Erica would be the first to admit that we’re living in a strange time at the moment, where perhaps fashion and buying clothes isn’t top of everybody’s agenda. ‘All of our goals have realigned, we’re making different decisions. What I loved about the Style With Purpose collection was this sense of community, and of giving back,’ she says. ‘The partnership with Refuge is fantastic because we’ve all seen the domestic abuse statistics over lockdown. You can’t even imagine what some people have gone through.’

A former fashion editor, who once created the style pages for the UK’s biggest-selling newspapers and magazines, Erica was Fleet Street’s youngest ever fashion editor, heading up the team at The Sun when she was just 24. She went on to establish an incredibly popular online presence through her blog the-edited.com and Instagram account, where she shares her straight-talking and relatable fashion and interiors advice with nearly 150k followers. Now she’s putting her years of experience into a book, Leopard Is A Neutral, a practical, everyday style guide, out on 17 September. ‘It’s a book for anybody who thinks they haven’t been included in the fashion conversation,’ she explains. ‘Perhaps they feel like they don’t have the confidence anymore. I want people to ask themselves, how do you feel about yourself in your clothes? And then find ways to start building confidence back and discovering your own personal style.’

How easy is it to discover your own personal style, though? Is it something you can learn, or re-learn? ‘Don’t be overwhelmed. Start small,’ she suggests. ‘It might be about going into a shop and finding a colour that you’re really drawn to, or a print on a scarf or a blouse. Start off by mixing those things with pieces you already have.’

She talks about this in the book – unpicking what you’ve already got and being honest with yourself about that. ‘Interrogate why you like certain things. Try not to focus on the negatives. It’s about analysing why you like things, which is so much more important than what you don’t like.’ This can be the tricky part for a lot of people. ‘You are usually drawn to one item. For example, you might be drawn to a coat – I would look at the texture and colour combination of that coat and see how it would work with things I already own.’

Erica is also an interior design enthusiast – check out her Instagram for décor inspiration. She believes styling clothes and decorating rooms are not such different skills. ‘Stick to a small palette. One main colour, an accent and then another that ties it all together,’ she explains. ‘I do the same with my clothes,’ she adds. ‘Even if you choose two contrasting prints there will be a colour that connects them, or a texture that lifts the simpleness of the look. You might want to layer with a sheepskin or something leather to give it a bit of personality.’

Layering is another favourite styling trick: ‘I love layering. It can really create elevated looks in really simple outfits.’ From the Style With Purpose collection, Erica gravitated towards the dresses – such as the wisteria maxi from Modern Rarity and Somerset by Temperley’s leopard print midi dress. ‘I was drawn to the shapes. The Modern Rarity dress is quite oversized but it’s one of those dresses you feel instantly comfortable in. You can eat in it, you can wear it with flats or heels, plus I love a dress you can waft about in!’

Then there’s the leopard print, something of signature look for Erica and so beloved she chose it for her book’s title. ‘Leopard never goes out of style and it’s so versatile,’ she says. ‘The Somerset by Temperley dress is a great shape – nipped at the waist, with a V-neck. It’s really wearable.’ It’s also really versatile, something an item has to be before it makes the cut into her wardrobe. ‘It’s short-sleeved but you could wear it over a polo neck in winter, or with a jacket. It’s a shirt dress so you could undo the buttons and wear it over trousers. Or you could wear it with a plain black blazer for work. I wore it plain with bright pink shoes and gold earrings.’

What’s refreshing about Erica’s approach to style, is how open she is to different combinations as well as really tapping into what’s useful and what you feel comfortable in. The very opposite to any notion of style rules – something she argues strongly against in her book. ‘We’ve been so pre-conditioned to follow these rules, myself included,’ she laments. ‘Rules passed down from parents or friends, like: you shouldn’t wear those colours together; if you show off your chest you shouldn’t show your legs… I was getting so many messages every day from women and they were so confused.’

Erica had a lot of women get in touch with her who were going back to work after being on maternity leave and were at a loss as to what to wear. ‘They’d had babies and their bodies had changed. They didn’t know who they were anymore and it completely knocked their confidence.’ This was a feeling Erica could relate to. Her post-maternity workwear go-tos were a T-shirt with a statement necklace, or a Breton top under a blazer. ‘Things that made me feel like me but also felt professional,’ she says. ‘Just try to dress to find the joy in clothes, and to find those pieces that make you feel happy. And if that is a really oversized dress that is disguising everything it doesn’t matter. If you feel good in it, that’s going to show.’ 

She describes herself as something of a uniform dresser, favouring dressy tops with khaki cargo trousers, a really good coat and chunky flat boots worn with a dress. Bohemian in the summer, minimal in the winter. ‘Find your way of expressing who you are and find the joy in that.’ We couldn’t agree more.