Hanging out with the in crowd

Fashion designer Henry and accessories designer Katie met through their mutual friend Giles Deacon in 2005, and decided to work together after an evening at Shoreditch House. 'Someone had offered to make jewellery for him, and he asked me if they were good to work with,' she laughs. 'I just said, "I'll do it instead." Now I've infiltrated my way into his heart.'

Patrick, 39, Henry, 28, and Katie, 36, are an inseparable triumvirate, hanging out everywhere from J Sheekey to Downing Street. 'We were there for a Children in Need event last month and had our photo taken with Peter Andre on the steps by Number 10. He's so fake-tanned all you can see in the picture are the whites of his eyes,' says Patrick.

Each May they celebrate Henry's birthday at his mother's house in France with a raucous fancy-dress party. 'I never know what the theme is going to be,' says Henry. 'My friends blindfold me and dress me up, then I have to guess by looking at the costumes. Two years ago the theme was fashion, which was hilarious. Mum was Vivienne Westwood, Katie was Luella, Patrick was Giles. I was dressed as Galliano in a full pirate outfit. That one only took me about a second to guess.'

CLARIDGE'S
John Rocha with his daughter Simone

Claridge's is a home from home for the Rocha family. 'It's the sort of wonderful old English establishment that you don't get any more,' says fashion designer John, 58. 'I'm best friends with one of the owners, Paddy McKillen, so I'm here all the time; I've shown here twice.' Simone, 25, also a fashion designer (Lady Gaga chose to wear her clothes for a cover shoot with Elle last month), joins her father for tea at the hotel whenever she can. 'We come here and talk about how stressed we are before a show. My first memory of Claridge's is trying to sneak into Marc Jacobs' show; I went to work for him years later and had to admit what I'd done.'

John didn't encourage his daughter to follow him into fashion. 'I always knew that Simone would do something non-academic, because she grew up surrounded by my friends who are photographers, artists and musicians. In one sense I think her upbringing gave her a unique perspective. These days I'm learning from Simone, reliving my youth through her - I am realising there is a whole new world of fashion that I don't know about. It's a wonderful opportunity and I'm very proud.'

It wasn't an obvious career choice for Simone, who studied fine art in Ireland before deciding to specialise in fashion at Central Saint Martins. 'I was really lucky because my teacher said: "I don't give a s*** who your father is, the work speaks for itself." I've learned a lot from my dad. Mum says we're very similar; we're the only people who bash heads in the family. We both know what we want, and we want to do it well.'
Simone and John Rocha will present their AW12 collections at Somerset House on Saturday 18th February

ROCHELLE CANTEEN
Lulu Kennedy, Markus Lupfer and Louise Gray
East London might not have always been the fashion hub it is now, but it has long been where the trendsetters, led by Fashion East's Lulu Kennedy, 42, have hung out. 'East London now is nothing like it was a few years ago, but I've always loved it here,' she says. 'One of the only places to go used to be The Bricklayers, and I would hang out behind the bar with David Waddington [of Bistrotheque] every night, to the point where I unofficially worked there. Whenever things got too mad I'd help David make drinks. The only place to eat in East London was the Texaco garage. There was nothing else. Everyone would gather there on a Sunday morning to cure their hangover with a Ginsters sausage roll.'

Today, Lulu's set flock to the Rochelle Canteen in Shoreditch. With the next-door building home to Katie Hillier's studio, and designer Markus Lupfer's office just a stone's throw away, they can be found here at least a couple of times a week.

'The canteen is in the old Rochelle School bike shed, which is really romantic,' says Lulu. 'In the summer they put tables and chairs outside in the courtyard, and it's always full of my friends.'
'I love that it's tucked away behind the high walls,' adds designer Louise, 30. 'There's something secretive about it.'

Now that they've found their Shangri-la, they aren't planning to leave. 'East London is full of all sorts of creative people, that's why it's so interesting,' says Markus, 40. 'There's always something new: a new bit of graffiti, a new party, a new restaurant. There's never a day when nothing happens.' ES
(luluandco.co.uk)