Our Interview with Mica Paris
Mica Paris is a lady of many talents. The main thrust of her career is her music, where she has been singing since the tender age of 17, but she has also made an indelible mark on the entertainment circuit by working on hit shows on both television and radio. In 2002 she hosted her own radio show on BBC Radio 2. 'Soul Solutions' became the most successful soul and R&B show in the UK, with an average of a million listeners. In 2007 saw Mica become co-host for two seasons of BBC style advice show ‘What Not to Wear’ Soon after Mica became one of the expert judges with host and good friend Gok Wan on his Channel 4 show, 'Miss Naked Beauty 2008' So if anyone is a font of knowledge when it comes to style, its Mica. She recently launched her very first fashion line in association with Simply Be (www.simplybe.ie) We caught up with Mica to ask her some burning questions.
Q: Hi Mica, congratulations on your full blown return to music with the release of your album ‘Born Again’ this summer. How does it feel to be focusing once again on your first love of singing?
A: It feels great because singing has alway been my first passion and to be able to perform again is amazing feeling
Q: You’ve been a very busy lady and have been very much involved in various areas of the media circuit. What has been your favourite media outlet to work on? TV? Radio? Print?
A: I have to say all of them TV was fantastic for me because I was able to help women on a one on one basis. Radio was great for meeting my old friends in the business, and the Book was just the most amazing way for me to get my powerful message across to women that I would never meet.
Q: One of the most recent programmes we saw you on was ‘What not to Wear’? How did you find this experience overall?
A: Having the opportunity to meet housewives and women outside of the entertainment industry and showing them how to improve the daily grind of their lives was a wonderful thing.
Q: Have you always had an interest in fashion?
A: Yes but not just in Fashion, in great style
Q: Did your experience on the show and that of writing your book, help you when it came to collaborating with Simply Be on this particular clothing line?
A: Absolutely I realized that there were a lot of women who were in need of guidance to improving their lives. People in the world of entertainment are spoilt, normal woman don't have that privilege so I wanted to show them how to get out of the ruts in their lives and create a better life starting with themselves.
Q: How much of ‘your personal style’ are we seeing reflected in the collection?
A: All of it! The collection is me to a tee
Q: What advice would you give to Ireland’s curvier ladies out there?
A: My advice would be don't wear tight clothing as this gives the impression that you're bigger than you are. Make sure the clothes are exactly the right size even if that means feeling embarassed about telling the shop keeper your size. It doesn't matter about the shop keeper all that matters is how you look and feel in that outfit.
To see the full Mica Paris collection see www.simplybe.ie