Maria Slough
The wind whistles around an unused warehouse loft in Surrey. Exposed heating elements and multiple coloured walls are some of the backdrops for today’s photo shoot with the petite, humble-natured, Yorkshire-born, Rachel Warrillow. As hair and make up created our first look of the day I ask Rachel which came first, millinery or veganism? “Millinery - I always loved arts and crafts but my career was as a carer. Working with people in the last stages of life made me reassess its meaning. I had an interest in the glamour of burlesque, it was an outlet from the gravity of my day job but I could never find the hats I wanted. I even dabbled momentarily under the stage name Rosie Derriere for a charity fundraiser. A one day workshop in Birmingham learning how to make hats using a material called sinamay 9 years ago turned into a serious hobby” Rachel, who is softly spoken, considered herself an animal lover and confesses to naively eating meat and dairy until a distressing social media post changed everything.