Emma J ShipleyNot long to wait now, we're hanging up our stockings and picking at the tree chocolates. This week we catch up with designer Danielle Romeril about Christmas swimming, Samurai inspirations and her family traditions.
Hi Danielle, thanks for chatting with us today. 2015's been a great year for you, what's been your best moment looking back over the year?
Dressing FKA Twigs for Bestival was pretty great, taking a well deserved holiday in Lisbon, seeing the wild west coast of Portugal after a well received presentation at London Fashion Week was great. It had been too long since I was on holiday! Being invited to Milan for the Vogue Italia talents exhibition was another highlight!
Sounds amazing! Where do you get your inspiration from?
My brand is contemporary womenswear with a vibrant youthful feel and a focus on extraordinary surface details and textures. I look for inspiration from so many different sources, from Samurai armour to create our signature Odoshi leather panelling to imagined girl skate board gangs or fine art photography like Jackie Nickerson's portrait work.
“I'll go for a swim in the sea in Dublin first thing on Christmas morning!”
Do you have any ideas on what to get your friends and family this year?
For my Mum I'm gifting her our Odoshi wrap scarf. It's super warm and a bit glam but it's in a really unexpected way. Mum loves unusual pieces and this can only ordered directly from Danielle Romeril. My friend Stacey is a fashion lecturer but pregnant at the moment so can't fit her clothes and needs something beautiful in her life so I'd love to give her a pair of shoes from our AW15 collection. Also laces are an issue for her at the moment so the fact these slip on really helps!
What are your plans for Christmas this year?
This year I'll go for a swim in the sea in Dublin first thing Christmas morning! It's a Dublin tradition, often followed by a hot port! Then with wet hair and a Santa hat on I'll go to my Dad's house for breakfast and present opening and to see what my 9 year old sister got from Santa. Myself, my brother and my boyfriend will head to Mum's house for dinner. She usually invites some friends usually people working or studying in Ireland but not from there, so it's usually quite an eclectic bunch, Chinese, Norwegian, Brazilian - depends on the year. I really enjoy hearing about their Christmas traditions and my Mum tries to bring something from their culture or cooking into the dinner.
That would make for an interesting Christmas dinner! Is there anything in particular you're hoping for this year?
After Christmas I'm going to Italy to see my boyfriend's family, so a bit of snow in the hills near Asiago would make it really special!
“Nothing says Christmas to me like seeing the wreath on my Mum's front door.”
Ooh yes, very festive. What are some of your favourite Christmas traditions?
I can't wait to be back in Dublin for Christmas and meeting my friends in the pub on Christmas eve. I miss the intimacy of a small city where you always bump into someone you know. I'm looking forward to seeing the tree and wreath at my Mum's house. Nothing says Christmas to me like seeing the wreath on my Mum's front door.
And finally, what can we expect from Danielle Romeril in 2016?
In January the Kickers collaboration that we launched at the show in September will be going on sale. So many of my friends are really excited to pick up a pair. With the new year we'll launch an e-commerce store which is a big step for us! In February we'll have the new collection showing at London Fashion Week which is a great way to kick off the new year.
You can see more from Danielle Romeril here.
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