MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT

Fashion designer Katherine Hooker

KATHERINE HOOKER, 54, counts the Duchess of Cambridge, Jerry hall, taylor Swift and Meryl Streep among her fans. She divides her time between London and Greece, where she shares a home with her boyfriend Dimitri.

I DIDN’T become a fashion designer until I was 40; I’d been an art director on films and TV commercials before that. But my light bulb moment was inspired by a black silk coat I bought in a junk shop in Jerusalem years before. It was cut high under the armpits and fitted perfectly. I had it for 22 years before it started to fall apart. I was desperate to replace it.

On a trip to India in 2002 I found a tailor and worked with him on designs inspired by the memory of that coat. I fell in love with the process of designing. I came back to the UK with six coats, which I sold to my friends.

The tailor gave me a paper pattern which I took to a UK manufacturer who has been making my clothes ever since. I started the business in 2003, and juggled two jobs before quitting as an art director a year later.

I was so totally absorbed in my work in those early days that I’d spend hours putting fabrics together. It was a happy time.

The Duchess of Cambridge has had a major impact on my business — she was a customer before I’d even opened my shop! I’d met her at a couple of events such as the Burghley Horse Trials. It’s always an honour when somebody with great style wears my clothes.

Another eureka moment was when I introduced our Last Bolt collection in 2014. Twice a year, I’ll offer a selection of our pieces in the last few metres of a bolt of fabric so that customers can snap up the designs at affordable prices. I love that it’s brought the brand to a wider fan base.