Kelly Hoppen | Amanda Wakeley Style DNA

In this final episode of Season 7 of Style DNA I go on a Style journey with a true icon of British design, my friend, the world-renowned Interior Designer, Author of 10 books, affectionately dubbed the ‘Queen of Taupe’, …the titian haired, inspirational pocket-rocket power house that is Kelly Hoppen CBE. I first met Kelly when she was looking for a wedding dress...there are some designs that you never forget as a designer and to this day, 35 years on, I could sketch that dress, coat and shoes precisely ... all very pre-Raphaelite...I was thrilled to learn that Kelly still owns it and what's more still wears the floor length velvet coat over jeans. She talks openly about how long it took her to find her style and how much more relaxed she is in making her purchasing decisions now that she has her style formula...her Style DNA. We laugh about her going to give a talk at Bloomberg and how she dressed up to fit in with what she thought was expected of her, as though she was going into a boardroom, only to be told by someone very close to her to go and change, asking "where has Kelly Hoppen gone?!" and reminding her that Bloomberg had invited her because of who she was. This was clearly a pivotal moment for her, and the lesson was to never lose your own identity because of what you perceive to be someone else's expectations of you. Such good advice. Now she lives between London and the Cotswolds and we discuss what country dressing means in that uber glam part of the country