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Emily Nolan is a fashion designer who is best known for twice being a finalist in the David Jones National Designer Award. The 29-year-old shares why she didn’t know her dad’s real name until she was 10, the reason she won’t date a chef again and her prerequisite for marriage.
Emily Nolan: “I was a late bloomer and had my first kiss at 15.”
My maternal poppaIan, passed away when I was four years old. I vividly recall his smell; he was a heavy smoker. I have his old books, which smell like his cigars. Poppa had a turbulent relationship with Mum. He was an incredibly charming and gorgeous man who lost his father very young. Mum said he softened a lot when I was born.
We call my paternal grandpa, Michael, who is 92, Markle. He is the spitting image of KFC founder Colonel Sanders; in our family photos, my dad, Mark, crops in a bucket of chicken to be funny. Grandpa is a mad Richmond supporter. Football means it’s a family catch-up when we go to the MCG.
I didn’t know Dad’s first name was Mark until I was 10 because Mum always referred to him as “Nolsie”. Dad has had a stutter my entire life. I don’t tend to notice it because it’s how it’s always been, but it’s more obvious when he gets emotional. Every time he goes to speak, he has to think of three different ways he will finish a sentence.
I was an undiagnosed ADHD teenager, a total ratbag. Dad’s way of helping me was by taking me on
a drive; he said hard conversations were easier to talk about when you were looking ahead. He was the great leveller in the family and never afraid to cry in front of us.
My dad is best friends with G Flip’s dad, Marc Flipo. They have known each other since they were kids. Seeing how happy Dad is with Marc is wonderful. When Dad met my Mum, he was living with Marc, who gave him some money to take her out on a date.
My brother, James, is three years younger than me. He lives in London and is a self-taught film director and producer. He left home at 18 and travelled the world, doing community work like building schools in India.
I was a late bloomer and had my first kiss at 15 with braces on. It happened during a game of Truth or Dare in a spa at a friend’s house. I thought it was awful and didn’t kiss anybody again until my first boyfriend, Harry, at 16.
Harry and I dated for two years until I was 18. His family relocated to Perth and I felt like my life was over. We would sit on Skype and talk every night. He was the first person who told me he loved me. He looked a lot like my celebrity crush, Leonardo DiCaprio.
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