From Barbie Clothes to Hilary Duff’s Sparkling Tour Dress: Meet Paul Aaron

Paul Aaron is a talented fashion designer from Hooton, near Chester, who has always loved making clothes. As a child, he would cut up his mother’s party dresses to create outfits for his Barbie dolls, which often got him into trouble. Now, his mother is proud of him because his unique knitwear designs are worn by some of the world’s most famous celebrities, including Kylie Jenner, Shakira, and Zara Larsson. One of Paul’s proudest moments happened recently when Hilary Duff wore one of his statement dresses during her concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Paul, who is 31 years old, was thrilled because he grew up watching Hilary Duff on the TV show Lizzie McGuire. Seeing her wear his creation on such a big stage was a dream come true.

Paul’s journey in fashion began at Central Saint Martins in London, where he made a dress by knitting together bin bags. His tutor was so impressed that they encouraged him to specialize in knitwear, and Paul has been focused on that ever since. His big break came while he was still a university student, when Rita Ora’s stylist contacted him to design an outfit for her performance at Manchester Pride in 2018. Paul eagerly accepted and created a colorful bodysuit that matched a feather coat by Gui Rosa. He was proud of his work but stayed focused on his next projects, always looking forward.

Paul creates all his designs by hand, without using any machines. This means each piece takes a lot of time and effort, sometimes weeks or even months to finish. The gold dress Hilary Duff wore took over 500 hours to make. Paul used around 20,000 glass beads, which he hand-weaved between crochet stars to create his signature look. He also added more than 2,000 meters of crystal chains to give the dress movement and sparkle. The glass Toho Beads he uses are lined with silver, which helps them catch the light from different angles and shine brightly. Paul is excited to see Hilary Duff perform in Manchester in September and hopes she will wear his dress again, although he knows singers often change outfits. If he could choose anyone to design for, Paul would pick Lady Gaga, who he thinks would look amazing in his creations. Paul’s story shows how hard work and creativity can lead to incredible opportunities.