Lily Allen Interview

LILY Allen is sipping Champagne and painting her nails white - a fitting colour given that she’s getting married this Saturday. She’s at Harvey Nichols Manchester with her sister Sarah Owen for the launch of their Lucy in Disguise fashion collection.

"Far too many of our current so called voices or celebrities are so conscious of what they say that everything just becomes the same mindless boring dribble about how happy they are. It’s all bullshit. There are problems in the world and Ryan Air shouldn’t be charging £40 for a fucking piece of paper. It’s outrageous."

After running across town to get there on time because, believe it or not this is one celebrity capable of being ahead of schedule, I arrived in a dewy fluster. “Let her catch her breath” says Lily.

I’d been asked to keep the topic of conversation on fashion although perhaps someone should have also told Lily that too. Not one to be censored, she chats freely and openly, like we’re having a natter over the garden fence. It’s refreshing.

“Did you manage to get your crispbreads with dipping cheese on the train up to Manchester? They’re actually called HandiSnacks, in case you were wondering,” I mention, having seen her latest Twitter pleas for the vintage savoury item.

“No I think it was discontinued 20 years ago. How did you know that?”

“Google. So are you two the sisterly UK equivilant of the Kardashians then or what?” I begin. Lily almost spits her drink out in laughter.

“I’ve got an arse like one of them. Maybe we should rebrand ourselves so we’ve got the same first initial like a brandable family?”

“I’ve never been very happy with the name Sarah,” says Sarah.

You can understand why. It’s hard to imagine ‘Sarah Owen’ in lights, but there’s no denying her behind the scenes input into this particular project. She looks the part too – dressed in the waist cinching black Lucy in Disguise jitterbug prom dress (£215), channelling Hepburn with her perky up-do - and seems to be in her promotional comfort zone when talk turns to the clothing range.

Despite being the apparent driving force, she’s the first to admit she couldn’t and wouldn’t have done it without Lily, presumably for financial reasons but also on a personal level.

“I don’t think I would have had the confidence. I was running a vintage store on Portobello for years before this, but not thinking it was my main vocation. Lily pushed me into making a go of it as a serious career.”

And a little superstar sister exposure can’t hurt either. But Lily refuses to wear any sort of fashion royalty crown when offered, preferring surprisingly to cite her rumoured arch nemesis as someone more worthy of the modern day fashion icon title. “Kate Moss is pretty up there. The Olsen twins maybe too.” Perhaps Ms Moss will be getting a wedding invite after all.

“Everyone laughs at how I look all the time,” she adds. I quickly point out that the laughs were mainly back in her horrendous “dress and trainer days.”

“How dare you, I think that was my high point. That was really iconic,” she says before erupting once again into that contagious laughter, which then quickly dissolves into a coy smile.

“I get embarrassed when people say I’m a fashion icon, not because I’m modest but because I truly don’t think that. It just makes me feel a bit ill to think of myself that way.”

While it might be difficult for Lily to take a compliment she certainly thrives off a good old dose of negativity. The passion and pain rolls off her tongue, along with a load of profanities when she’s really riled.

“Fifties clothes at futuristic prices. Someone posted that on a forum about Lucy in Disguise. Thoughts?” I ask.

“Well there’s only one fifties dress,” says Lily before Sarah jumps in with the hard facts. “The thing is every retailer has been really impressed and surprised by the prices. They’re relative on the contemporary floor.”

“If you’re comparing the prices to Primark then yes it’s considerably more expensive,” says Lily. “But the clothes are made from silk and really beautiful fabrics. It’s just ignorant. Well, not ignorant - ill informed.”

The 100 per cent viscose with a polyester lining tag inside the beautiful Lucy in Disguise red roxy jumpsuit (£185) Lily points out as being silk, is perhaps more an indication that she could be a bit ill-informed too.

Still, silk or no silk, people  find it hard to take any pop star turned fashion designer seriously. In response, Lily is quick to point out what is and isn’t on her CV.

“I’ve never said I’m the sole designer of these clothes. We’re very open and honest about the fact we’re inspired by clothes that already existed in the past. I think that makes us a lot more honest than other designers who are clearly inspired by the same things too. It’s quite naive to think like that.

