"What am I working on at the moment? Not that much really" jokes Hillier when chatting to Ponystep. "I'm en route to New York at the mo to work on the winter collection for Marc by Marc Jacobs which will mean thinking up bags, jewels, watches, belts and sunglasses. I've just finished the winter collection for Luella and we're about to start the pre-spring collection for her which is a super early time in the year but it feels grown up to do things early. Also, I'm just about to deliver the spring 09 collection to Samantha Thavasa in Japan and I'm also waiting on the spring bags for Norton and Sons to be delivered from Italy and then I'll start work on Henry Holland and Armand Basi". Get all that? Take note because these days the leading accessories designers like Katie have become power players in their own right and life is all about constant design meetings, international flights, appointments and making sure they get the job done. 

 

When it comes to her work process, far from being a Rachel Zoe type, Hillier doesn't just find inspiration from vintage pieces (although sifting through vintage shops is part of her job) She's a designer who likes to look beneath the surface of pop culture among other things too, "I love the current wave of music girls. Katie from the Ting Tings, Santogold, Alice from Crystal Castles and Florence and the machines. They are so cool and I'd love to see them in some of my designs. I love museums for ideas too, that's something I've been doing since I was a kid when my grandmother and grandfather would take me to the V&A. Of course, I do go to vintage dealers who always have so much amazing stuff, it's like a mini-lecture each time I go. But I would never say where I go. That's a secret but my main inspiration is London. It's style is so brave and electric. It's still so overwhelming to me."

 

Anyone with their finger on the economic pulse will know that, as fun and frivolous as fashion is, times are hard for savvy spenders - especially those who love their designer clobber. Fashion fans are yet to succumb to the reality of the 'credit-crunch', but have designers such as Hillier started checking in on how people are spending now? "The press suggest a slump in sales of luxury goods, but girls are still buying bags" she explains. "Retail staff would perhaps say that buyers are being a little more conservative with their choices of colour and materials, but to me, girls still love, love, love bags! I'm carrying a Marc by Marc Jelly Croc Hobo in bright green at the moment and thought of wearing it or buying it in brown or a conservative colour sends fear through me. I'd like to think that if girls have to be more careful with their spending then they will be more creative with it."

Hillier's accessories hit list reads like a colourful best-sellers list. There were the beaded belts for Luella, The Marc by Marc hobo and more recently a super radical selection for House of Holland...  So what piece is she most proud of? "I have really fond memories of my beaded belt for Luella." If your up on your fashion facts you'll know that it was her involvement in Luella's 'Daddy I Want A Pony' collection that propelled her into design success and has left her with the impressive CV she boasts now. Ponystep had to know though, of all the hundreds of designer 'it' bags and sartorial classics out there, which is the one she really covets??? The one she wishes she had designed? "Oh, the Birkin. Obviously"

And there you have it. Hillier loves the Hermes... and Marc, and Luella,  and Henry, and...!

AM.