media in their faces 24/7 and they're comparing themselves 471 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:28,880 that I always say, just carry yourself like you're the best 472 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:31,120 person walking down the street and I promise you, everyone will 473 00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:33,480 turn because it's the way you carry yourself. 474 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:38,120 Do your daughters listen to you? They fake like they don't. 475 00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:40,480 But I know they do. Like, yes. 476 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:44,200 Yeah, I think they listen to me. Sometimes I'll come down in an 477 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:45,560 outfit. They're like, oh, that's so my 478 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:46,920 style. You just copied my style. 479 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:49,520 I'm like, no, I'm the older one, not you guys copying me. 480 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:52,960 Do they have quite an opinion on what you wear sometimes? 481 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:55,480 Oh, I'll ask them. We all kind of we're all the 482 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,960 same size and we all kind of dress similar, except for my 483 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:01,480 younger one who's still in the crop tops. 484 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,120 But yeah, but you're all quite similar in size. 485 00:26:04,120 --> 00:26:07,120 You strike me as being as someone who's being in or who is 486 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:11,520 incredibly confident about yourself and your absolutely 487 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:13,760 style. I'm around naked young perky 488 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:15,520 girls all day if I'm not confident. 489 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:20,240 I don't know who could be. Who do you whose opinion do you 490 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:23,440 really trust? Who Who do you go to for an 491 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:28,320 opinion on whether you what what something looks like? 492 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:31,120 Probably my mother. I still would go to my mother 493 00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:33,680 and say is this appropriate? And she'd say yes or no. 494 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,000 She's quite honest. And that's done, sort of on 495 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,640 FaceTime to just, Yep, lovely. She's in Palm Beach. 496 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:41,360 But I'd be like, yeah, Mom, does this look good? 497 00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:44,360 Yeah, that's fine. These shoes, well, you know, 498 00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:45,520 your feet will get uncomfortable. 499 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:49,200 So take an extra pair and yeah. That's a that's a lovely 500 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:53,400 relationship, yeah. Would you consider who would you 501 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:57,720 consider to be your style icon? Oh gosh, I have a fuse. 502 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:00,240 My mother, for sure. She was like, I've always been 503 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,440 up there. It's a hard one because I have a 504 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:08,080 few and they're, you know, it depends, like, if it's swim, I'd 505 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:11,120 say Rocco Walsh and Sophie Loren would be my favorite. 506 00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:13,080 And Elle Macpherson, she's gorgeous. 507 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:15,720 I don't really have a style icon. 508 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:20,600 I'd find everywhere I travel I find something like in India. 509 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:25,280 I love the the, the, the sarongs or the sorries. 510 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:30,400 If I go to Morocco, I'm obsessed with the kaftans like so I 511 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:31,280 changed. I'm a Gemini. 512 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:36,240 I changed my mind SO11 year old like Oh my God, pink. 513 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:38,520 The next time I'm like, Oh my God, I love that pink. 514 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:42,080 So my brain's always. Going to sound like a true 515 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:46,840 Gemini. True Gemini Is age a 516 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:48,920 consideration on how you dress, do you think? 517 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:52,640 Yes and no. I I think times like you were 518 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:54,880 saying like it's so different today. 519 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:58,960 Like, so actually today in Delhi mill I just posted, there's an 520 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:04,080 article on should women over 50 wear bikinis or cover their 521 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:07,160 bellies or wear high waisted swimsuits. 522 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:10,520 And you know, they posted all Super Mario. 