THIS INTERVIEW has barely started when Desiree Mejer, the face, force and personality behind hip cashmere company Fake London, answers her mobile phone. But it's only Keith, phoning to tell her how much he misses her.
Keith Flint, that is, from techno-punk band The Prodigy.
If taking a call from a rock star is a big deal in her life, Spanish-born Mejer, who was recently in Hong Kong on business, comes across as being far too cool to admit it. But with her clothing featured regularly in the glossiest glossies and most members of the British in-crowd seen regularly wearing it, you get a sneaking suspicion that this kind of thing happens to her all the time. Peppering the conversation, for example, are casual references to her friends, who are coincidentally big fans of her jumpers, such as the 'divine Jude' (Law), Kate (Moss), Liam (Gallagher), Patsy (Kensit) and the whole of Massive Attack. John (Galliano) has some of her sweaters ('It's very ego boosting') as apparently have designers Martin Margiela, Alexander McQueen and Christian Lacroix.
Mejer, originally from Cadiz in southwest Spain, started her brand Fake London seven years ago as a hobby. She hadn't been to fashion college; in her words, she hadn't been anywhere. Rather, she simply decided to cut up vintage cashmere jumpers, recreate them in a riot of patchwork, and emblazon them with her signature Union Jack flag.
'We started Cool Britannia,' says Mejer. 'Putting the Union Jack on things was unique back then - but now they're everywhere. We were also the first to recycle cashmere. If I told you exactly where I get it from - I get it from everywhere - I'd have to kill you. Nobody does it the way we do, but recycling is immediate and easy for people who like being creative. As with everything, it's refreshing to see creativity - good and bad.'
In Mejer's opinion - of which she has many - the idea behind anything fake is that it reflects the essence of the real thing. She puts the essence of quintessential Britishness into her clothes but gives it a humorous twist, assuming her customers are intelligent and will appreciate the joke.