Amanda Wakeley: StyleDNA

• Harris Reed - Style DNA - Season 8⁠⁠

  In this episode I had the privilege of interviewing the fashion designer and creative director Harris Reed... and I have to say I was blown away by his vision, his confidence, his charm and his down to earth warmth. Fighting for the beauty of fluidity, half-American, half-British Harris Reed designs to create conversation. Growing up with a strong sense of self, Harris was able to quickly understand the transformative power of clothing and its correlation with identity and liberation. While still studying at Central Saint Martins, he caught the attention of the likes of Harry Styles who he dressed in some iconic looks for his tour including his signature pussy bow blouses and flares. Alessandro Michele, the then creative director of Gucci, spotted him and recruited him to his design studio.  His brand has gone from strength to strength showing Demi-Couture collections biannually in London and garnering VIP fans and clients including Beyoncé, Adele, and Sam Smith. The overall DNA of the Harris Reed brand and personal identity, is best described as Romanticism Gone Nonbinary. It puts the wearer and their fluidity - in whatever way it manifests, front and centre yet all while staying true to the brand’s ethos that strives for a vision of gender fluidity and inclusivity.  Personally, Harris dresses to invite the looks and stares, to blur the preconceived fault-lines people have about gender and sexuality. He is an incredibly striking and magnetic human being.  In 2021 he was invited to dress Iman for the prestigious Met Gala... both he and Iman looked spectacular despite a little personal mishap on his way there...too funny and too personal to write about but listen in and you will hopefully laugh with us. In September 2022, aged just 26, he was appointed the youngest ever Creative Director of French fashion house Nina Ricci. He is absolutely flying...In October 2023 Harris married his husband Eitan Senerman in an intimate ceremony in London at Chelsea Old Town Hall and Claridge's... The second wedding celebration in Palermo, Sicily in June 2024, saw Harris in 4 different outfits ... looking ever more spectacular in each one...of course we delve into why he designed each look...and how he wanted to feel...His recently published, beautifully illustrated book Fluid, is well worth a read... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Gaby Roslin - Style DNA - Season 8⁠⁠

  In this episode of Style DNA I go on a style journey with the simply joyous Gaby Roslin....one of the most positive and kind human beings on the planet.Gaby is one of the country's most popular TV and Radio presenters with incredible amounts of energy & enthusiasm for all things moving pictures and spoken words. Alongside hosting BBC1's Morning Live, on Saturdays on Magic Radio and Shop Smart Save Money on Channel 5, Gaby has released her first book Spread the Joy, as well as having her own incredibly successful podcast Reasons to be Joyful, and the list goes on... Work is her passion and she has no intention of slowing up, in fact, she admitted that she "would like to work until she is 99, host a live show and just go to sleep" ...  Gaby grew up around the broadcasting world and was obsessed by TV from a young age, following her father into the TV studios and dreaming of being part of that world with a mission to make people smile...she does that in spades. She is passionate about #shoppinginyourwardrobe ... LOVES colour and believes that age is irrelevant ... that we should wear what we want to wear...YES to that. We laugh about being eternally 33, in our heads at least, Gaby has a wonderful, youthful positive energy and it makes her shine...she is magnetic. Her aptly named That Gaby Roslin Podcast: Reasons To Be Joyful is unsurprisingly a happy listen. We talk wedding dresses, the power of a white trouser suit, dressing for 28 hours of back to back broadcasting on Millenium Night (not quite sure how she managed that) ...and in full disclosure, some of her old Wakeley favourites...  Thank you @gabyroslin for our joyous conversation xx Join the millions of people hitting their weight loss goals with Simple. To start your personalized plan complete the quiz at simple.life/amanda and use code AMANDA for 70% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Lydia Millen - Style DNA - Season 8⁠⁠

  In this episode I go on a style journey with one of the UK’s original and leading digital creators, Lydia Millen. I was drawn to interview Lydia as she focuses on the luxury space for her content creation, which, perhaps needless to say, is a space I have always loved. Her 15 year journey has seen her work with brand giants from Jo Malone to Hugo Boss and Tiffany…Lydia’s commercial influence is hugely impressive and often unrivalled. She is influenced by the beauty of nature and seasonal living, and has amassed a global audience of over 3 million who respect and trust her authentic opinions and eye for industry-leading products and passion for timeless style that defies trends.   Her journey has not always been straightforward and she has experienced her fair share of trolling but she is pragmatic about the fact that not everyone will love her content and perhaps in the early days she didn’t fully know who she was, very few people do quite frankly, but she is clear now.   We chat about how she didn’t really understand the full impact of a good outfit on her wellbeing until Covid hit, when there was no reason to get dressed up as you weren’t going anywhere but she realised the importance  of taking real care with what she wears on a day to day basis is an investment in herself, it was less about other people…in her words she was  “telling myself that I am worth dressing up for”…I SO love this sentiment…   By her own admission there have been some dodgy style choices including choosing to have a full blonde mullet haircut as a teenager to impress her then boyfriend.   Lydia is incredibly considered about her clothing choices and just one look at her feed shows a glorious and curated grid featuring a mainly neutral colour palette…saving strong colours for big moments…ie Ascot and special occasions…   Its no secret that she has always loved bags and by her own admission was a big collector of well made (and expensive) bags. Her first designer bag was a Mulberry which she worked 3 jobs while at university to be able to afford. Many of us have those memories of saving for that first designer purchase…mine was a Dior bag, and it was probably the cheapest one in the range but my, it felt good to go into the immaculate dove grey store on Conduit Street and soak up every moment of making my selection, watch it being beautifully wrapped and walking out of the door swinging that carrier bag proudly for the rest of the afternoon in London…   We bond over a mutual love and awe of Harris Tweed…  the tradition, the craftsmanship and the local passion that still goes into creating it.   She slightly surprised me with her Style Icon…but on reflection I fully understand why…   I hope you enjoy this episode. Thank you Lydia for your considered conversation xx Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Ferne McCann - Style DNA - Season 8⁠⁠

