Nicole Richie has loved fashion since she was four years old.
Nicole Richie
The 35-year-old fashion designer - who debuted her jewellery line House of Harlow 1960 in 2008 and has since expanded the brand to include a clothing range - has revealed her interest in couture began at an early age when she used to watch her adopted mother Brenda Harvey-Richie - who was Lionel Richie's first wife - get ready to attend star studded events.
Speaking about her style muse, the golden haired beauty told Prestige Online: "By the time I was four or five, I was sitting in my mom's dressing room, watching her get her hair and make-up done and going everywhere with my dad; the Grammys, the American Music Awards, every event known to man.
"I'd sit around and watch her and try on all her clothes. She had a huge walk-in closet. Alaïa and Chanel were her favourites."
And the former 'The Simple Life' star has revealed she also started designing garments at the age of 10 years old, and joined forces with the 'Hello' hitmakers costume designers to create showstopping pieces early on in life.
She explained: "My dad's costume designer, Bill Whitten, would make me similar clothes out of all the excess fabric - a little jumpsuit or something. I started figure-skating when I was eight, and by the time I was 10 I had started competing. It was right around that time when Nancy Kerrigan wore a Vera Wang dress in the Winter Olympics. It had a white panel with sheer black sleeves. I loved that dress.
"Edna, who worked for Bill and who used to do my figure-skating costumes, finally said to me, 'You have all these ideas. Come downtown and design the costumes yourself.' That was my first introduction to the design world as a whole. I had these visions in my head, and we started making them come to life.
"It was just something I liked doing. I liked having an idea in my head. I would get so frustrated with liking something, and wanting to make it. I remember buying all these velvet ribbons and elephant charms and making chokers for my mom's friends. It would cost me $10 to make them, and I'd sell them for $10."
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