523 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:14,600 So today I purposely took out all the women that my clients 524 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:19,120 are over 50 and they look insane and they're over 50 and there's 525 00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:22,960 nothing wrong. There is no right or wrong in 526 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:25,520 anyone's age. I mean, you go to Italy and the 527 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:28,960 grandmas are all in skimpy bikinis, so there's no right or 528 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:31,920 wrong about what's age appropriate. 529 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:36,120 Of course, some things, you know, some things I think maybe 530 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:39,520 my mother always told me after a certain age. 531 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:41,680 You never wear leather and you never wear high boots. 532 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:44,160 But that's. Very American, to have those 533 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:45,800 rules, yeah. She was like, never. 534 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:50,240 I never wear velvet after a or whatever. 535 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:52,560 Always we go to like, Bergdorf Goodman's. 536 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:54,440 And she was like, oh, that lady's wearing leather. 537 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:56,120 She shouldn't be wearing leather at her age. 538 00:28:56,480 --> 00:29:00,040 So I think it was a little bit, you know, embedded in me like, 539 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:02,440 OK, certain things at certain ages you shouldn't wear. 540 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:05,400 But, you know, she's in her 80s and that's probably what her 541 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:09,200 mother told her. But I think today, especially 542 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:14,240 today, anything goes. Any tips though for the listener 543 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:18,800 to when you're buying swimwear, which is I find an incredibly 544 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:21,320 hard thing to do. More often than not, the 545 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:24,040 overhead lighting is just beyond grim. 546 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:26,240 No, it's hard. It ripples your body. 547 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:29,320 So you never lesson #1. Never try swimwear on with 548 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:31,640 lights overhead. Always should be behind the 549 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:36,600 mirror, the lighting 2 If you're a larger woman or you're more 550 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:39,880 curvy, don't go a size up because you think the the 551 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:42,160 swimsuit will cover more of your body. 552 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:45,080 When you're walking down the beach, skin is neutral. 553 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:49,240 You don't see skin, so if you buy a swimsuit like a size 554 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:52,520 bigger or you want to cover more you but you're only going to see 555 00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:54,600 fabric so you're going to look double your size. 556 00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:58,640 So I always say bite true to size tight fittings because 557 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:02,040 nappy bottoms are horrible. You don't want to have sagging 558 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:07,280 nappy bottoms. So that's another thing and find 559 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:09,880 something if you know, I have all these tricks like ruching on 560 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:13,120 the stomach of a swimsuit because it creates a more 561 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:16,440 hourglass body. It's it's it's not easy. 562 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:20,120 It's not easy finding what suits your body. 563 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:23,600 But you have to also think, you know, am I going to have self 564 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:24,640 tan? Am I going to be white? 565 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:27,360 Start with neutral colors, then go into the brighter as the 566 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,720 Tanner you get or. I always think that one of the 567 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:33,680 best times for me to buy swimwear is at the end of the 568 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:35,640 holiday. When you're a little bit brown 569 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:38,360 or when you're on holiday because you're in a good mood, 570 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:41,840 you're not in office shopping online, you're already there. 571 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:46,360 You've got your four day tan going, you've got the salt water 572 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:47,920 in your hair, you're feeling good. 573 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,400 And then I'll just hop into that little hotel store. 574 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:54,000 I'll hop into a beach Hut and and buy swimwear. 