You’ve worked in many areas of the industry, as a buyer and a stylist. Why did you start Kéji? What was it a reaction to?

My background very early on was in design and pattern cutting but I didn’t feel ready or confident enough to start my own thing because I hadn’t been down the traditional route of going to fashion college. So I carved out my own path into the industry, which ranged from working for designers pattern cutting and tailoring, to working for Katie Grand at LOVE magazine and buying at Net-A-Porter.

Was design always the end goal?

I felt ready to start my label when I saw a gap in elevated daywear. There’s a really strong market of cocktail and occasion wear but when you look at everyday clothes, there’s a jump down into a lower section of the market. Being a woman designer, you realise how much we have to deal with during the day, running around – there’s no time to go home and change. Kéji is the ethos of clothes that can carry you through your day. There’s no such thing as ‘off-duty’ – just because we’re dressing casually doesn’t mean we’re not doing it in an elevated way. Then there’s the nod towards slower fashion – I bring back shapes every season, tweaked or with a different fabrication because I think women like to know that they can come back to you for something that they know works for them. I often get repeat customers asking ‘Can I get that jacket in a different colour?’ or who have four pairs of our classic jeans. It’s about building a wardrobe.

What are your classic jeans?

The cigarette jean. It has an Italian pocket. It’s not skinny and it’s not boyfriend style, it’s a cigarette trouser. That’s a style we launched with for autumn/ winter 15 and people still come back to it, asking for that style. It looks and feels like a trouser that happens to be in denim. We’ve also introduced a wider jean that I think is becoming a classic as women get their head around a non-stretch jean. The bright blue on the denim is a chemical-free indigo dye so it washes to this true-blue. But we’re very much not a denim brand anymore!

Tell me about the departure from being a denim brand...

We never intended to be a denim brand exclusively but I thought it was a really nice way to make a clear statement for the first season. I love that denim never goes out of style and isn’t trend-driven and the fabric is so hard-wearing. Our jeans can last 10 years or more.

How do women relate to your clothes?

One example is our flocking that we developed for autumn/winter 16 that is heavy velvet but flocked onto a waterproof base so you’re wearing this beautiful piece, and if it starts raining, it’s fully waterproof.

Everything I do has something that nods to our real life; you can shove it in the washing machine, you can get it wet, there’s always that attitude. All the clothes I make actually get put to work and will see you through your day. I wear trainers every day but I like to look smart and be able to go into a meeting or to a nice restaurant and not feel underdressed. Tailoring is a huge part of what we do so that all elements fit the body beautifully.

As a tailor, what shapes do you find flattering?

Generally speaking, if the waistline goes up a bit to be tailored around the body, you get the illusion of a flatter stomach (if that’s the look you’re into.) Then I lengthen the leg and maybe make it wider to show off the contour of the bum. I also think a lot about where I put pockets and seams. I think about where I’m drawing the attention to with those details.

Tell me about your new collection for spring/summer 17...

It started with this one photograph from the late ‘80s of Christian Hosoi, who’s a brilliant street skater, doing this very graceful aerial jump. The skate reference is super cliché, everyone’s done it, but this photograph got me thinking how I could do it in our way. Print was a heavy part in the collection. I wanted to incorporate skate decals into the print, like biro or Sharpie artwork, so we did that but in a delicate way. We presented the collection in a square in Soho, it was like a metaphor for a skate park – I think it’s so beautiful how these kids hang out in these sculptural landscapes. There’s so much beauty in those references.