AS we gear up for 2015 autumn/winter Belfast FashionWeek which returns to the city from October 15-18 we caught up with FashionWeek TV presenter Katie Larmour.
Businesswoman, designer, model and presenter Katie has been with FashionWeek since its inception 20 seasons ago and says she finds the event to be “growing in popularity” season after season.
Over the coming weeks the former face of FashionWeek Katie will be revealing her own designer brand but at the minute she’s keeping tight-lipped.
She said: “I’m getting ready to launch my own lifestyle brand at the minute and I’m really quite excited about that.
“In the meantime I’ve been fitting my FashionWeek committments around travelling, both researching for my brand and spending time with my boyfriend.
She told friends: “happy birthday to my wonderful boyfriend x — with Alessandro Bazzoni.” Pic: Facebook.com/katie.larmour.belfast
“I’ve been really lucky to have had the opportunity to travel across the world from Florida and Milan to Tel Aviv and Spain over the last year.
“It’s really given given me the chance to explore a lot of different fashion trends and styles and appreciate just how much we have going on in Northern Ireland.
“My boyfriend is Italian, so of course style comes naturally to him and I have to admit he’s taught me a thing or two.
“We’re lucky to have lot of talented designers here in Northern Ireland.
“I love local labels such as Riona Treacy, Ruedi Maguire and of course fabulous hats by Grainne Maher Millinery
“I’ve loved presenting BFW over the years, I guess it has inspired me in a sense to be imaginative with what I wear
“When I was filming behind the scenes at the recent launch there was such a real buzz going on.
“It’s a pleasure to get to chat to Northern Ireland’s top fashion designers, Belfast FashionWeek is getting bigger and better every year, I just love being a part of it and no matter where I am in the world I would never miss it.”
FashionWeek is once again sponsored by West Coast Cooler and this year’s series of events is set to get welcome the country’s top designers as well as boutique shops, designer brands and high street names to the catwalks.
Celebrating their 20th season this year’s programme is packed with everything from nightly catwalk shows, Sushi Saturday, Style Sunday, menswear show and the Fashion Souk as well as a body image workshop.
Katie Goes Behind The Scenes At BFW AW15 Launch
Katie’s Top Fashion Tips
1. Staples
For busy art dealer and model Katie having a few “good pieces” in your wardrobe is absolutely essential.
She added: “It’s ok if you spend a fortune on a pair of designer shoes, if you worked hard for that money you will love them so much more.
“It’s also a good idea to buy in unpatterned neutrals so you can get more wear out of them, not only will they go with almost everything you wear, being neutral you can wear them as often as you want without anyone realising.
“Also you can splurge out on an item, be it shoes a handbag or some other accessory and have the rest of your items chips as chips but the overall outfit look a million dollars.
“For example I’ll wear a pair of classic Chanel flat ballet pumps, a Topshop day dress and finish off with a vintage or even charity shop belt.”
2. Be patient about being adventurous
Katie explained: “Before you purchase those more adventurous pieces make sure you have all the basic staples in your wardrobe.
“For example, the white silk blouse, a classic handbag, comfortable yet stylish flats, navy blazer, nude and black stiletto heels, little black dress, skinny jeans (preferably stretchy) and so on.
“Once you have all these then with a packed wardrobe of classic and timeless pieces it’s time to go searching for that special something to complement them.”
3. Something old, somthing new
Hinting a little at what we can expect from her own forthcoming brand KL Designs Katie revealed: “Just like with my designs for interiors, I love to have a mix of old and new
as well as cherishing items of age my outlook is also that the past fuels the present
“I’ve reimagined vintage finds creating a new and luxury product and with fashion I’ll finish off an outfit with a vintage, antique or sometimes even charity shop accessory.”