Belgians hold a special place in their hearts and homes for Kipling. If you went to school in Belgium, any time between now and 1987, chances are you were carrying a Kipling book bag or a back pack or their mascot monkey. Even after more than twenty five years kids are still begging their parents to buy them bags and monkeys because they never stopped being IT. And that’s unusual for a trendy, commercial brand! When the Kipling people in Brussels approached me last year to work on a collaboration I didn’t hesitate. I have great respect for the brand, not just because of its Belgian heritage or my personal nostalgia but also for their integrity, modern-day craftsmanship, international success and happy, colorful esthetic. And the fact that Helena Christensen was my predecessor definitely helped their case – I was in tasteful company.

The idea came to me pretty quickly. We drew inspiration from my own life as a frequent traveler – school goer no more – and decided on a collection for the ‘Woman on the Move’. I wanted to keep it clean, classic and simple, but not boring. I didn’t want to design anything trendy or flashy or with prints. It had to be minimal, fresh, unique for Kipling but to-their-global-standards commercial. I picked four pieces of luggage that I personally use on my travels: a large trolley, a small carry-on trolley, a beach bag and a toiletries bag. The set is light, practical and sturdy. Design-wise I chose for horizontal color blocking with six colors. One set of four pieces comes in the same color way of blue/orange/red and the other set comes in four different color ways so the customer can choose to match or mix. The main color is a new blue I created for Kipling – Joosy blue – and we finished everything with white zippers and a palm tree print lining. Funnily I had a lot of trouble designing the Natalie monkey. I thought I should put some vintage clothes on her, but whatever we tried, nothing looked right. Finally we stripped her of everything but my signature red lipstick!

My travel set will be available on-line and in stores, worldwide, from June 1st, but we broke the news (after the WWD exclusive) with a press dinner and a fun party in Antwerpen on March 13th. My friends and family came out, and some Flemish celebrities and the entire Kipling staff, including the CEO and a very adorable Japanese delegation! It was an amazing ride – thank you Gwenda, Annik, Tina, Marie, Jurgen for your support. Now let’s hope the Kipling fans (and you!) like my bags…..

Clothing credits for press photos and video: Vintage white and yellow polka dot dress with vintage belt; Pencil skirt by Isolda and vintage embroidered top; Vintage fluorescent top and green earrings; Multi color dress by Peter Pilotto and vintage beige blazer by Stella McCartney.

Red party dress by Giulietta. Photos by Gianni Camilleri; Make-up by Paul Hillewaere.