After braving the torrential rain and gale force winds trying to push me into the Albert Docks, I arrived at the showroom of The Closet in Liverpool.

The Closet is a brand new service, so new in fact it's not online until tomorrow, that allows mere mortals like you and I to get our hands on designer dresses previously worn by celebrities on the red carpet. The online boutique has been set up by Jennifer Metcalfe, Claire Cooper and Leah Hackett, also known as the McQueen sisters in Hollyoaks, in order to bring a little touch of glamour to your life. Not only will they spend time with you to find your perfect dress, pamper you with champagne and let you keep the dress for two days at a fraction of the price but a percentage of the rental cost will go to Christies, their nominated charity.

I caught up with the girls in their lovely, plush showroom, packed full of beautiful dresses to ask them a few questions about The Closet...

Manchester Fashion Network: Tell me a little bit about The Closet...

Claire Cooper: Well we came up with the concept one night when we were all together, we've all got so many beautiful clothes we had to do something!
Jennifer Metcalfe: Basically we've got loads of celebrities designer dresses along with two in house designers, which all cost between £500 and £3,000 if you were to buy them at their RRP. If you came to us, you'd be able to rent them from around £60 to £200 for two nights.
Leah Hackett: The average dress costs about £130 to rent and we have so many, they would be perfect to rent for a party or wedding...
CC: All ages too, there's something for everyone really; proms, weddings, sweet 16ths. We also offer a couture service by our two in house designers Claire Mischevani and Philip Armstrong who will design you a dress completely for you so we sell dresses too!
LH: We do gift vouchers too so if you fancy treating your girlfriend you know where to come!

MFN: How did you come up with the concept for The Closet?

JM: We were just all together one night and we're all interested in having some kind of boutique, you know, kind of like a hobby as we all have an interest in fashion. I have so many thousands of pounds worth of clothes in my wardrobe that I don't wear anymore I said we should have a sale and then we thought why sell when we could rent them out!
LH: Renting would be so much easier, I've looked into it in the past when I've been going to an event and found nothing suitable. The great thing about The Closet is that celebrities have actually worn these dresses so you could wear Kylie's dress to your wedding!
CC: Liverpool is the perfect city, it's so glamourous!

MFN: Has working together in Hollyoaks provided you with a close bond and helped you join together as business partners?

JM: Working together has taught us to trust each other which is so important for this.
CC: It's not easy as none of us have business backgrounds or experience but we have such a great network of people around us to help!
LH: None of us have a clue really, but we're learning and working through it!

MFN: How do you acquire the dresses?

CC: Some people have heard about what we're doing and wanted to donate and some people we have approached.
LH: Word of mouth helps too and obviously contacting friends.
CC: Making money for Christies helps too as people are willing to help out a good cause.

MFN: How did you choose Claire Mischevani and Philip Armstrong to become your in house designers?

CC: I've actually worn some of their designs before and loved them.
JM: Philip is from Liverpool so we thought it would be great to get some local talent in, both designers aren't stocked anywhere else and are exclusive to The Closet so it's exciting.

MFN: Who are your favourite designers?

CC: Jasmine De Milo for sure, I've got about 4 of her dresses and I love them.
LH: We all swap so we have a huge selection, I love the way Robert Cavalli's dresses fit.
JM: I like Temperley, if anyone has any Missoni they'd like to donate that would be amazing too, I love them!

MFN: Which is your favourite dress in The Closet?

JM: Rachel Gilbert's silver sequin evening dress, I love that one.
LH: Mine is a coral Philip Armstrong dress.
CC: Mine's a Philip Armstrong one too, it's a pinky gold with a bow detail on the bust, so pretty. We've all got such different tastes and shockingly I don't dress like my character Jacqui...

MFN: What are you wearing tomorrow night at the launch party?

LH: I'm wearing the Rachel Gilbert dress that Jen likes!
CC: Haute Hippie, it's a metallic gold bodycon dress.
JM: I'm wearing a Halston Heritage, long white dress.

MFN: What do you think about fashion in Liverpool?

JM: They're all so glam, I feel like such a scruff!
CC: It's not as edgy as other places like London, it's a lot more mainstream and very glamorous.
LH: There's always hours of preparation gone into their looks, everyone dresses up and makes a massive effort.
CC: There's a whole regime to it, the beauty salon, getting your hair done...
LM: The Closet combines all of this into one, you get to drink champagne and eat cupcakes while you shop and get styling advice, what could be better? It takes out all the stress!

MFN: Anything else you'd like to tell our readers?

CC: Just check out the website! It will be live from April 1st at www.theclosetliverpool.com. Everyone is welcome, it only costs £25 for time with us as we style you, cupcakes and champagne, which is then deducted off the rental price if you do decide to rent a dress.
JM: If there are any celebrities out there who want to donate a dress, get in touch!
LH: We're offering a rent one, rent another half price offer so you can come along and have a day out with a friend and both leave with lovely dresses!

For more information and to choose your perfect dress, visit the website here.

Check back for a report from the launch party in the next couple of days and keep up to date with us on twitter!

Words by Clare Potts. Images courtesy of The Closet.

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