A very happy good morning to you all! I hope that you have all had a fabulous start to your day! Last week at Circus London PR we held our Autumn/Winter 14 press days! This year we decided to hold private appointments across a period of three days in our own Circus showroom! We are very pleased with the response that we received from our guests about the new collections and hope that everyone enjoyed themselves as much as we did!
This week on Chit Chat Tuesday I catch up with textile designer Camilla Ridley who has collaborated with charity Kids Company to design an Easter bunny in order to raise money for children in poverty in London! So, let’s get to it!
Camilla! Thank you so much for joining both myself and the CCT readers today! Let’s start off by you telling us a little bit about yourself and your background…
Good morning everyone, thank you for having me! Ok let’s see – I trained as a textile designer and started my career in womenswear with my own label Camilla Ridley! I had a shop on the Fulham Road and stocked stores globally!
You’ve now got your own childrenswear brand Milliemanu, can you tell us a little bit about it?
The brand is all made in the UK close to where we live in Barnes using premium natural fabrics!
That’s nice that everything is close by! It must make your job a little easier at times! What made you go in to childrenswear?
After having my daughter and experiencing numerous frustrating shopping trips of not being able to buy what I wanted for her I decided that I need to do something! So, I decided to brand in to childrenswear!
Where did the name Milliemanu come from?
My name is Camilla (millie) and my daughter’s name is Emmanuelle (manu) – merge the two together and Milliemanu is born!
That’s so lovely! Does your daughter wear the pieces that you design?
Yes she does! She particularly loves the party dresses!
As a designer where do you draw your inspiration from?
Mostly from nature and the British countryside! I love the outdoors.
Tell us about your SS14 collection…
It is very fresh and floral but using neon detailing!
Can you tell us any sneak peek info about the AW14 collection?
Yes! The collection is theatrical and inspired by the Scottish countryside!
You’ve just teamed up with charity Kids Company – tell us about this collaboration!
We are making an Easter Bunny from up cycled Liberty fabrics from our collection and donating all the profits to the Kids Company so that they can fund meals for thousands of hungry children in London!
What a lovely thing for you to do! Why Kids Company?
I really admire Camila Batmanghelidjh and everything Kids Co have done to help alleviate child poverty in London!
Is this the first time you’ve collaborated with a charity?
No we ran this campaign with them last year too!
How can people support the cause?
They can buy a bunny online at our website www.milliemanu.com or at our pop up shop in Barnes at 1 Church Road, SW13 9HE
Did you have any input in the design of buster bunny?
Yes I designed him!
I have seen photos of the bunny and he looks absolutely FAB if I do say so myself! Are there any more projects that you’re working on at the moment?
Yes we are launching a beach collection which we will be showcasing at a catwalk show at Atzaro Hotel in Ibiza later this summer!
That’s incredible! I am very jealous that you will be off to Ibiza! How exciting! What do you do to relax?
I love gardening and going on bike rides with my family by the river!
If you could take 3 items with you on holiday what would you take?
I would take a good book, a bikini because I love swimming in the sea! AND one of our panama hats to protect myself from the sun!
That sounds like a pretty good trio to me! Thank you so much for joining us on CCT today Camilla I am very appreciative! Congratulations on the Easter Bunny design – I think it looks absolutely fab! I hope that lots of money is raised for Kids Co.
Join me next week CCT readers for lots more chinwagging! AND don’t miss out on the Scotch Kids Graffiti, ST Girls styling and Soft Gallery event we are holding at Selfridges London this Saturday and Sunday! <3 Kate –x-
Images courtesy of Camilla Ridley