575 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,360 Yeah, it's funny, there was an article just recently about it. 576 00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:02,080 If you buy swimwear when you're on holiday and I think it's a 577 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:03,840 good thing. I think it's a really good 578 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:05,720 thing. I mean, just swinging back to 579 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:08,080 age. Do you? 580 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:12,320 How do you feel about long hair as we get older? 581 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:15,400 Well, look at what's her name, Carmen. 582 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:20,320 There's so many ex supermodels that are in their 80s now, look 583 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:22,880 incredible, and they've got long hair. 584 00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:25,200 As long as it's well cut, there's. 585 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:28,680 I mean, I'm all about long hair, so I love long hair. 586 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:31,160 And it's not like I remember my grandmother looked like a 587 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:33,600 grandmother when she was 40. So, you know, I don't know if 588 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:37,080 everyone else agrees, but when my grandmother was 40, I 589 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:38,480 remember always looked like a grandma. 590 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:42,280 Like today, it's different, you know, I don't believe it. 591 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:44,040 I don't know what it was, was their generation. 592 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:46,280 They have to chop your hair when you get to a certain age. 593 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:47,720 I know. And then look like a man. 594 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:49,320 Yeah, I just. And then they go and get the 595 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:50,800 rollers put in at the hairdresser. 596 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:53,480 It's it's different today, so. The blue rings, Yeah, yeah, 597 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:56,480 exactly. Sit under those blow dryers. 598 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:00,120 Do you have one piece of clothing that means the most to 599 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:05,200 you? Well, I have some old vintage 600 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:08,720 like crochet stuff that my mother, my mother had from when 601 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:11,400 she used to go to Saint Maarten and the Caribbean every year. 602 00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:14,840 So I there was where the first my, I remember my mother saying 603 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:17,160 I came home and I was like, I'm going to be a swimwear designer. 604 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,280 They were so used to me being doing crazy things. 605 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:22,080 And she said, oh, well, I used to. 606 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:24,520 She showed me pictures of herself and she had crochet hot 607 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:26,600 shorts and I said I'm going to recreate those. 608 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:30,200 And that's how I started. I had an Italian lady who never 609 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:35,280 left her bed and she would crochet handmade crochet shorts 610 00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:38,840 and dresses and skirts for me and that's was one of my first 611 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:41,680 pieces I made. So yes, it has sentimental 612 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:43,120 value. How lovely. 613 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:48,400 Let's talk about travel, something you do a lot of. 614 00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:53,880 Are you very aware of your airport look, you being a well 615 00:32:53,880 --> 00:33:00,040 known face, Not really that aware of my airport look. 616 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:02,440 Sometimes I get mortified when someone on Instagram was like, 617 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:03,440 oh, I didn't want to come up to you. 618 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:05,760 I was sitting three rows behind you and right away I'm like Oh 619 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:08,320 my God, what was I wearing? What was I wearing? 620 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:13,400 I definitely had play eye mask and earplugs in sometimes. 621 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:17,560 Now I, you know, it's my oh, I'm always cold. 622 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:21,400 So always a like a warm sweater and a scarf. 623 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:23,440 Always, regardless if it's summer. 624 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:27,200 Because the air conditioning in planes and I've learned, like to 625 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:30,520 put on sunblock now. But my airplane look is usually 626 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:34,520 always the same comfortable, comfortable Shoes Blazer 627 00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:37,480 T-shirt. And it's your uniform. 628 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:39,400 It's my uniform. I have my uniform. 