Attire Accessories - Nov/Dec 2018 (Issue 73)

PROFILE 37 The future ’ s bright Sarah Watmore speaks to Louise Prance about how, after unstable beginnings, the Miss Milly brand has become successful in its own right, with its bright and bold offerings making it stand out from the crowd Tell me a bit about how the label was started. What was the inspiration? I was already running a retail and wholesale jewellery and accessories business when a change in personal circumstances six years ago led to the splitting of the company into the two key parts: retail and wholesale. I took the wholesale side, rebranded to Miss Milly and haven’t looked back! I had come up with the name a couple of years previously while playing with my daughter, Milly, and love that it embodies femininity, Britishness and is named for both my daughter and grandmother. The move to being the sole owner also gave me a welcome freedom with regard to branding, and my background in PR and marketing was put to good use creating a brand rather than a company, something I firmly believe lies at the root of Miss Milly’s success. How were the initial products developed, and what was the response? Miss Milly began with a legacy stock from the previous business. Because the official business transfer paperwork was only signed the day before the start of Autumn Fair 2012, it was quite a tense time. That show was an interesting one! Spring/summer 2013 was the real beginning for Miss Milly in terms of product development. Having the luxury of keeping the vast majority of the existing trade customer base meant that I already had an in-depth understanding of preferences and buying habits. But with my own ideas for refreshing the inventory to fit with the new brand, I spent a lot of time at Autumn Fair talking with customers about what they were ideally wanting to source with regard to costume jewellery. Following the show, I began putting together the next season’s collections with all those conversations in mind. Sticking to my ethos of being appropriately colourful, I started experimenting further with colour combinations, creating a much more diverse palette while always remembering to keep the pieces affordable. What challenges did you face, and how were they overcome when starting the business? Moving from the previous business to getting Miss Milly launched and established was tough. Working by yourself is hard, and issues from your personal life can’t help but invade – particularly given that I was starting afresh with a legacy business borne out of a relationship’s collapse. Making a clean break wasn’t possible, but at the same time, I strongly benefitted from the fact that this was the second time I was starting a business and in the same