Gail Elliot, International Supermodel and co-founder of the fashion label Little Joe Woman sat down with me to answer a few questions….

Q: Tell us about the inspiration behind your latest collection?

A: For our latest Little Joe Woman resort collection – “Love In Exile” I was inspired by the Rolling Stones documentary Exile On Main Street, where they lived a very decadent life in the South of France as tax exiles.  The collection is very seventies with sweeping maxi dresses, cool prints and sexy tailored silk blazers.

Q: You have worked with some of the worlds most talented stylists, make-up artists and designers.  Who has influenced your personal style?

A: I’ve been extremely lucky to have worked with the most talented stylists, photographers, make up & hair people and designers for over 25 years and have learned so much from them.  As a model you get to see and wear everything six months before it hits the stores and you see it from design and sample stage.  You shoot with it or wear it in fashion shows and then it goes into production.  Because models work with the most talented stylists and magazine editors, if one’s interested in fashion you pick up ways of putting looks together.  As a model you travel constantly, so seeing how girls put their clothing together in other cities was also interesting.  Now that I have a fashion brand all that I’ve learned is helping me create clothing that I feel people must have and want to wear -there’s a little of a “Model-Off-Duty” look in every collection.

Q: What is your favourite item of clothing?

A: I love dresses – they’re so easy to throw on and you feel you have a whole look going if you’re in a hurry.  They can be worn alone in Summer or layered with a cropped leather jacket, boots and a scarf in the Fall.

Q: Heels or flats?

A: Heels.

Q: Coffee or Tea?

A: Tea.

Q: Favourite Flower?

A: Anything white – Magnolia, Jasmine, Roses, Hydrangea, Casablanca Lily…

Q: Favourite City?

A: New York. I lived there for 24 years.  Second favourite city – Sydney!

Q: What are you reading?

A: Even Silence Has An End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle by Ingrid Betancourt.

Q: What are you listening to?

A: Plan B.

Q: Any item that we must have this Summer?

A: I’m loving my beige leather Acne Pistol Boots with our Little Joe Woman silk Chiffon maxi dresses – The Memory Hotel or Perfume On My Mind.

Q: What item of clothing would you never be caught dead in?

A: Mule Shoes

Q: If you could collaborate with any designer who would it be?

A: Roberto Cavalli.

*Little Joe Woman is available in Melbourne from the Little Joe Woman stores in Chadstone (03) 9530 9578 and Hawksburn (03) 9533 2635 or visit www.littlejoeny.com