Kym Ellery is one of Australian fashion’s great success stories.

Even before her eponymous label launched in 2007 – quickly becoming one of this country’s most successful fashion exports – Vogue had gushingly covered her work and she remains one of only three Australians to show at Paris Fashion Week on the official schedule of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, France’s governing fashion body. (The other two were Collette Dinnigan and Martin Grant, which means she’s in excellent company.)

Her work been worn by everyone from Jennifer Hawkins and Lara Bingle to Dita von Teese and Nicole Richie. When Tessa James visited Royal Ascot last week, which she wrote about exclusively for delicious., it was an ELLERY dress she wore to wow the British aristocracy.

In addition to taking the fashion world by storm, Ellery has occasionally turned her attention to another of her great loves – good coffee – designing limited edition takeaway cups as part of the Vittoria Coffee Fashion Series. Her latest effort for the Australian coffee brand – which she has been partnered with for several years – launched today.

“I love Vittoria’s commitment to innovative fashion,” Ellery said. “Obviously, I love coffee, too, so this is a great way to bring those things together.”

She said her 2016 cup designs were based on a 1969 environmental artwork by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Wrapped Coast, which involved covering two-and-a-half kilometres of Sydney’s rocky coastline with synthetic fabric. The artwork also inspired the 2016 ELLERY Spring collection.

Launched in Paris, the well-received collection was characterised by its monochrome palette of navy, white and black, a colour scheme the designer has carried over to her striking paisley-patterened coffee cups.

“There are quite a lot of differences between fashion design and product design,” she said. “But there’s an important similarity, too, which is functionality. Whether clothes or cups, you’re designing something for people to use, to have fun with.”

Ellery is one of five Australian designers taking part in the Vittoria Coffee Fashion Series, with MacGraw, Rebecca Vallance, We Are Kindred and Manning Cartell also creating two cup designs each.

While the Perth-born designer spends most of her time in Paris these days, she was back home in December for Christmas – “I fell on my mum’s couch and didn’t move for days,” she said – and thinks that Australian coffee culture gives the French one a run for its money.

“I think Australians do coffee better, to be honest,” she said. “The French can be a bit resistant to change. I like to drink soy lattes, which are surprisingly hard to find in Paris.”

“It’s definitely evolving there, though, with a new generation of coffee drinkers, who have travelled a lot, bringing contemporary ideas home. My Parisian friends find it very exciting. There’s a bit of a revolution going on.”

While Ellery won’t be exhibiting at this year’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Sydney, citing the tight turnaround between Paris and the Australian event, she promised to return next year, which will mark the label’s 10-year anniversary.

“We’re thinking about what we’re going to do and hoe we’re going to celebrate,” she said.

Kym Ellery’s top places to have coffee in Paris

Café Palais Royal

“They do a really good soy latte here, which is rare in France,” Ellery says. “They’re only just beginning to develop a coffee culture like the one we have in Australia. I like to sit at the fountain, sip my latte and watch children play in the sun.”

Café de Flore

“This is the famous café in Saint-Germain-des-Prés where Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Albert Camus used to go,” Ellery says. “It’s a must-visit for anyone who likes to soak up Parisian history.”

 Terres de Café

“This café on near the Pompidou Centre does one of the best coffees in Paris,” Ellery says.