"To create and be expressive is at the heart of everything; to explore visual images, words and language, finding perfect colour combinations and achieving balance of design, structure, mood and tone."

A London International Film School student and NYU graduate, Vanessa studied the art and technique of filmmaking before starting her own small production company Monster Productions, in London’s Portobello.

With a great love for film Vanessa sees similarities between creating fashion and film. "Film is a sculpting of structure to tell a story about characters which have a mood and style and the edit is that final cut. Designing clothes is equally as much about a sense of what to leave out as much as what to leave in, with all the elements coming together in harmony."

In 1996 she gave birth to her daughter Tilly and when her son Maximilian followed a few years later Vanessa enrolled in a part time course, learning to sew, pattern and dress make when time afforded. At around the same time her brief marriage ended and she found herself as a single mother. "I took an NVQ in Fashion and threw myself into making clothes for children. I would source silks, fabrics and embellishments and fell in love with the tactile process of making clothes. If it wasn’t perfect it got made again and again."

When Vanessa and David Robertson met in the Summer of 2004, they quickly recognized each others talents and soon decided to combine their efforts and in 2006 Papillon Bleu was incorporated.

Growing up in Anguilla in the B.W.I. has greatly influenced Vanessa’s whole approach to design; "Freedom and simplicity are qualities often lost in this new world of mass consumerism and production. Creating something really special and unique that women can genuinely get excited about and that makes them feel great is really satisfying."

Worn by Denise van Outen, Jodie Kidd, Tamzin Outhwaite and Rachel Flintoff Papillon Bleu’s understated elegance is for the free spirited, confident woman.