Bel Cappello – Italian for 'beautiful hat' – is run out-of-hours by mining engineer Holly Kiely and her mother, lawyer Jennine Kiely.
There, they discovered a client in common with Australian designer Ana Pribylova, whose label Ana Bella Millinery is based across London, Melbourne and Dubai, and lent her a dress to show with a hat in the designer millinery category.
They placed in the top 10 in Derby Day Fashions on the Field and when Pribylova returned the dress she offered them the opportunity to showcase their collection alongside her at London Fashion Week's House of Ikons show in February.
This international debut sparked invitations from various houses to fashion weeks across the globe, including the big one: New York in September.
"We are very proud to be from regional WA and like to tell people about our background and show people it doesn't matter where you are based; if you work hard and are ambitious you can make it happen."
The team are sharing their success with local models, 19-year-old Roche Klopper and 15-year-old Chloe Grace, who they will take to the New York catwalk.
