portrait by Heath Brown, photography from www.shediedofbeauty.com
As a self-confessed hypochondriac, Erin O’Connor found the perfect title for her first project in fashion design: “She Died of Beauty”.
“A friend of mine was teasing me about the gruesome illnesses I often say I have and predicted this as my epitaph,” O’Connor laughs.
Teaming up with friend, celebrity stylist and designer, Kate Halfpenny, O’Connor has decided that it is time to have fun with fashion. “We can all take the industry too seriously sometimes,” she says with a wink, “so we are offering a teasing but affectionate tickle to the fashion world we love, honour and serve.”
In this whimsical vein, visuals for their collection were all taken in a photo booth. “I had to keep closing the curtain I was laughing so much,” she says, glaring at her business partner.
With a capsule collection of just five slogan tops and five bags the label is already a hit, available online at shediedofbeauty.com and from their stand in the Estethica section of the exhibition at Somerset House. Being here among the ethical sector of fashion is important to the duo. “We are not lecturing or saying you should wear a Tofu hat or suchlike,” says O’Connor, “but sourcing fair-trade cottons and non-polluting dyes is an obvious choice for us.”