629 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:43,160 And it's a good one on the the Blazer front. 630 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:45,320 Who would? Whose Blazers do you 631 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:51,080 particularly love? You know anyone from oh God. 632 00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:53,680 Like of course Tom Ford used to cut the best Blazers. 633 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:57,320 So you know, I still have his old Tom Ford fitted Blazers, but 634 00:33:57,600 --> 00:33:59,880 Zara does amazing fitting Blazers. 635 00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:04,280 There's so many Ralph Lauren I love old traditional ones. 636 00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:09,120 Like trying to think of people that do amazing Blazers. 637 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:11,320 I don't know, because rag and bone. 638 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:14,719 I just buy them wherever I am. Whenever I'm like traveling. 639 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:18,760 It's the one I buy T-shirts. Very hard for me to find jeans 640 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:22,520 because I have very long legs. T-shirts, jeans in America and 641 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:24,719 blazes in Europe. I love the way you just threw 642 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:26,840 that in. I have very long legs. 643 00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:28,639 Well, it's very hard, like you're tall like. 644 00:34:28,679 --> 00:34:30,800 Me long legs? No, but like you're tall like 645 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:34,600 me, it's really hard to not have cold ankles because our the 646 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:36,320 jeans. They just don't think about tall 647 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:40,880 people when they design jeans. Which brand is your guilty 648 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:48,000 secret and why? For any product on my body, my 649 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:52,400 guilty secret would be I'd say jeans, because I buy jeans all 650 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:55,199 the time. And brand that you. 651 00:34:55,840 --> 00:35:03,080 I like J brand is it called I like frame anything that does 652 00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:07,000 extra long anything like that. So I remember my kids constantly 653 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:08,840 saying mommy really got to cover those ankles. 654 00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:11,000 That's not a good look. I'm like, OK, you go find me 655 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:12,720 the. Jeans that Beautiful feet and 656 00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:15,360 beautiful ankles. Yeah, but it's freezing in 657 00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:17,000 London. Boots. 658 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:19,800 Boots that my mother tells me I shouldn't wear. 659 00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:22,720 Boots. What's your High Street favor, 660 00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:24,720 Zara? Money. 661 00:35:24,720 --> 00:35:28,800 No Object. Brand if I had YSL. 662 00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:32,600 And you mentioned earlier putting on a. 663 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:37,600 Julian McDonald Couture dress. Just just talk to me about that 664 00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:38,760 moment. Julian. 665 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:42,480 I met many years ago and we became best friends overnight. 666 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:46,640 So lucky for me, I save a lot of money, call him up. 667 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:49,440 I'm his sample size and I'm like we most of the time. 668 00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:52,760 Anyway, he's my, you know, he's my Walker to all these events or 669 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:56,400 I'm his Walker and I just call it like send me a dress and I 670 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:58,800 just don't even try it on. 5 minutes before he picks me up, I 671 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:02,960 put it on and it's off we go. Although one time he was sneaky 672 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:06,000 and I and he sent me a dress and he was like, Oh no, it's 673 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:07,280 perfect. It was green beaded. 674 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:09,440 He didn't tell me that the sides were naked. 675 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:13,440 So both sides of my body were completely naked. 676 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:16,320 But I I had five minutes to get dressed, so I had to wear it. 677 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:18,880 Or undressed. Or undressed, exactly. 678 00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:23,440 Kind of put my arms down through through the sides, but it 679 00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:25,920 worked. Love to see a picture of that 680 00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:28,040 one? What, if anything, do you feel 681 00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:30,520 you have an excessive amount of in your wardrobe? 682 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:34,680 Oh gosh, definitely White T-shirts. 