DiDi, who has made her home in Kilkenny since 1999, is born in New York of Irish parents. At a young age, she left the exciting pace of the Big Apple in the company of her journalist father and mother, to go to the ancient mysterious city of Athens. There she experienced her first smells of an artistic and creative studio. A few years later, always in pursuit of her parents, she moved to the majestic city of Rome, which became the real beginning of DiDi's artistic journey. It was here that she frequented the well known Franchetti Art Studio run by Venetian sculptor Franchetti and his post-impressionist Russian artist wife. She later attended Le Belle Arti and studied briefly at Kingston University in London.

On returning to Rome from London, DiDi entered the world of fashion and won a placement in High Fashion by the Italian Chamber of Commerce. She was later drawn into designing textiles and practising interior design.