Fearne's Winter Wonders

If you had to pinpoint one celebrity who really knows how to dress with flair and originality it would have to be Fearne Cotton. Her own wardrobe is strewn with covetable pieces that set her apart from the crowd in the best possible way, so it's little wonder that her third collection for Boots Mini Club is as multi-layered and full of exciting detail as any of her own ensembles. As Junior perused the rails in the Boots showroom we let out several yelps of excitement and a more than a few coos too. There are so many gorgeous pieces, from a classic navy parka trimmed with an outrageous fuchsia pink faux fur trim to the most magical shimmering rainbow party dress and we are completely in love with a quirky pencil print jersey dress.

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We chatted to Fearne about her favourite pieces from the collection and the motherhood juggle...

Hi Fearne, we absolutely love the new Fearne by Fearne Cotton for Boots Mini Club collection! There are so many cool, statement pieces that have caught our eye...

It's been interesting because this is the third collection and we've really started to have more fun. For the first collection you kind of play it safe because you really don't know what people want for their kids and whether they're prepared to try something a bit more out there but then we started to realised quite quickly that all the stand out pieces like the matching tracksuits and the faux fur jackets were the biggest sellers.

So now, rather than just doing say a plain fur coat like last season we've done a raspberry ripple one that is a bit more out there - I mean I would genuinely wear that in my size - and then we've got the matching printed tracksuit sets for the boys. We've been clocking on social media that parents are putting the boys in the full matching set rather than teaming them with a t-shirt or different trousers so we're carrying on with that because people seem to love it and equally for the girls the matching leopard print tracksuit is so comfy and easy to move in. Comfort has been a real focus throughout the whole process, but we're being more daring with our patterns, textures and even the styles that we're making.

So would you say Instagram is a big consideration when you're designing for your customer?

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It's been really interesting to see what's selling well and also what people are enjoying. It's such a lucky thing that I have social media and I get that instant feedback. People often tag me and then tell me why they bought it, who for, why they like it and that's been just invaluable to get that kind of feedback. We can take that in a real statistic lead way and see what works. One bit of feedback we've had is that customers wish the range was available in bigger sizes so we've moved the age up to 7 years form 6 which has been brilliant and hopefully that will be well received.

Have you made any other changes based on customer feedback?

Last year people were asking about baby ranges so we did our first one last year and we've got our second one out now and that's been going down brilliantly as well. Again really comfy romper shapes and cute prints.

Are your children willing guineapigs when you're testing out your designs?

They're very honest. Honey hates dresses so if I put her in that sparkly party dress from the collection she would freak out on me. To me that is the ideal party dress. Luckily her best friend Marnie loves all the dresses so whenever I get the samples she gets all the dresses and is squealing with delight like a little princess and honey is putting on all the tracksuits and the leggings and the t-shirts - she's a really tomboy. And Rex is very eccentric so he will make something out of the collection that I had never imagined. I let him choose what he wears every day and this is one of his favourites looks (Fearne shows us a photo on her phone of a gorgeous boy decked out in a brilliantly crazy outfit ) Crocs with socks and a waistcoat and he couldn't be happier. That day I thought, you know what mate let's go out in it. If that's what makes you happy let's go for it!"

So you're a laid back mum when it comes to your kids getting dressed?

Yes, I like them to express themselves how they want to. And I'd love honey to wear dresses and I'd love her to wear her hair up - I got her hair in plaits for five minutes the other day when we were on holiday before she realised and then was like "Get them out!" - but she hates it. She just wants messy hair down and boys clothes on so I can't force her into anything and Rex wants to put on this random stuff so I let them go for it. Rex is very into fashion, very into choosing what he wears and I quite enjoy watching what he does with it. He loves his school shorts. He thinks they're the coolest thing ever and they're just grey horrible school shorts. He wears them at the weekends! I think picking your battles is the key.

Which pieces from the collection are your favourites?

I think the fur faux pink coat will go down really well. We're seeing a lot of fun faux fur for the adults this season featuring prints, so I think it's really great that we've mimicked that for the kids. I think the coat's going to be really popular and I do love the sparkly party dress because it's just a bit ridiculous! We found the fabric before we know what to do with it and we were like, "Oh my god, what do we do with this fabric it's amazing!". I was taking pics of it and was obsessing over it and then the brilliant Mini Kids team came back with this idea and it's perfect.

What about for the boys?

The matching starry tracksuit . It's a lovely colour, the pattern is really strong and its not necessarily a cliché boy's print. They've done really well before so hopefully our customer will be really happy to get another version of that.

BELOW: That Party Dress (available from mid October), £26

Fearne Cotton's Best Kid's Collection Yet

How do you find the space to get all this stuff done. Do you have a studio or an office you go to?

I'm just at the kitchen table. Actually, my husband had a go at me the other night because I got back from filming quite late, the kids were in bed and I got in the door and I sat down at the table and got out my sketch book and he was like, "We haven't even said hi to each other!" So I do have to be told to close that book and that I can do it another time and it will be fine sometimes.

You seem to have lots of amazing projects on the go at the moment. You look like you're having a lot of fun.

It's never been as good as this. I'm so passionate about everything I'm working on and I authentically give a damn about all of the things I'm doing and there's not a single project that doesn't fit into that. The TV stuff, the radio stuff, the podcast stuff, the clothing, the books everything feels like it marries now and that's why my brain doesn't stop thinking about it all because I'm really just loving it all. It's what makes me tick and If anything, I find it hard when I don't have those things in place because I'm such a fidget and I need somewhere to channel that energy. I feel incredibly lucky that this pool of work I have at the moment is very diverse and allows me to do lots of different things.

(Junior heads home for a nap!)

Fearne Cotton's Best Kid's Collection Yet

Junior's Favourite Fearne Pieces

The colour palette featuring aquas, hits of pink grounded by navy blue look fantastic hung all together on the rails at Boots HQ and there were so many fab pieces. Our must-buy for girls was the pencil print dress which looks so cute and fresh (perfect for the new school term) and for boys and girls we loved the star print tracksuits (top shown here).

1. Starry Tracksuit Top, £12, (coming soon)

2. Pencil Print Dress, £14

3. Fur Trimmed Parka, £34

4. SloganTop, £10

Fearne Cotton's Best Kid's Collection Yet
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Junior's Favourite Fearne Baby Pieces

Gorgeous separates and mini outfits to make you go awwwww....

1. 3 pack of bodysuits, £12

2. Dress and legging set, £14

3. 3 pack of bodysuits, £12

4. Leopard print outfit, £14, coming soon

BELOW: The Must-have Raspberry Ripple Faux Fur Coat (available mid October) £32

Fearne Cotton's Best Kid's Collection Yet
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At selected Boots stores nationwide for more information visit Fearne by Fearne Cotton for Boots Mini Club

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