A Northern Ireland fashion designer has told how she feels after Jennifer Hudson wore one of her designs on TV.
The American singer wore Hope Macaulay's 'Lissa Colossal Knit Jacket' on her show last week.
The 26-year-old from Portstewart's brand took off in 2020 during the pandemic - and she now has a team of 20 people.
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Speaking to Be, Hope explained how she felt when she discovered Jennifer had wore one of her designs.
She said: "I woke up and someone had tagged me in an Instagram post with her wearing it on the show.
"I had no idea that she was going to wear it [or] that she had gotten a piece so it was a really nice surprise.
Jennifer wearing the knit jacket by Hope Macaulay :
"[I was] really shocked. She is an A-list star, Grammy award-winning, Oscar winning, so it's just incredible to see it on TV, especially when it's a surprise."
Hope also explained how proud she is that her brand is based in Northern Ireland.
"[I am] definitely really proud, especially for what we have achieved in such a short period of time.
"I am also really proud at the fact my pieces are handmade in Northern Ireland as well, and that the business is based in Northern Ireland as well.
"Whenever I was at university in England, I was kind of told that to be in the fashion scene, you've got to live in London or like New York or Paris and I wanted to stay at home and build my brand here, so I'm proud of that," the Portstewart woman explained.
Hope also opened on when she began working in fashion and when she created her very own brand.
She said: "I graduated [in 2018] from the University for the Creative Arts in Rochester. I did Fashion Textiles: Print.
"In my final graduate collection is when I basically created knitwear pieces and that is what everybody loved so I continued to develop the knitwear pieces.
"I moved back home when I graduated and then I was working on the brand and I was posting a lot on social media and it basically just took off on social media and started getting lots of press.
"That's when I started to gather up a team of knitters and everything."
She added: "[We offer] all knitwear, we are mainly known for our super colossal knitwear, it's really, really chunky and luxurious.
"It's like a technique that I kind of like developed and I have to train my knitters in this like specific technique. We have got 15 [knitters] and then there's five of us then in the studio."
Some of Hope's designs have also been worn by British diver Tom Daley and actress Billie Piper on 'I Hate Suzie'.
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