Katie Grand makes a splash with Hogan The stylist and editor Katie Grand has turned her hand to a new range of accessories for Hogan, all of which come with her characteristic colourful spin. Katie Grand is attempting to draw a skirt on a pink Post-it note. 'I am terrible at drawing,' Grand, the editor-in-chief of Love magazine, says. 'But then Miuccia can't draw either, so that's fine.' We are sitting in her office in Clerkenwell, east London, discussing the capsule collection she has designed for the Italian accessories brand Hogan. 'Luckily Hogan weren't judgmental. They only wanted a spec drawing, pointing out fine stitching, for instance. Sometimes I've had to draw a skirt for Marc or Miuccia and that's mortifying. If I do draw anything it's only an A-line, with a pleat in the front or the back. Miuccia and I do similar drawings. I reckon that's why the Prada skirts are so basic.' Grand's habit of name-dropping fashion designers - Marc is Marc Jacobs, Miuccia is Mrs Prada - is the only hint of her super-stylist status. Far from the polished fashion editor stereotype, Grand is gap-toothed, make-up free and slightly shambolic. Sitting in an office largely occupied by toys, including an 8ft plush flower cushion, it's hard to believe that she has collaborated with the most glamorous brands over the course of her career. As a stylist and consultant she has worked with Armani, Miu Miu, Bottega Veneta and Loewe, and edited magazines such as Dazed & Confused , Pop and now Love . Abbey Clancy with large purse, £355 Grand, 41, grew up in Birmingham. It was her father, a scientist, who introduced her to fashion magazines, buying her The Face , i-D and Vogue when she was 13. 'In the 1970s he dressed a bit like Bob Geldof when he was in the Boomtown Rats,' she says. 'Now he's an avid buyer of Comme des Garçons. He got grumpy last season because he wanted their pink nylon biker jacket but they had sold out. After school she went to Central Saint Martins School of Art in London which, she says, was horrible. 'They didnt get me, I didn't get it.' She left to found Dazed & Confused with the photo-grapher Rankin and journalist Jefferson Hack. Last year she turned to designing, an avenue that had previously terrified her. Grand accepted the job of creative director at Mulberry in 2007, but lasted only three hours. I had a complete panic attack. I just couldn't stop crying. I thought, "Oh f***, everyone's going to say how terrible I am and [the fashion writer] Sarah Mower's going to rip me to shreds." It was like being five years old. She left her office at lunchtime and never went back. How, then, did she overcome her fear to design a 23-piece capsule collection for Hogan? She looks momentarily baffled, then says, 'With Hogan, it's not a fashion show; it's working within what their product is. With Mulberry I sat there thinking, "Oh my god, who is she?" Whereas I kind of know who the Hogan girl is. She's young, she's cool.' Hogan is a comfortable fit for Grand. She began working with the company as a consultant in 2008, and continued for four seasons, before Karl Lagerfeld collaborated with Hogan for its spring/summer 2011 collection. After bumping into Diego Della Valle, the CEO of Tod's, the company that owns Hogan, in July last year, she was taken aback when he asked her to design some pieces. I think he was drunk. Or perhaps they couldn't think of anyone else.' Sunglasses, £252; large purse, £355; Attractive sneakers, £355 Grand's self-deprecation masks a thorough technical understanding of accessories. Brand collaborations throughout her career have exposed her to the minutiae of handbags and shoes. 'I think they [Hogan] were surprised by how hands-on I was,' she says. 'I've sat in so many design meetings that I know about edge painting and stitch length.' The collection, entitled Gang, initially comprised a pair of shoes and one handbag, but expanded to include sunglasses, slippers and three styles of trainer, which are all manufactured in Italy. Grand's starting point was pink - her favourite colour. 'I started with a fluoro colour called Pantone 8-12, which is the pink that I've used over and over. It was the first logo colour for Pop. Trainers from the Hogan archive have been reworked in bright patent leathers, and the slippers and handbags, new designs by Grand, are covered in hearts. 'I can draw hearts!' she says. Above all, she wanted the pieces to be functional. She insists that 'you can walk four miles' in the ballet slippers, and that the handbag was designed to carry a BlackBerry, iPhone, credit card and key. 'The collection doesn't pretend to be high fashion. I wanted to do something super-practical. Mini purse, £275, large purse, £355 The roll-call of models who agreed to work with her is impressive, and includes Linda Evangelista, Edie Campbell, Dree Hemingway, Cara Delevingne and Jessica Stam. Grand has been signed up to produce a second collection for the brand, which she says will be 'less patent, less fluoro' and include small leather goods, such as iPad and iPhone cases. She's adamant, though, that this is her limit when it comes to design. The idea of doing clothes fills me with fear. I would hate to compete with people I know who do it so much better. Katie Grand. Photo: Rex Gang by Katie Grand for Hogan is available from Hogan, 10 Sloane Street, London SW1 (020-7245 6363; hogan.com)