683 00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:37,600 T-shirts. And who do you go to for the 684 00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:40,280 best white T-shirts? I like James Pierce. 685 00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:45,520 I have to say like the Kite standard always like my go to 686 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:47,760 T-shirts when I need, you know, it's four colors. 687 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:50,640 So James Brios definitely does the best T-shirts. 688 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,360 Guilty secret. What's the most expensive item 689 00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:57,680 of clothing that you've bought? You don't have to tell me the 690 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:04,400 price tag, but what was it? What was the most expensive 691 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:06,200 thing? Probably an Eve saint-laurent 692 00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:08,920 coat. Can't really remember Eve 693 00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:11,520 saint-laurent coat. I'm not a big I think, 'cause I 694 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:16,040 make clothes and I wear my own clothes, so I only basically 695 00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:18,000 buy. So I got the dresses from 696 00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:21,640 Julian, who wears samples, and then I buy, like, things that I 697 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:24,760 need for the day. I love shoes. 698 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:29,120 I like bags, but not like I'm not crazy. 699 00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:33,160 Because you're in the industry, and this is so true to so many 700 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:36,120 people in the industry when we're not used to paying full 701 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:40,400 price for anything because you know someone, right, who works 702 00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:44,520 at that brand or owns the brand. Do you Do you struggle with 703 00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:48,040 going shopping and paying full price for something? 704 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:50,520 I don't know if I know it's going to last. 705 00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:54,640 So if it's like a classic piece that I know, like I love balm on 706 00:37:54,640 --> 00:37:58,200 Blazers too. If I if it's a classic that I 707 00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:02,840 can wear all the time, I don't mind because I I believe that 708 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:05,840 it's better to have less pieces, but something that's going to 709 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:09,680 last than too many pieces that you're just going to throw away, 710 00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:12,920 throw away or whatever give away after after a few months. 711 00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:16,200 Have you ever justified a purchase with pounds per wear? 712 00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:19,880 No, I haven't. No, not a good one. 713 00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:24,440 Yeah, I I actually haven't because I I do wear pretty much 714 00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:27,640 everything I own. I rotate it and I have two 715 00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:29,960 daughters that are same size, so one of us is always wearing 716 00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:31,680 something. I really share everything. 717 00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:33,400 I don't care if they borrow my stuff. 718 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:35,720 You sound like the most Heavenly Mother. 719 00:38:35,720 --> 00:38:38,480 You really do. It's just she with a with a 720 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:39,960 Heavenly Mother, I have to admit. 721 00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:43,880 Honestly, how many pairs of shoes do you own? 722 00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:47,520 I don't throw away shoes I don't like. 723 00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:49,760 I give away some things that don't fit. 724 00:38:50,040 --> 00:38:52,840 But the good thing, I used to live in, like I used to live in 725 00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:55,560 Milan, so I used to go to the Prada outlets. 726 00:38:55,920 --> 00:38:59,600 I mean there is the pluses of living in Italy and back then it 727 00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:01,800 was lira. It wasn't even EUR or whatever 728 00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:05,480 it is now. And so they were like 50 lira 729 00:39:05,640 --> 00:39:09,080 back in the day. So I would just like, model, get 730 00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:12,080 the money, get in the car with my other girlfriends and just 731 00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:14,440 buy it. So a lot of my old Prada shoes I 732 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:16,280 used to keep because they were like the coolest. 733 00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:19,840 And I still think some of those old stars are still so like 734 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:23,200 they're still in fashion. What was the question? 