Hannah Weiland has a new specialist subject. Flicking through her Post-it-flagged copy of Our Rainbow Queen, Sali Hughes’s appreciation of Elizabeth II’s style, the Shrimps designer alights on a favourite look. ‘This fuchsia outfit was really behind the main pop of colour I chose for the collection,’ she says, tapping the page and nodding at a satin dress bound for the Shrimps catwalk at London Fashion Week, but for the moment still hanging on a nearby rail. ‘Her colour palette is amazing,’ she continues. ‘I love that she wears bright colours so people don’t miss her… I’ve always said if I could dress anyone, I would dress the Queen.’ Her Majesty was on Hannah’s mood board (literally: three bulletin boards full of archive photographs hold court in Shrimps’ Notting Hill studio) well before last November, when it was revealed that the monarch would be eschewing real fur. Hannah celebrated the news by Instagramming a photograph of the Queen in Shrimps’ Estelle multi-check faux fur coat, with a caption thanking Her Majesty, from all the emoji animals. Later she had to go back and clarify that the image had been Photoshopped. ‘Because everyone believed it. I mean, that coat looked really good on her.’ Hannah wears River coat, £695, Shrimps. Earrings, £1,800, Sophie Bille Brahe. Hannah, 29, a tiny powerhouse with Lady Godiva hair, is the London designer behind the brand that put faux fur on the map in the first place. In 2013 she was coming to the end of her BA in surface textile design at the London College of Fashion when she had a factory run up her first few sample coats. She showed them to Laura Bailey, a family friend (her parents are producer-turned-bereavement counsellor Caroline and film director Paul Weiland), who adored them. When Bailey wore a brightly striped coat to London Fashion Week, Net a Porter founder Natalie Massenet chased her down the street to ask where she got it. The retailer placed an order, Hannah named her nascent company Shrimps (her childhood nickname), and soon everyone from Alexa Chung to style blogger Susie Bubble was fluttering around London in its rainbow-bright ‘furs’. Before Shrimps, faux fur was supposed to imitate real fur. Hannah’s innovation was to turn that premise on its head: she intuited before anyone else that women would embrace faux fur in intentionally unnatural hues. ‘I just thought it was really beautiful – I hadn’t seen it. And I had this feeling that other people would probably love it as well,’ she says. ‘I liked the idea of it not imitating real fur because in a way it became its own thing.’ Hannah wears Oakley dress, £495, Shrimps. Jewellery, her own When it launched, Shrimps was the only designer brand offering fluoro orange, baby blue and cartoonishly striped furs. But pioneering such a recognisable aesthetic meant her ideas were ripe for imitation. ‘Copies are one of the worst parts of our industry,’ she admits. ‘But you kind of have to be prepared for that. What I’ve realised is that you have to be one step ahead, and hopefully by the time the copies come out, I’ve got the next good idea.’ Lately the conversation about fur has moved from debating whether it’s ever OK to wear real fur to worrying about the environmental impact of faux, which is, after all, effectively made of plastic. Hannah acknowledges that her thinking about her main medium has evolved: the brand’s recent catwalk collection featured one fur made from recycled plastic. ‘Shrimps is an ethical brand and we’re definitely working towards being fully sustainable,’ she says. Through a partnership with One Tree Planted, the brand plants a tree for every online purchase. They’ve switched to recycled (and recyclable) packaging for jewellery and hair accessories, and are working on making sustainable packaging for everything sold via the Shrimps website. ‘I don’t shout a lot about the stuff we’re doing because I want to do it properly, not just use it as a press tool,’ she says, adding, ‘I’m making coats that people are going to keep for ever, so it’s not throwaway fashion.’ Hannah now presides over a team of 14, and has extended the brand into multiple product categories. Shrimps makes handbags (her Antonia faux-pearl-embellished bag has been ‘a consistent best-seller’ for Matches Fashion, according to the retailer’s head womenswear buyer), hair accessories, ready-to-wear and wedding gowns – for the founder’s wedding, anyway. When Hannah married Arthur Guinness in June 2018 at Belcombe Court, her Georgian childhood home just outside Bath, she wore a dress of her own design. The high-necked, Victorian-style gown incorporated plenty of personal touches. ‘It was embroidered with mine and Arthur’s story,’ she says. Her drawings of places, animals, moments and symbols meaningful to the relationship were sewn into the dress’s silk-georgette tiers: their dogs, the logo of the Bristol pub where they met as students, lyrics and love hearts all appeared. The dress ended the night scattered with marigold-petal confetti. ‘I’m not a big crier and I cried about 20 times,’ she says. ‘I was just in love with everyone. I’ve never felt so happy.’ Hannah wears dress,£450, and Dexter coat, £550, both Shrimps. Shoes,Hannah’s own. The wedding, with its Matilda Goad tablescapes (the creative consultant is a close friend), Fee Greening-illustrated menus, rose-printed Shrimps bridesmaid dresses and pop-up Arthur’s Arms pub (serving Guinness, of course), has been a huge hit on Pinterest inspo boards. But the bride’s attention has moved on to her next major life event: the birth of her first child in June. She’s made it through the exhaustion of early pregnancy and has eased into her second trimester, patting her bump under the table throughout our interview. She’s been surprised by how relaxed she’s felt, even in the run-up to her second catwalk show. ‘I’ve almost felt bad for my team, having sleepless nights ahead of the show. But pregnancy has put things into perspective.’ She’s in good company: the London fashion scene is populated by a number of designer-founders who are also mums. Hannah has watched her peers grow their businesses while raising families, and although she doesn’t know exactly what to expect, she feels fortunate to be part of ‘a community of many creative, ambitious and aspirational women’. ‘It’s amazing to see so many women at the head of brands that show here at London Fashion Week,’ she says. Luckily for her, Shrimps has already made plenty of pregnancy-compatible pieces, like silk trousers with elasticated waistbands (‘although they’re getting a bit tight now’), and the Titania dress: a gauzy, generously cut design with a crossover bodice. ‘I love an oversized fit, so that’s been great.’ She’s had to swap her favourite silk pyjamas for her mum’s old breastfeeding nighties, much to Arthur’s confusion. ‘He’s like, what is that?’ she says, in mock dismay. After the birth, she anticipates taking a short maternity leave and then bringing the baby with her to the Shrimps studio, a short walk from the couple’s colourful home. She wants to keep building the brand, possibly extending into shoes, and maybe even childrenswear. Hannah wears Georgia dress,£350, Dolly bag,£395, and earrings, £145, all Shrimps. Shoes,Hannah’s own. Whatever she turns to next, it’s likely we’ll follow her lead. No one else foresaw that a leopard-print faux-fur coat with a detachable pastel collar would be a must-have. Or that adult women would yearn to festoon themselves with pearly hair clips. Then there was her latest spring/summer collection, inspired by Dolly Parton. As she was launching it (with a party featuring a Dolly tribute act), the Dolly Parton’s America podcast dropped, a Netflix documentary debuted, and Parton was profiled in The New York Times. ‘We couldn’t believe the timing,’ Hannah shrugs. ‘I have a weird sixth sense for what people are going to be talking about.’ And now, she’s feeling the Queen. What else is she interested in these days, that the less keenly attuned of us might catch on to six months from now? She smiles. ‘That’s easy. Babies.’ For more news, analysis and advice from The Telegraph"s fashion desk, click here to sign up to get our weekly newsletter, straight to your inbox every Friday. Follow our Instagram @Telegraphfashion