Holly Willoughby’s stunning navy Dancing On Ice dress: An exclusive interview with the designer behind it

Mika of Fitting by Mika Style is used to designing and altering the dresses of A-list stars, but was still surprised and delighted to be asked to create Holly Willoughby’s dress for the last Dancing On Ice show on Saturday (January 28).

“I have known Holly for many years,” she told me. “I was doing alterations for lots of her dresses for the red carpet, Dancing on Ice. When I went to do a fitting with her for another dress, Holly and her stylist explained that they would quite like a navy dress, but couldn’t find anything they liked. She then asked me if I could make one and I don’t think she thought I would say yes. But I did!"

When it came to the style of the dress for Holly, Mika designed it as a halter neck, with a fitted pencil skirt with a slit and zip at the back and a bow at the front. “I gave Holly and her stylist a few different materials to choose from, and they picked a crepe material,” Mika explains.

It took Mika around a day to make Holly the dress before taking it to her for Holly’s first fitting. After making alterations, it then took Mika around another four hours before the dress was perfect!

Mika herself was delighted to see her dress when Holly wore it on television and revealed that “Holly is really nice to work for, like all my clients.”

If you want a bespoke dress made for you like Holly did, Mika urges you to leave as much time as possible.

“It depends on whether it is a simple dress or more elaborate. The difficult process is finding the right fabric. From the time you speak to the client to when they choose the right one, it can take a long time. You need to leave at least six weeks for sure.”