FASHION SPECIAL
STYLE SISTERS GEMMA LILLY AND CHARLOTTE REDDINGTON WORK THEIR MAGIC IN CELEB HOUSES AND HAVE EARNED A STAR-STUDDED CLIENTELE
It’s fair to say that lockdown turned most of us into home improvement experts – or at least we think it did. And one craze that took social media by storm was colourcoordinating everything in sight, from our bookshelves to our wardrobes. But leading the way with dramatic closet makeovers are the Style Sisters, Gemma Lilly and Charlotte Reddington, who are in hot demand from celebs such as Stacey Solomon and Rita Ora.
Here, the duo, who aren’t really sisters but best friends, reveal their key decluttering tips, their favourite famous clients and what we can expect from their new book, Helping You Live An Organised & Stylish Life…
Tell us about your book… Gemma: It’s about helping you become a more organised person in the home. Charlotte: It also gives you top interiors tips – how to style a room layout.
How would you organise on a budget? Gemma: You can get storage baskets for different prices. Go to Poundland or Home Bargains – it all just depends on your budget and aesthetic.
Charlotte: You can even reuse things around the home and cover shoeboxes in a wrapping paper that suits the room.
Are your own houses organised? Gemma: I can’t leave the house until everything is back in its place. Tidy house, tidy mind. The mental health aspect to what we do is huge.
Charlotte: We’re building a new house, so it’s a bit up in the air at the moment and I can’t wait to get all organised and settled.
What are your tips for a wardrobe detox? Gemma: If you’ve not worn something for a long time then assess it.
Charlotte: We always say flip the hanger the other way round, and when you’ve worn it put it the normal way round, then in six months, assess why you haven’t worn it.
What are the must-have items you use to organise your home? Gemma: Our stackable idesign boxes. Charlotte: They don’t waste shelving space and our slimline hangers are a godsend – you can fit much more on the rail.
What is the weirdest thing you’ve found when decluttering? Charlotte: We found a cat poo in a Mulberry bag – that was one of our first clients.
Gemma: It kept peeing and I kept treading in it. It was not nice. We’ve seen it all!
Which celeb home has been your favourite? Gemma: Our regulars like Vogue [Williams] and Spencer [Matthews].
Charlotte: Rochelle and Marvin [Humes], and Amanda [Holden].
Gemma: We stay late a lot and end up having takeaways with our clients. It’s so nice that they make us feel so welcome in their homes.
Whose wardrobe have you wished for? Charlotte: Rochelle’s got an amazing wardrobe. We’re designing a new one for her – it’s going to be unreal.
Which celeb home would you love to style? Gemma: It sounds so clichéd but the Kardashians. I do like their style, generally. Charlotte: The Beckhams, their London home and their LA home.
‘we found cat poo in a mulberry bag. we’ve seen it all!’
We’ve seen on your Instagram that you’re at houses until the middle of the night! Gemma: Until they chuck us out. Charlotte: Poor Vicky Pattison was on the sofa asleep and it was, like, 2am! She messaged us the next day saying, “Oh my God, girls, it’s amazing!”
Do you stay up at night thinking about putting something in the wrong place? Charlotte: We go home thinking about it then message each other, “Those belts should have gone in that drawer.” We put in blood, sweat and tears. This is a scar from building the unit at Vogue and Spencer’s – the screwdriver chipped me! I used Theodore’s toy wooden hammer – the stuff we get up to!
What has been your biggest pinch-me moment so far?
Charlotte: Our clients cheerleading us, like Amanda putting us on Heart Radio. Gemma: And Instagraming. We haven’t asked them to but they will Instagram us.
Did social media fuel your success? Charlotte: We hit 10,000 followers after two months and it rapidly went from there. Gemma: We’d be at a celeb’s house and then be on the phone to another celeb. Before we knew it our clientele was purely celebrities.
What’s next for you? Gemma: We never in a million years thought we’d be doing a book. We would love to do products and see the business grow.
Charlotte: Bring on more staff and go abroad with it when we can, and TV.
words and styling: harriet wheeler Photos: catherine hack