Natalie B Coleman
On her collection, her husband and love of Iceland....
‘Oh but I have only had a few hours sleep!’ Natalie Coleman protested when I asked her if our photographer could take a few shots after our interview. The Irish designer of eponymous label NatalieBColeman needn’t have worried about her appearance though, because even in flats, a t-shirt and her brown hair hung about her face, she was clearly still glowing from the party the night before. ‘A neighbor used to say to be ‘in the moment’ and I’m slowly getting there these days to enjoy what’s happening and not worry so much’ she said when I later asked her for the best advice she’s ever been given. She was clearly following it now; this was actually our second attempt at an interview trying to fit into her hectic, fun-filled schedule. But her relaxed, carefree attitude was infectious and we quickly settled in to talking about her SS15 collection Be Still My Beating Heart.
‘Every season is almost like a diary page for me and this one was all about my mum’ she said with her soft Irish accent starting to cut through her tiredness. ‘Her favourite flowers were roses so I painted the rose with kind of black ink dripping off it. Then we developed the design for digital printing.’ The rose pattern is certainly the distinctive feature of the collection, which is a playful mix of patterned dresses, t-shirts and jumpers in combination with more structured and textured pieces. ‘It’s quite feminine, flirtatious and romantic’ Natalie said as she glanced over at her presentation rails and the vase of red roses blooming in the corner.
After chatting for some time about individual pieces from her new collection – I admitted my slight obsession with her A-line skirts – we moved on to talk about her creative process. In 2011 she developed a book with the head of design at the London College of Design, Paul Bailey, ‘he’s a friend’, which was then bought by London College of Fashion and nominated for the British Book Design Awards. ‘It’s kind of about process and about everything you’re thinking about and listening to and looking at while you’re thinking of design and the next season.’ I mentioned the Cat Stevens lyrics that were in the book, are they a big influence? ‘Yes! And Cat Power!’ she declared with a grin. And aside from her mother’s influence on this collection, has anything else she designed been overtly personal? ‘I think if you are making something it always comes from a place that’s personal – it has to if its going to be something that’s original.‘
‘When I did my second collection I was kind of chatting to a friend of mine and was laughing about how I had been going out with guys for years and years and years and I had never gotten any jewellery so that’s where the name for ‘All The Jewellery I Never Got’ came from I thought it would so much fun to draw all this. jewellery that I had wished