From her favourite designs from the new Autumn/ Winter collection to her last great colourful buy, Kettlewell co-founder Melissa Nicholson tells us how colour continues to inspire, energise and uplift her every day.

What’s important to you when it comes to clothes?

I like to be comfortable (especially in footwear, which means I veer towards trainers a lot!) and wear texture and print but I need to keep my look relatively pretty and fitted, otherwise I can start to look a bit frumpy. When I first launched Kettlewell, I was so excited to have access to all my Spring colours that I probably looked a bit crazily colourful. I have now worked out that the neutrals are just as important as the bright splashes.

Favourite new colours from the A/W collection?

I’m really drawn to orange at the moment and the Orangeade is such a vibrant, happy colour (it also looks great with light neutrals, such as Nimbus and denim blue). From the other seasonal palettes I’m loving Mineral Green for Autumns, which looks so sophisticated and unusual with a warm stone grey. I also love the intensity of Carmine Red. Each season I try to achieve this colour but it comes out soft, but finally we’ve done it in the merino wool and it’s fabulous for Winters. Another colour I think is terribly chic but looks dreadful on me is Grey Plum for Summers. Worn with silver and cool shades of blue, it looks so elegant.

Favourite designs from the collection and what inspired them?

I love the Flounce Skirt as it’s comfortable and fun to wear. I normally wear it with trainers and a simple tee but I’ll probably dress it up with heels too. The inspiration came from a picture I saw in Vogue, which had more ruffles, and I tore out the page and adapted it. I’m also really pleased with the Alexa jacket – I love to wear a suede biker jacket over a dress but in real leather they are prohibitively expensive, so when the factory sent me some samples of faux suede that were beautifully soft and machine washable, I thought it was definitely worth a try.

Another favourite is the Cosy Merino Jumper – it’s one of those jumpers you don’t appreciate until you’ve got it on and then it feels like a best friend! The knit is chunkier than our standard merino, which gives it added warmth and it looks simple and contemporary worn with jeans. I also love the trend of mixing up a jumper with a smart skirt. I'll be wearing bright coral which is a 'must' in every Spring's wardrobe.

If I had to choose a favourite colour…

This changes every season, but I’d have to say yellow, as yellow loves me; from corn to canary and golden yellow. 

Favourite new accessories?

My favourite accessory is the Leather Star Make Up Bag…

The leather and suede star collection was designed and hand made exclusively for Kettlewell by our friends at Owen Barry in Somerset. As you can imagine a lot of thought went into the colour combinations. As soon as I saw the metallic leather colours available I knew they would make beautiful make up bags. We’ve also included a practical wipe clean lining and a two way zip allowing you to open it fully and view the contents easily – I don’t know about you but I get frustrated when I can’t find my favourite pencil on those dark mornings!

Last great colourful buy?

A seascape painting by the Scottish artist, Robbie Innes. The painting is full of all my favourite aquas and turquoise hues and I love the layers of texture for the waves. Not surprisingly Robbie is a Spring too.

Best new discovery? 

The Barley Sugar Bakehouse in Crewkerne – a fabulous new bakery hidden down a little lane, which sells the most delicious breads, cakes and pastries, from croissants and pain au chocolat to savoury tarte tatin with roasted vegetables and French sticks. It’s only open on a Saturday and you have to get there early before they sell out. They made 600 hot cross buns on Good Friday and they were sold out within the hour! 

I’m currently loving …

The book A Song for Tomorrow by Alice Peterson – a brilliant novelisation of the life of the late singer Alice Martineau. It also reminded me to reread Nevil Shute’s great novel, A Town Called Alice. And I loved watching the movie 'You Before Me' – there was such good chemistry between the leading actors and I loved the styling and all the gorgeous colours worn by the actress Emilia Clarke.

What do you look forward to most about autumn?

Autumn leaves and woodland walks. Oh, and lighting the Aga – I really miss it during the summer.

Exciting developments in the pipeline for Kettlewell?

New warehouse, more space = more colours!