We’ve recently fallen head over heels in love with one manic Mimi. She’s a woman that lives a life so fabulous and fashion forward that it’s hard to keep up. Of course, it’s also important to mention that Mimi is a cartoon character created by the Denise Dorrance. Naturally, every fabulous woman is deserving of her own book and so we find ourselves sharing a very special announcement that the uber sensational Mimi has just released her own book titled “It’s all about Mimi.” The creator, Denise Dorrance, upped sticks and moved to the UK from New York and we thought it only appropriate to officially announce her to FFG readers with a little “getting to know you piece.” So here are five questions for the beautiful and talented Denise Dorrance.
1. Let’s start with the question everyone probably wants to know
first. Are you Mimi?
Well, I only seem to wear black, I’m tall and thin, I have one
child, a boy…no, I wouldn’t say I’m anything like her.
2. Now that that’s out of the way, can you tell us a bit about
how you developed the character and how you relate to her?
Mimi was inspired by a
fashion photograph I came across in a magazine – a woman totally stressed out
on her mobile, with a baby and a handbag at her feet, all the contents spilled
out. And something clicked, I thought, yup, there’s alot of women out there
trying to balance work, motherhood and a glam handbag. The humour was easy to
find – all around me were stylish women trying to adapt to the messy life of
motherhood. I’m fascinated by families who live in minimal interiors – where
did they put all the crap? Mimi makes me laugh and I suppose she was a release
valve for the early strains of motherhood – while I pretty much gave over my
life to raising our son, Mimi just fits the baby into her life.
Coming up with a name for the World’s Most Selfish Mum was easy if you say it
like ‘Me Me’.
3. Now on to you. Yes, time for the nitty gritty. You’ve
recently made the move from New York to London. Seems so many of us are going
one way or the other on that journey. What led you to make the jump in this
direction? How are you liking it thus far?
I miss New York! but my life here is how it
should be. I did the Sex and the City stuff in Manhattan and then I fell in
love with a Brit and moved to London, where my life became more settled and
focussed on family and a slightly slower pace. And funny enough, two of my best
NYC friends did the same thing so we’re all here, amazing!
4. Do you have a favourite haunt in London and if Mimi had one
what do you think it would be? Show me a bookshop and I’m lost for hours. Mimi
lives at Harvey Nicks. And Claridges. And The Wolseley. Tiffany’s, Gucci…She
does work, just not sure where yet.
5.
What’s next for you? You’ve just published this amazing book and you’re
contributing to publications across the UK, any big projects coming up you can
let us in on? Or what would be your dream next step?
I’ve just started a
weekly cartoon for Mail on Sunday’s YOU magazine and it’s brilliant. I would
LOVE to animate Mimi – imagine if she could speak!
Ok, so now’s the point where we say someone needs to get on animating Mimi ASAP! This would be the must watch cartoon for all fashion followers. Starting a campaign for Mimi on the small screen now… But before we do that, I’m thinking we need to convince Denise to do some work with FFG!