  In this episode I go on a Style Journey with the English TV personality and Co-Founder of the wellness app Shoorah, the inimitable Ferne McCann. Ferne first became a public figure when she appeared in the hit reality series The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE) for no less than 9 series... She quickly became one of the standout stars on the show and led to her appearing on ITV's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, plus having her own ITVBe series, Ferne McCann: First Time Mum (2018) which later became Ferne McCann: My Family & Me. The show marked Ferne as one of the most trusted and relatable celebrity mums. In addition to her TV career, Ferne has become a successful entrepreneur, collaborating with premium global brands in the fashion, lifestyle, and wellness industries. Her influence on social media reflects her dedication to health, self-care, and family, inspiring her followers with a positive, relatable approach to modern motherhood. Ferne co-founded Shoorah, the wellness app that promotes personal growth & mental health. It is now one of the most successful apps in that genre. Ferne's healthy ambition for a new challenge saw her compete on Dancing on Ice in 2025, adding a new chapter to her career.Ferne is a true Essex girl born and bred and I ask her if she is stereotypical ... that is for you to discover... As such a well known star on Social Media I ask her how she deals with the inevitable trolling that comes with the profile and she offers a valuable and practical insight as to how she protects herself...in fact how we can all protect ourselves if we so choose. One of the things that is very endearing about Ferne is that she doesn't take herself too seriously, although she does admit to being "very competitive"... she laughs about her early elimination from Dancing on Ice and how her grandfather blamed it all on her choosing to be a Troll for the dance...however she was clearly blown away by the creativity of the costume team. Ferne clearly has a tight knit team around her including her mother, her "style icon". She bemoans the fact that social media has perhaps made us all less creative and more inclined to question our own tastes and follow the pack...to the extent of making us believe that we want something because we see it so frequently on different feeds...social media drives you to follow rather than stick with your own personal style...there is some truth in that...it certainly is the quickest way for brands to reach the widest audience possible now. She has been very open about her post-partum journey and how she has been an advocate for breast feeding, and continuing to breast feed. She understands that this can be a divisive subject but she is also very aware of the support it gives to many women at a similar point in their lives.We discuss the aging process, tweakments and her well documented rhinoplasty (nose job)... and the dilemma of staying totally true to herself and her audience yet being tempted to  "fix" her boobs post breast feeding... she is refreshingly transparent on the whole subject.  She is about to start her own podcast called Every Cloud, to talk about trauma and people's stories inspired by her own life and how "when you are in the thick of trauma it often bumps you into the right direction"...very true.Finally we had a properly hilarious disconnect moment in the Quick Fires when I ask her whether she preferred Boyfriends or Wide Legs...of course I was referring to her choice of jeans ...Ferne, on the other hand thought I was referring to Ahem something completely different...! I hope you enjoy this episode. Thank you Ferne for being such a great guest x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Hannah Almassi - Style DNA - Season 8⁠⁠

  In this episode of Style DNA I go on a style journey with Hannah Almassi, the Editor-in-Chief of Who What Wear UK. It’s a wonderful digital fashion, beauty and style platform which can take you down rabbit-holes of inspiration …   Hannah joined Who What Wear UK following a seven-year career at Grazia magazine, where she led front-of-book news, fashion features and shopping specials as fashion news and features editor. With experience in both print and digital across fashion and beauty, Hannah has over 18 years in the field as a journalist, editor, content strategist and brand consultant.   Her passion for fashion started very early, as a young child she would “edit” fashion catalogues, cutting them up and creating her own mini catalogues…proving that some things are just innate in us!   Hannah first got into fashion as she wanted to be part of the democratisation of fashion….in her words she wasn’t the “archetypal fashion girly, I am not tall, I do not come from a wealthy background, I am not slim …I felt like I had a responsibility to represent (me) and sometimes that’s hard because at times it would be easier to look great in a picture if I was 6ft tall but at 5’1” it’s definitely more challenging”…but how inspiring and refreshing.   We talk about how intimidating it can be to circulate within the fashion industry and the importance of remaining true to yourself rather than being too “influenced” by those around you. I ask her about wardrobe planning for those epic fashion week trips to the shows.   Of course I ask her about ageism in fashion … and her opinions on sustainability in an industry that is designed to encourage you to consume more…her answers are thoughtful, informed and those of a true industry insider delivered in a pragmatic, considered way.   Being the fashion insider and editor that she is I couldn’t help but ask her opinion on the top 3 trends from the Autumn/Winter 25 catwalks…   She is also happy to laugh about her own fashion mishaps along the way too…   Thank you @hannahalmassi for being such a great guest x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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