735 00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:24,760 How many shoes do I have? I don't know. 736 00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:29,440 Good answer. So it's swinging around to your 737 00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:32,400 values. What's your approach to 738 00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:34,920 sustainable fashion? I mean, I think we've possibly 739 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:38,400 answered that. And yeah, I think that we're all 740 00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:43,280 moving forward and I totally want to become 100% sustainable. 741 00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:46,680 But as a fashion designer, I'm not the one that decides that. 742 00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:50,320 It's like the fabric companies that are offering me things have 743 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:54,080 to have the right fabrics to to make. 744 00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:57,600 You know, you can't lose your whole core business over trying 745 00:39:57,600 --> 00:40:00,800 out something that's sustainable because some things, I think the 746 00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:03,320 word sustainability is not correct because some things that 747 00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:05,840 are sustainable actually break apart. 748 00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:09,720 So it's not sustainable to me. So sustainability is something 749 00:40:09,720 --> 00:40:14,320 that is good quality, that lasts and never has to, you know, even 750 00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:17,000 after 20 years, you can still wear it, something that's 751 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:20,200 sustainable from a, you know, and I think people use it too 752 00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:23,440 easy, the word sustainable and it's not really sustainable. 753 00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:27,120 So I make sure that even the factories are sustainable, like 754 00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:29,920 all the way down the line and they're getting more and more 755 00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:31,320 advanced, like from year to year. 756 00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:34,680 They're getting so much better like solar panels on all my 757 00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:38,920 fabric companies now. So it's I think in the next five 758 00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:42,600 years we'll we'll be there, we'll be 100% sustainable 759 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:45,640 hopefully. What do you do with your clothes 760 00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:49,480 when you've had enough of them? I give everything to my team. 761 00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:53,600 I first got my children, but then they're a bit hoarders, so 762 00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:55,960 I don't show them sometimes, and I give it to either. 763 00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:58,080 Anyone that works with me, they can. 764 00:40:58,080 --> 00:41:01,080 I just bring in bags constantly and then whatever they don't 765 00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:04,440 want goes to the cleaners or I I give everything away. 766 00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:07,400 You're going to have a line of people. 767 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:08,520 Oh no. I've had. 768 00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:12,160 I just like, I've had like I just love like, you know what I 769 00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:13,120 mean? Like it's. 770 00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:16,000 I wanted to go to use. Do you ever buy vintage? 771 00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:19,160 I love vintage. Where are your favorite horns 772 00:41:20,280 --> 00:41:25,040 relic in London? I love even Portobello Market LA 773 00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:27,440 has an amazing I'm trying to think of what it's called. 774 00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:28,560 Do you remember what it was called? 775 00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:34,240 Oh it was a very famous one in LA Also I have a house, I have a 776 00:41:34,240 --> 00:41:37,880 house in Florida and I live near Palm Beach and West Palm Beach 777 00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:42,840 has all the old amazing think about the ladies in slim 778 00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:46,200 errands, photos, all their old clothes are in these amazing 779 00:41:46,200 --> 00:41:47,880 vintage stores in West Palm Beach. 780 00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:52,080 The jewelry, the old poochie dresses, I I just love it. 781 00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:54,440 And Rome? Rome has amazing vintage stores. 782 00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:57,360 I I think Vintage has now become. 783 00:41:57,840 --> 00:42:03,800 Completely mainstream going into charity shops and it's. 784 00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:06,360 I love it. Even now my children are totally 785 00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:08,800 into charity shops. I made them both work at charity 786 00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:12,320 shops and then every time they come down and like yesterday my 787 00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:15,200 daughter was wearing a striped shirt and she was like 8 pounds 788 00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:16,840 charity shop and I was like good on you. 789 00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:20,280 But it's actually what ignited my passion. 