60 seconds with... Olivia Welsh

Need a quick fashion fix? Today, I’ll be speaking to Olivia Welsh, the creative brain behind womenswear brand Olivia Annabelle, on her favourite fashion moments, where she gets her inspiration and what she’s looking out for this season.

If you could wear one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

I’d say the one thing I could wear for the rest of my life would be a kimono/house coat style jacket because I feel that they are timeless. You can wear them at any age and for all occasions in different fabrics, during a summer day, for evening drinks, Christmas party, weddings and even at the beach! I’ve included them in my AW18 and current SS19 collection because they are so versatile!

What is your most memorable fashion moment to date?

I visited the Bellville Sassoon exhibition in London a few years ago at the Fashion and Textile Museum and met David Sassoon and Lorcan Mullany who gave me some great advice for setting up my own brand.

What’s your favourite AW19/20 trend?

As I’m always attracted to historical influenced clothing I’m really loving the oversized lace collars, draped impactful sleeves and ‘Witchy’ vibes for the Light Magic trend!

Where does your inspiration come from?

I take inspiration from the nostalgia of the past, local traditions and superstitions, with hours spent researching the history, novels, art and culture of each theme. My SS19 collection is inspired by the novel Little Women but I’ve also looked at the Brontë novels and Renaissance portraits for past collections too!

Who’s your favourite fashion designer?

That’s a really hard question there’s so many designers out there who I admire but I’m really loving Simone Rocha at the moment along with Nicky Zimmermann!

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