Lessons from the stylish: Emilia Wickstead, 30, designer

Cadogan Place, with its regalia of stucco swags and bows, is the kind of London square where nothing could go wrong. That's the feeling that permeates Emilia Wickstead's atelier, which occupies the corner of the square adjoining Pont Street, SW1. Pushing open the gleaming door, I am met by three women: one in Neapolitan ice-cream pink, one in buttercup yellow, and one in paintbox blue. All are wearing pointed Manolos. "Can I get you some sparkling water?" asks Pink, as Yellow takes my jacket. This is how I imagine a salon in Paris might feel, circa 1956.

"That's exactly what I'm going for," says Wickstead, completing the scene in a pistachio ensemble of her own design. "I've always been inspired by old-world couture, the Dior salon feeling, rather than girls just standing there watching you shop. I like to think it's a personal place." The emphasis on a salon, rather than a shop, is key.

Wickstead makes clothes for women who have tennis lessons on a Wednesday morning and poached salmon for lunch. Among her fans are the Duchess of Cambridge, who wore a marine blue, pleated dress by the New Zealand-born designer on her recent Antipodean tour, and Samantha Cameron, as well as scores of smart west London ladies. They are used to old-fashioned service and elegant clothes. Wickstead's made-to-measure, classically feminine designs - and steady supply of San Pellegrino - fit the bill.

READ: Emilia Wickstead's ready-to-go couture

The autumn/winter 2014 collection, however, was a departure from the gelato pastels and prim styling we've come to associate with Wickstead. The show, held in London in February, was all python, leather, metallics and black. What inspired her new direction? "In previous seasons I think I had been pigeonholed," she says carefully. "And yes, the fabrics and textures were different. But that silhouette was still true to Emilia Wickstead." She thinks for a moment. "Maybe I've just become a bit cooler?" She erupts into giggles.

Wickstead has never been afraid to experiment. As a teenager growing up in New Zealand she spent most of her time rifling through second-hand stores, buying up bowling shirts and patterned nightgowns. "Once, four friends and I cut all our hair off, like boys," she says. "A couple of them cried afterwards, but I thought we looked really good."

Emilia Wickstead is a favourite with the Duchess of Cambridge, who wore her design on the recent Antipodean tour; Allison Williams, who wore Wickstead to the Oscars, and Poppy Delevingne, who wore a design from the spring/summer 2014 collection at the British Fashion Awards. Photo: REX

At 14, she and her mother (her father died when she was four) moved to Milan. "I noticed how girls were very feminine; no one was experimental with clothes. I grew my hair long, I started saving up for clothes." Her first designer buy, purchased with babysitting money, was a pair of chocolate-brown Miu Miu shoes. "I was so excited when I finally got them. I'd never seen a dust bag before, and it said Miu Miu on it, so I carried it round with me like it was a handbag!"

Determined to be a designer, Wickstead came to London aged 18 to study at Central Saint Martins. Her mother, a fashion designer, had given her a crash course in dressmaking - "she taught me that the inside of a garment should be as beautiful as the outside" - but London was a new entity.

"There wasn't that social pressure of your background or where you came from. You can be anything in London," she says. After work placements at Proenza Schouler, Giorgio Armani and American Vogue, she decided to go it alone.

What follows is a whacking plan to grow a wealthy customer base. Step one: move to west London. Step two: produce a first collection with a small loan from a boyfriend (now her husband). Step three: convert your living room into a salon, and make clothes to measure. Step four: earn enough money to make the rent by working on the door at Mahiki. Hang on: Mahiki? As in the West End nightclub best known for supplying Prince Harry with Treasure Chest cocktails at £450 a throw? "I hate telling this story!" she squeals. "But that was back in the days when Mahiki was cool! Besides, it was amazing money. I focused on clothes during the day and worked on the door in the evening."

Looks from the spring/summer 2014 Emilia Wickstead show

WATCH: Make-up looks at the Emilia Wickstead autumn/winter 2014 show

She showed her first proper collection at Raffles - another nightclub, this time in South Kensington. "When I think of it, I cringe. But you do what you've gotta do! And it was a great success." Customers came thick and fast. So she enacted step five: make an outrageously low bid for a shop space in Cadogan Place. After three rejections, her offer was accepted.

It hasn't all been plain sailing. "The first few months there was no one coming through the door. I cried and cried, thinking, 'We've made the biggest mistake of our lives.' It was very challenging.

"I worked in the shop every day. But that meant I was here to meet the clients, some of whom are now my closest friends - and I began to understand what my customer wanted."

Wickstead is the embodiment of her brand. She dresses almost exclusively in her own label, and cites polo necks and her "Paolina" trousers as her fail-safe outfit. "I have Paolinas in every colour and fabric - I'm crazy about them," she says, smiling - incidentally, she smiles all the time, possibly more than any other person I've met.

Shoes are almost exclusively by Manolo Blahnik and Saint Laurent - although her own shoe offering is in the pipeline.

For evening, she plays dress-up out of her own collections. "I love everything I design," she shrugs, admitting to jeans as the only exception - J Brand or Prada.

Does she have a clubbing outfit? She looks horrified, then relaxes. "Those days are behind me!" she says, then smiles to herself: "But I'm crazy for hip-hop."

Questions & Answers

High or low maintenance?
I would say I'm pretty low. I never get my hair done, I just do it myself. In the day I wear mascara and tinted moisturiser - although I've learnt that if I'm getting my photograph taken it's better to apply more, otherwise I look really, really tired.

It's wedding season. How can guests avoid looking frumpy?
English culture seems to dictate that everything needs to match. That's definitely not true. Mothers of the bride in particular need to mix it up a bit to look cool.

Handbag of choice?
I was given a Mark Cross bag after we used them in the spring/summer 2014 show, and now I use it all the time. Very often, though, I go out without a bag and just put things in my pockets. I lose my credit cards all the time as a consequence.

Anything you'd never wear?
Nude stockings. Ugh. Other than that, I'm pretty open to anything.

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