Attire Accessories - May/Jun 2018 (Issue 70)

106 ATTIRE Tell me a bit about how the label was started.What was the inspiration? We started the business in September 2015 and had our first garments to sell in May 2016. At this point we only had a womenswear range – the accessories started just last year and moved quickly into new categories; socks, jewellery and pins, in the run up to Christmas.The inspiration for the styling has been a combination of original vintage pieces and travel to Seoul where we go to buy fabrics. We are a husband and wife team – Matt’s background is in fashion and mine is in marketing. We wanted to create a brand that could offer many categories as we wanted to test our creativity and not be restricted to just clothing. How were the initial products developed and what was the response? Our first collection was a womenswear range of 20 pieces, mainly dresses, which were inspired by original vintage shapes from the ’40s through to the ’70s.The response was really pleasing, we got a great reception to the brochure that we had created to showcase the style and the collection. We started the accessories range in August last year as we had been wanting to offer gifts in line with what our customers are selling from Halloween onwards. We started with the pins and sock boxes, an idea Matt had come up with after looking at socks with sewn on jewels that we decided would be hand wash only – too annoying. How much better to have a brooch that you can remove and maybe wear elsewhere? The response to the sock boxes was amazing. We were really pleased with how well they sold in stores and from there we decided to expand the accessories collection. What challenges did you face and how were they overcome when starting the Sixton London? There are two of us that run the business plus an assistant, so the main challenge is the fact that we have to wear all the hats, from new product development, sales, marketing, customer services and finance. Juggling all areas is part and parcel of running your own business at the start, but it still makes me laugh when you move though all areas listed above (plus IT support) in an hour. What is it that sets your business apart from your competitors? Our creativity and combination of skills plus the fact that there is just the two of us means we can react quickly to new ideas without having to get them approved by a multitude of teams. It’s just us! We can act on a creative whim and test it out fairly speedily. Recently a customer told us how they were looking for hair accessories for their shops, and that they hadn’t found what they were looking for. We got straight onto it that evening and we are now making samples that I’m sure are going to do well as our daughters are fighting over them. How important is the location and history of the company to its success? We are based in south London, in Stockwell, near Brixton (hence the name). We’ve been in London for many years now and still find it totally exhilarating and inspirational. We like to spend at least one day a week (usually a Sunday) with no