THE next generation of young fashionistas will have the chance to set their own trends as a top Wirral children’s designer launches at a Birkenhead boutique.
Within Our Beautiful Life fashion boutique at Pyramids Shopping Centre, children’s fashion entrepreneur, Kathryn Saunders, will be hosting Design Days for youngsters to come and sketch their own items and they can use a tablet to select materials and styles to create their perfect outfit.
Kathryn, aged 27, has launched a concession of her kids clothing range, Poka.Dot.Nation, within the Pyramids store and is hoping that getting the young customers more involved will add to the fun and funky element of her style.
She said: “If the kids can design something themselves, pick a fabric and choose a colour then they feel so special when they’re wearing it. A lot of the stuff I make already is one-off and made to order allowing the children freedom to be creative and feel comfortable in the clothes they wear.”
Inspired by the hunt for her own little girl’s clothes, the development of Kathryn’s business has been a whirlwind journey and securing a presence within designer boutique Our Beautiful Life is the next stage in the success story so far.
She said: “It all started four years ago when my daughter was born. I went from being an account manager in London to being a stay at home mum and to be honest I was bored.
“I didn’t always have all the money I wanted either, and I wanted Esmae-Rose to dress in designer, London styles, when I simply didn’t have the budget. So I started doodling and sketching designs of the type of clothes I wanted her to wear and began making them myself.”
After being stopped in the street one day by someone who loved the originality of the little girl’s outfit, the seeds of a small business idea were sown, soon growing to include pop-up market stalls, internet orders and a thriving Facebook presence for Poka.Dot.Nation.
On returning to work Kathryn was soon restricted to spending her evenings on her dressmaking and designing once little Esmae-Rose was in bed.
Brought up on the Wirral, Kathryn decided to return to this area from London and settled in Irby where she continued to work full-time, creating her bespoke children’s wear whenever she had the chance.
She said: “After a while I just realised that I was putting all this effort into someone else’s business and my own was sidelined until 8pm at night. I was getting more and more enquiries and actually turning down orders as I couldn’t keep up.”
Kathryn decided to take the plunge and let Poka.dot.nation become her full-time job – a decision she hasn’t regretted for a minute.
Meeting Louisa Houghton in July, who owns Our Beautiful Life, led to the brand being launched in the Pyramids this month and both women are looking forward to continued growth in the future.
Louisa said: “I’m really excited at having Kathryn on board. When she came down to the shop and showed me her clothes I just thought they were amazing. She’s got such great vision and I think it’s going to go really well.”
Kathryn now has another lady working for her to keep up with demand but is determined to hold on to the original ethos of her business.
She said: “It has grown a lot in a short space of time, but everything is still handmade locally and that is not going to change. It’s important to me that it is affordable too as that’s how it started – designer, bespoke clothes for children at affordable prices.”
Derek Millar, Commercial Director for Pyramids Shopping Centre, said: “The entrepreneurial spirit and fashion eye of both Kathryn and Louisa is exactly the sort of business we are keen to support and showcase at Pyramids Shopping Centre.
“We have a great range of big high street names including H&M, Next, Miss Selfridge and Marks & Spencer but it is brilliant to couple this with unique fashion lines which local business owners such as Louisa and Kathryn can offer.”
