Caggie Dunlop stops by for a coffee
We were first introduced to Caggie Dunlop on the silver-screen back in 2011, as she was an integral part of E4’s Made In Chelsea show, and her bubbly, sweet-nature has easily made her one of our favourite personalities to emerge from reality television. Caggie is also a singer/songwriter, and creator of the ISWAI fashion-label, and since leaving Made In Chelsea in 2012, these particular projects have kept her very busy indeed, and she is currently going from strength to strength.
“I’m Caggie Dunlop and this is my world” were the famous words of Chelsea’s star-girl, opening the pilot episode of Made In Chelsea. Since then, Caggie’s world has expanded immensely, and it is amazing to think that it was only a year and a half ago that we initially met Caggie Dunlop. So what is it like to be a reality TV star? How did Caggie cope with having personal moments filmed on camera? “It was definitely testing at times! But I didn’t really mind at the beginning, I’m a bit of an exhibitionist!” Caggie’s confidence certainly shone through during her time as part of the show’s cast, and whilst the exposure was a great career-building bonus, it is true that you can have too much of a good thing. Whilst we were upset to see the departure of Caggie from Made In Chelsea last year, we appreciate that this girl is a real focused go-getter, and left for all the right reasons. “I enjoyed the entertainment industry enough to just love being a part of it, but it began to grate away at me after a while; the overall effect of that exposure started to become negative. It felt like it wasn’t going anywhere good for me anymore, so I had to remove myself from it to figure out the right direction.”
With her head firmly screwed on, it is great to see that Caggie is heading in, what she defines
as the ‘right direction’. She is currently residing in sunny Sydney, managing her clothing label ISWAI, and focusing on her recording career. For those of you who haven’t yet heard about ISWAI (It Starts With An Idea), it is an exciting and fresh clothing brand, recruiting young designers like Caggie, herself. A “limitless concept with no requirements or demands,” it is a great concept that gives support and exposure to emerging fashion designers. The inspiration behind the collection is reflective of the name of the brand itself, with fashion, creativity and individuality as the hallmarks of ISWAI. “I was thinking of so many names and then I thought about an acronym. I guess the inspiration is inspiration, anything that sparks an idea.” Additionally, the ISWAI style is also universal, with a range inspired by Parisian style and culture, and its latest summer pieces derivative of Sydney beach fashion.
It seems as ISWAI has the same personality as Caggie; easygoing and unique, and also the same sense of style. Caggie always stood out as effortlessly cool on the set of MIC, and whilst the Chelsea style was “just-so,” Caggie has been influenced by the cities that she’s visited – Paris, New York, London and Sydney. “I’m quite a beach hippy dresser so it suits me well here!” she laughs. Despite her relaxed style, Caggie’s leads a busy lifestyle that requires a new favourite hot beverage, we’re happy to see: “Coffee or tea? Since living in Sydney, coffee!”
Next up on this busy-girl’s schedule is her musical career – she’s keeping herself occupied with
recording. We will be getting our next Caggie-fix sometime soon, with upcoming releases on the cards! Any other surprises in store, Ms Dunlop? “Acting is my first passion so I would love to do TV or Film, but I can safely say that I’m done with reality TV. I’m auditioning a lot out here so I will hopefully be reappearing on your screens, just not as Caggie!”
With such a productive, hard-working attitude, Caggie is only 23 but has a lot going on and a lot to come. Whilst we were sad to see one of our favourites leave MIC, we will be seeing a lot more of Caggie Dunlop in the future. We wish her all the best!
