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Its impeccably cut garments, clean and minimalist silhouettes have conquered the most powerful women in the world of fashion, from Kate Middleton to Melania Trump, to Meghan Markle, Amal Clooney, Samantha Cameron, Charlotte Santo Domingo ... Emilia Wickstead , the New Zealand designer who once wanted to be an actress as a child, now dresses the most elegant Hollywood stars, royals and aristocrats and has become the new benchmark for luxury and femininity with a British stamp.

Your success is built on solid foundations, tenacity and hard work. Before opening her first store in Knightsbridge in 2009 and founding her brand the year before, Emilia had been trained at the British institute in Milan, where she moved from her native New Zealand at the age of 14 when her mother married a Italian. There she was "mesmerized and captivated by the city and its style," she tells us. And there her passion for fashion arose, which led her to study design and marketing at Central Saint Martin's in London, where she graduated with honors, and to work with the greats: Giorgio Armani, Narciso Rodríguez ..., and also in a restaurant, a maitre d 'four nights a week, an extra income to be able to open his first atelier. "My mother always pushed me to work hard," she recalls.

Now her firm, which started under the tailoring model, is found in some of the most prestigious stores in the world, such as Net-A-Porter, Harrods, Matchesfashion, Printemps and MyTheresa, and Emilia designs almost everything, from her collections, which he presents at London Fashion Week, made-to-measure pieces, wedding dresses or precious water bottles for the Waterdrop microbeverage brand, one of his latest projects.

Portrait of Emilia Wickstead.Edd Horder

When did you know you wanted to be a designer? Do you remember any special date or the day your love for fashion started? At age 14, when I moved to Milan. Everything seemed magnificent to me and it opened my eyes to the world of luxury. It was a vast empire that I had never seen before and I completely fell in love. But at the same time, the way of doing things was quite rigid and I didn't really know how I could fit in there. I was different from my classmates, both by culture and circumstances, and being away from my family, I sometimes lacked self-confidence. My mother always encouraged me to pursue my ambitions and to keep going.What is the hallmark of the garments you design? Why is a piece by Emilia Wickstead recognized? I like to play with old world themes and combine the tradition and romance of bygone eras, but always with a modern twist. I focus on architectural silhouettes to create timeless and elegant garments, with a clear point of distinction. An Emilia Wickstead design is feminine, yet bold and empowering - and who do you draw inspiration from when designing? What are your references? As a child, two generations of women in my family influenced me greatly: my mother, who worked as a fashion designer in New Zealand, and my grandmother. Both extraordinary women, with good taste, who taught me the value of dressing well. I'm an "old-fashioned" soul and sometimes I long for the past,when it was customary to dress well at home. That sense of nostalgia and the romance of earlier times is part of my brand DNA, but always with a modern twist. Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and aristocrats are faithful to their designs. What do your clothes have for you to choose? Are the pieces you design aimed at this type of woman? Design for all women; I always think of a timeless, effortless and sophisticated style. This is the quintessence of every collection I create and it is what inspires me the most. This is not just one type of woman. The women around me constantly inspire me; They are real women of all ages, each with their own unique story and who wear my clothes in their own way.That sense of nostalgia and the romance of earlier times is part of the DNA of my brand, but always with a modern twist. Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and aristocrats are faithful to their designs. What do your clothes have for you to choose? Are the pieces you design aimed at this type of woman? Design for all women; I always think of a timeless, effortless and sophisticated style. This is the quintessence of every collection I create and it is what inspires me the most. This is not just one type of woman. The women around me constantly inspire me; They are real women of all ages, each with their own unique story and who wear my clothes in their own way.That sense of nostalgia and the romance of earlier times is part of my brand DNA, but always with a modern twist. Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and aristocrats are faithful to their designs. What do your clothes have for you to choose? Are the pieces you design aimed at this type of woman? Design for all women; I always think of a timeless, effortless and sophisticated style. This is the quintessence of every collection I create and it is what inspires me the most. This is not just one type of woman. The women around me constantly inspire me; They are real women of all ages, each with their own unique story and who wear my clothes in their own way.What do your clothes have for you to choose? Are the pieces you design aimed at this type of woman? Design for all women; I always think of a timeless, effortless and sophisticated style. This is the quintessence of every collection I create and it is what inspires me the most. This is not just one type of woman. The women around me constantly inspire me; They are real women of all ages, each with their own unique story and who wear my clothes in their own way.What do your clothes have for you to choose? Are the pieces you design aimed at this type of woman? Design for all women; I always think of a timeless, effortless and sophisticated style. This is the quintessence of every collection I create and it is what inspires me the most. This is not just one type of woman. The women around me constantly inspire me; They are real women of all ages, each with their own unique story and who wear my clothes in their own way.They are real women of all ages, each with their own unique story and who wear my clothes in their own way.They are real women of all ages, each with their own unique story and who wear my clothes in their own way.

Experts assure that beauty and self-esteem are united. Fashion and self-esteem too? As a fashion designer, I truly believe that the right clothing has the power to make you feel confident and strong, to become the best version of yourself. It is a feeling of inner empowerment that does not stop being reflected externally. And what makes you feel good? Taking time to unwind after a date like London Fashion Week. And spending time with my family is the most important thing to me, it works wonders. What makes your day when you step into your workplace? The positive energy of the team and their dedication to our business. I am very proud of them and of everything we achieve together.

Like all major fashion brands, for Emilia Wickstead growing also means diversifying and expanding her creative universe.

In this sense, it has just customized with one of the prints from its spring summer 2022 collection the bottles of the Waterdrop microbeverage brand, a tiny and compact cube made with natural fruit and plant extracts, sugar-free and enriched with vitamins, to flavor the water and make us drink more.

"I love the bold rose print we have chosen, it is vibrant and exciting. I hope women are passionate about wearing it," says the designer.

Waterdrop bottle customized with one of the prints from Emilia Wickstead's spring summer 2022 collection.

"I strive to create pieces that are timeless and elegant and that women want to wear year after year, which is why this collaboration with Waterdrop, with reusable and collectible bottles, seemed like a perfect extension of our universe. They are bottles to collect, that are they will wear again and again and will remain attractive throughout the years. I love to wear the same clothes again and rediscover pieces from past collections in my closet, "says the designer.

What is the latest thing you have designed? The spring-summer collection that I presented during London Fashion Week. It has a slightly surreal and melancholic touch, our muse has been romanticism. I take a lot of inspiration from old movies and this season I have looked at 'Last Year in Marienbad', a French film from the 'Nouvelle Vague' of the 60s that focuses on a romance that may or may not have happened. And what is the most innovative garment that cannot be missing this season in our wardrobe? My autumn-winter collection is inspired in part by the codes of Milanese tailoring and, specifically, by elegant tailoring. The 'Dida' jacket is a perfect example and it is the piece I am looking forward to wearing. It is slightly fitted at the waist for a feminine, sculpted silhouette.and falls just right on the hips. It can be worn as a suit with matching pants or with a pencil skirt. And for the complete look I will wear our 'Elroy' trench coat. I love the simplicity and elegance of superimposing pieces of the same fabric. There is something very luxurious and comforting about it. Soft tailoring is also a great way to feel immediately connected, especially when we go back to the office and to social events.it's also a great way to feel immediately together, particularly when we go back to the office and to social events.it's also a great way to feel immediately together, particularly when we go back to the office and to social events.

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