“Also, music has so much become about fashion these days. That’s one thing I struggled with in the beginning but came to love later on in life. When you’re doing seven photo shoots a week and there are all these clothes on the rails, you do get to know clothes pretty well. Why wouldn’t it be a natural step to take?”

Thanks to the fact JLS now have their own condoms and JLo admitted recently she didn’t have much involvement in her first clothing line, the public is now alert to celebrity branding manipulation. Lily’s motto? Let them have their condoms, so it seems.

“I think they do it for the money. Whether that’s wrong or not, I don’t know. It’s their own prerogative. I think the important thing is to not be too misleading and not to lie. There’s a reason why this isn’t called the Lily Allen Collection. It’s a 50/50 thing between me and my sister.”

It may not be the Lily Allen Collection, but Lucy in Disguise has gained enough attention all by itself. One suspecting journalist even suggested the brand is ‘cleverly named after drugs’.

“Surely not?” I ask.

That laugh again. This time louder than ever. “Oh for God’s sake,” says Lily. Sarah quickly quashes the rumour before Lily lets loose.

“We’re definitely not making any reference to drugs. We’re referencing the Beatles song, yes. It’s just a funny, cute play on words.”

“Did you get that off the Daily Mail website by any chance?” says Lily.

“No, but this one is. ‘Hell hath no fury like Lily Allen scorned.’ True?”

“Hahahaha... I  can be quite defensive. I’m just quite a vocal person.”

“Yeah, you were quite vocal about Ryan Air and journalist Julie Birchill this week on Twitter. Do you ever feel like you should censor yourself for the sake of keeping media talk purely about your business ventures?”

“Julie Birchill was really famous in the Eighties. She was quite prolific and quite brilliant. I think she was really cool and can be still, sometimes. But with regards to myself and her hatred of me – she’s meant to be a really intelligent journalist yet she’s never met me and everything she ever says referencing some tabloid news article is really ill researched for a so-called professional.

 “I think far too many of our current so called voices or celebrities are so conscious of what they say that everything just becomes the same mindless boring dribble about how happy they are. It’s all bullshit. There are problems in the world and Ryan Air shouldn’t be charging £40 for a fucking piece of paper. It’s outrageous.”

You can’t argue with that. But as Sarah sits patiently beside her, I wonder if she ever gets tired of it all being about Lily, but I go ahead and ask her what she’ll be wearing for Lily’s wedding regardless. Her response is as  unresentful as ever, as she looks over to get the nod from little sis to talk about the big day.

“I have a number of options,,” she says trying to maintain some mystique. Lily lets rip. “You’re probably going to wear a Lucy in Disguise sample though?”

“Well, yeah I’ve got one from a couple of collections ahead,” says Sarah, reluctantly.

Despite being four days away, both girls appear calm and collected about Lily’s pending nuptials. Girly wedding chats and dreams of the big day don’t come across as their thing though. Neither do meringue-like wedding dresses. “No certainly not” says Lily, of her own mystery wedding dress. You heard it here first.

“Wedding dresses don’t excite me that much,” adds Sarah.

“That’s because you’re fearful of getting married,” replies Lily before launching into her final fit of giggles.

“I don’t think that’s the case at all. I’m a lot more excited about for example, the speakeasy dress,” says Sarah, defensively, but in good humour. This short dialogue alone is a reflection of the pair's relationship. Bickering but blooming.

Looking to the future you can only hope that the mutual respect remains. For the moment, Lily appears to be 100 per cent dedicated to their joint venture. Even music has taken a back seat, although I wouldn’t fully rule out a return.

“One day...much further on down the line,” she says as she goes on to explain enthusiatically that she’s still writing and has just finished the Bridget Jones musical. But before she drifts too far into Lily land again, Sarah butts in: “This is all a big mad rollercoaster of a ride and I’m excited by the fact we don’t know where it’s going to take us...”

You can kid the world, but not your sister.

The Lucy in Disguise collection is now available at Harvey Nichols stores nationwide.

Follow @lyndamoyo on Twitter