‘WE PUSH BOUNDARIES. IT’S A DREAM COME TRUE’
TELEVISION FAVOURITE AND STYLE INFLUENCER HOLLY WILLOUGHBY REVEALS HER LATEST MARKS & SPENCER ‘HOLLY LOVES’ EDIT TO ok!’s ROSIE UNDERWOOD
Until two years ago, Holly Willoughby – by her own admission – played it safe with her fashion choices. But since venturing out of her comfort zone, fans have become hooked on her daily Instagram style shots, creating the ‘Holly effect’.
To celebrate the launch of her fifth ‘Holly Loves’ edit with Marks & Spencer, we’re invited by the This Morning star to meet her at one of her regular hang outs, Petersham Nurseries in West London, a pretty garden centre and restaurant she was introduced to by her best friend Fearne Cotton.
Holly, who’s wearing a flattering shirt dress from the range, greets us with her megawatt smile and a welcoming glass of bubbly, saying: ‘Enjoy the champagne. It’s got a rose in it!’
Her first cherry-picked edit for M&S last September was a sell out, with customers snapping up one of her must-haves every two seconds. And fans won’t be disappointed this time around either, thanks the return of a surprise favourite: the jumpsuit!
‘In the last collection we had a denim jumpsuit. When I looked at it on the rails I thought, oh that’s going to be a bit Marmite, you’ll either love it or hate it.’ But I was blown away by how many people were wearing it and loving it,’ she tells OK!.
‘I’m a bit scared of a jumpsuit. I feel like it’s going to be “pulling”. I’m just not quite sure about them. But when I put it on for the first time, it turned out to be the most comfortable wearable item. I even heard reports of people high-fiving each other down the street when they saw each other wearing it! So we had to add one to this edit too.’
Holly, whose approachability is just one of her endearing qualities, is modest about her success as a style influencer. ‘When I say the Holly Loves edit, I find it really weird saying my own name in the middle of something like this!’ she jokes. So why is M&S still her number one? ‘It’s the perfect fit for me. From being teeny tiny and walking around M&S with my mum, wandering through the food hall and discovering Percy Pigs for the first time, working with Marks & Spencer is a dream come true. It’s a trusted go-to brand, but what we’ve done is try to push the boundaries a little bit.’
As we sit down to a tasty risotto lunch, accompanied by more champagne, Holly says: ‘What I love more than anything is looking online at people’s social media accounts and seeing that they’re talking about wearing the Holly Loves edit. Because that’s why we do it!’
HOLLY LOVES WILL BE AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN 70 STORES ACROSS THE UK FROM THURSDAY JULY 18. PRICES RANGE FROM £4.50 FOR A TEE TO £69.50 FOR A JUMPSUIT. FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW. MARKSANDSPENCER.COM/C/WOMEN/HOLLY-WILLOUGHBY.