790 00:42:20,680 --> 00:42:24,480 You know, back as a kid going into charity shops and being 791 00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:27,560 inspired and taking things home and remaking them. 792 00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:28,880 I used to, yeah. I learned to sew. 793 00:42:28,880 --> 00:42:30,920 I used to. I used to collect monkeys, not 794 00:42:30,920 --> 00:42:33,880 dolls, and I used to sew all monkeys. 795 00:42:33,880 --> 00:42:35,400 I was obsessed with monkeys. And I used. 796 00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:39,920 Toy monkeys and I'd hang them all with their tails around my 797 00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:42,720 bed. And just my mother got me Mr. 798 00:42:42,720 --> 00:42:44,320 Jigs. He was a real monkey for my 799 00:42:44,320 --> 00:42:47,640 birthday every year that would like do party tricks. 800 00:42:47,760 --> 00:42:49,480 I don't know why. I don't know why. 801 00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:52,560 Maybe one day I'll own a monkey. Did you Did you dress your 802 00:42:52,560 --> 00:42:54,440 monkeys all the time? I knitted that. 803 00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:56,560 My grandmother taught me to knit and I would knit all their 804 00:42:56,560 --> 00:42:58,920 clothes and you want to know the funniest thing? 805 00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:02,800 So I had a monkey, a stuffed monkey called Oka Baca. 806 00:43:02,800 --> 00:43:06,280 I don't know why, but I named it when I was a child and someone 807 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:10,720 in my office, a lovely girl that works for me, gave it me a 808 00:43:10,960 --> 00:43:12,800 monkey. She had it made with the name 809 00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:15,000 across the chest for my birthday present this year. 810 00:43:15,120 --> 00:43:17,240 Oh, how gorgeous. Because I was telling him the 811 00:43:17,240 --> 00:43:18,680 story. How was my favorite monkey as a 812 00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:20,240 kid? That a sweet present. 813 00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:22,520 Really. Really love sentimental things 814 00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:25,040 like that was really sweet. Do you get sentimental about 815 00:43:25,040 --> 00:43:26,360 your clothes? No. 816 00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:28,240 So materialistic, Anything material. 817 00:43:28,240 --> 00:43:31,840 Just I could care less if like it gets stained or well, no. 818 00:43:32,240 --> 00:43:35,160 But do you ever get nostalgic about something? 819 00:43:35,160 --> 00:43:37,680 You know you're. No, no, no, anything 820 00:43:37,680 --> 00:43:38,840 materialistic. Nothing. 821 00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:40,800 Zero. It's all about as long as we're 822 00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:42,120 all healthy, that's all that matters. 823 00:43:42,800 --> 00:43:45,600 Yeah, it's the end of the day. Like, I think maybe because 824 00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:47,960 maybe I make clothes and I know there'll be a next collection 825 00:43:47,960 --> 00:43:50,680 the following year, but I don't. I've never been. 826 00:43:51,040 --> 00:43:53,400 I've never worried about these things ever. 827 00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:56,440 Like some women, just you're berserk, but no. 828 00:43:56,560 --> 00:43:59,960 Yeah, Obsess. Let's turn to some quick fire 829 00:43:59,960 --> 00:44:00,880 questions. Yes. 830 00:44:01,120 --> 00:44:03,920 What advice would you give your 20 year old self? 831 00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:09,640 Don't worry about anything. Like don't like, you know, as a 832 00:44:09,640 --> 00:44:13,480 designer we never think. Like I never think. 833 00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:17,120 My collection is 100% and I used to worry like Oh my God, is 834 00:44:17,120 --> 00:44:18,920 anyone ever going to buy it? Oh my God, you know, it's 835 00:44:18,920 --> 00:44:21,960 something like and I don't like it the minute I finish it, like 836 00:44:21,960 --> 00:44:26,200 my brain doesn't work that way. I think like just I love what I 837 00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:28,360 do. Like I love and you know, we're 838 00:44:28,360 --> 00:44:30,120 both designers. Like when you wake up you have 839 00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:33,120 that passion. But I think the worrying part 840 00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:37,040 was ruining some of the design part because you're so insecure 841 00:44:37,040 --> 00:44:38,880 if someone's going to buy it or if they're going to like it, or 842 00:44:38,880 --> 00:44:40,520 is it my taste and not their taste? 843 00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:44,920 So definitely less worrying. Which fashion trend would you 844 00:44:44,920 --> 00:44:49,120 like to see make a comeback? My old vintage Levi's? 845 00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:52,280 I want to remake them. What cut would they be? 846 00:44:52,960 --> 00:44:55,760 Fiber ones, they have to have the button, not the zip. 847 00:44:55,760 --> 00:44:57,280 Like I've got the whole thing down. 848 00:44:58,480 --> 00:45:03,000 What fashionable beauty trend would you consign to Room 101? 849 00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:07,680 Don't know what that means. Room 101 is just when you spin 850 00:45:07,680 --> 00:45:10,640 you something, you know you just don't want it. 851 00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:12,440 You don't ever want to see it again. 852 00:45:12,640 --> 00:45:14,680 Room 101. OK, we've never heard that 853 00:45:14,680 --> 00:45:16,520 before. Maybe it's an English thing. 854 00:45:17,360 --> 00:45:19,640 What's fashion trend do I never want to say yet. 855 00:45:19,680 --> 00:45:22,040 Beauty. But you know what? 856 00:45:22,120 --> 00:45:23,720 That's funny. You say that because there's two 857 00:45:23,720 --> 00:45:27,000 things I said to myself I would never wear in my life. 858 00:45:27,120 --> 00:45:30,640 Bergen stocks and Uggs and I now own. 859 00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:33,320 Both. I think I've seen you in both. 860 00:45:33,920 --> 00:45:37,840 I now own both after I said I would never be seen in them. 861 00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:41,680 So I'm never going to say I would never wear a trend because 862 00:45:41,680 --> 00:45:44,400 look, it's two things I thought I would never wear, and I'm 863 00:45:44,560 --> 00:45:46,480 wearing both because they're so comfortable. 864 00:45:47,080 --> 00:45:51,000 Your last impulse buy. I just bought something. 865 00:45:53,120 --> 00:45:57,720 So effective you can't remember I don't My last impulse buy. 866 00:45:57,720 --> 00:45:59,360 I don't know what it was actually. 867 00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:01,920 Don't worry your views on tattoos. 868 00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:05,280 You know what I really don't like tattoos. 869 00:46:05,280 --> 00:46:09,440 Nothing against him if that's your thing, but because I that's 870 00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:14,160 like you know I work with models and it as a designer when the 871 00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:17,680 model show up and they have too many tattoos for me it distracts 872 00:46:17,960 --> 00:46:22,520 from my product I just designed. So I'm not that into tattoos and 873 00:46:22,520 --> 00:46:25,560 I think when you get older and the wrinkles come in it changes 874 00:46:25,560 --> 00:46:28,480 the design of your tattoo or the wording changes. 875 00:46:28,480 --> 00:46:33,200 So not so sure about it. BG treatment you couldn't give 876 00:46:33,200 --> 00:46:36,800 up. I love oxygen facials or hydro 877 00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:39,480 facials. I think Sarah Chapman does 878 00:46:39,480 --> 00:46:42,520 incredible facials. Ice bath. 879 00:46:43,360 --> 00:46:46,920 Well, since me and you did our ice baths together and I'm off 880 00:46:46,920 --> 00:46:52,800 to a spa on Thursday, I really think for stress and anxiety, I 881 00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:56,520 really think that ice pass, the plunge, the ice plunge that we 882 00:46:56,520 --> 00:47:00,480 did is amazing. And also they said that it's 883 00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:03,600 good for me because I'm always cold, so I'm going to continue 884 00:47:03,600 --> 00:47:06,200 doing up. Blow dry or manicure? 885 00:47:07,640 --> 00:47:09,800 Oh, I don't ever get blow dries. Ever. 886 00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:12,800 Oh. My God, the girl with the never 887 00:47:12,800 --> 00:47:17,040 just hair, never sit in a chair. And we No, I couldn't do it. 888 00:47:17,840 --> 00:47:23,040 I I I get asked more about how to blow dryer hair and curl it 889 00:47:23,040 --> 00:47:24,560 than I do on my swimwear sometimes. 890 00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:29,600 High End or High Street mix? Bling or bear? 891 00:47:31,280 --> 00:47:34,920 I prefer bear. Minimalism or maximalism? 892 00:47:35,440 --> 00:47:38,120 Both. Couture or Charity shop? 893 00:47:38,480 --> 00:47:40,200 Both. Crocs. 894 00:47:40,200 --> 00:47:43,360 Cute or puke Crocs? What was the second one? 895 00:47:43,600 --> 00:47:45,960 Crocs. Are they cute or puke? 896 00:47:47,480 --> 00:47:51,000 I'm not cute. Sneakers or Stilettos? 897 00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:53,480 Both. Bags or shoes? 898 00:47:55,440 --> 00:48:00,320 Shoes. Bodycon or Boho Bodycon? 899 00:48:00,360 --> 00:48:03,640 Always. Sports Lux or Rock Chick? 900 00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:06,800 Both. Colour or monochrome? 901 00:48:07,360 --> 00:48:09,880 Both. Experimental or uniform? 902 00:48:12,600 --> 00:48:14,920 Both. I have a lot of boats going on 903 00:48:14,920 --> 00:48:16,440 here. Cashmere or cotton. 904 00:48:18,640 --> 00:48:23,360 I prefer cotton. Shapewear or sexy lingerie or 905 00:48:24,080 --> 00:48:28,440 shapewear. Tights or stockings? 906 00:48:29,320 --> 00:48:33,280 What's the difference? Tights all the way up the waist. 907 00:48:33,280 --> 00:48:36,120 Or stockings or hold UPS. Oh, because in America, 908 00:48:36,120 --> 00:48:37,720 stockings are also all the way up. 909 00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:40,240 Of course, yeah. So my most difference. 910 00:48:41,520 --> 00:48:43,480 Well, I guess it depends if you're married or not, right? 911 00:48:44,560 --> 00:48:46,680 Bikini or One Piece? Both. 912 00:48:47,720 --> 00:48:51,320 Finally, one last question. At the end of the day, what do 913 00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:54,400 you or don't you wear in bed? What do I wear? 914 00:48:54,680 --> 00:48:57,080 Yes. Oh, I love men's boxer shorts 915 00:48:57,080 --> 00:49:00,480 and tank tops. I find that or men's oversized 916 00:49:00,480 --> 00:49:03,280 shirt 10 times sexier than lingerie. 917 00:49:04,880 --> 00:49:09,680 Melissa, what a lovely, so much fun conversation. 918 00:49:09,680 --> 00:49:11,080 Thank you. I don't know if anyone else 919 00:49:11,080 --> 00:49:13,920 could see this amazing view, but it's like I'm trying not to be 920 00:49:13,920 --> 00:49:15,840 distracted by the beautiful boats going by. 921 00:49:15,840 --> 00:49:17,920 It's amazing. All the helicopters going 922 00:49:17,920 --> 00:49:19,760 overhead now, the helicopters I didn't even notice. 923 00:49:20,360 --> 00:49:22,400 But thank you, thank you, thank you for having me.