What inspired you to become a children's clothes designer?

My inspiration to work in the fashion industry started when I was a child and when I decided to start a family, working for myself in the childrens sector seemed a natural choice.

What is your background (previous career area?)

I had had quite a few jobs before starting cheekaboo. I had worked in theatre as a costume designer, as a PR assistant for Premier Fashion Trade Shows and as a Researcher for a TV company. Quite a variety of creative jobs, I loved working in London before having my first daughter but of course it's really hard to have that lifestyle and be at home with a baby and I am glad I chose not to go back to work full time in media.

Did you have specialist training in design? - if so what/where was your training?

My training started at Salisbury College of Art on a National Diploma in Fashion Design. I then went on to Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design taking a Higher National Diploma in Fashion and specialising in Fashion Marketing, hence the career in PR etc.

How many hours a week was your training? How did training fit round your children?

 

Luckily I completed all of my training long before starting a family.

How did you go about setting your business up? (from a business perspective - initial funding etc)

Initially, I set up the business on a very small scale. I was living in East Dulwich in London at the time and there was a small design shop called Avent there. The shop sold items made by local designers and she took on some of the animal print snug baby suits I had designed. They are still our best sellers, the Wild Collection. My ex-husband had set up a web design business called Subfusion and he suggested putting the designs on to a website. He created the site and my photographer friend Kate Owens took the photos, my daughter did the modelling, as have all the children at least once over the years! I was very cautious right from the start and kept things really small, making the clothing myself at first and then paying out-source workers. I have not yet borrowed any significant sums of money to start up or develop cheekaboo, although I do plan to do this over the next 12 months once all the children are settled into nursery and school.

Did you have any professional help?

My qualification in Fashion Marketing helped, but other than that I did it all myself.

 

Did you carry out any research you carried out to know your business would work?

I didn't carry out any research into whether the business would work, it all just happened quite naturally and so I didn't feel the need for a research campaign. I was just doing something that I loved.

Where do you carry out your work now?

I run the business and all the admin from home. I have a small office and the stock is stored in the garage etc.

Do you need lots of specialist equipment?

No, just a computer, a large table, sewing machine and overlocker for making up samples.

Do you make all of the clothes yourself?

I stopped making the clothes myself after the birth of my second daughter. I use a fair trade co-operative in Mumbai, India called Oasis and I was lucky enough to find some wonderful and reliable ladies in Poole, just 10 minutes from the office, who have a small production factory.

What inspires your designs?

My own children and those of friends, listening to what Mums say they are missing or can't get hold of from the shops. I try to create clothes that make babies look cute, so that even when you are worn out and dying for a good nights sleep, you can still look at them and think well, at least they look adorable! Fabrics that I come across often lead me to create a design around the print, I get very excited when I find a new, gorgeous fabric to work with.

How many hours do you work a week?

I work 2 full days and I do manage to get the bulk of the work done in that time, sometimes I have to work in the evenings and weekends, but I try not to if I can because I just get too exhausted and that is when things can get on top of me. It is so important to make sure you get time for yourself, even if its just an early night with a book, trying to be a single parent and keep working means learning to keep a balance, if Mum loses her strength the whole family can suffer so I try take really good care of myself.

How does the job fit round your family life?

The 2 days I work the children are either at school or with one of their grandparents. My eldest daughter can get a bit fed up if I have to work once she is home from school, she likes my undivided attention and I do try to include her in the work as much as I can. The younger 2 are so used to my disappearing for 10 minutes to make a quick work call or write an email out of hours that they don't really mind. All the children have grown up with me working so they have never known anything else, but since having the littlest I do try to keep work separate from family life as much as possible. I put the family first now, I would rather get a bit behind with admin than miss out on our special time together.

How do you find clients - do you advertise?

I advertise in the Green Parent Magazine, Juno and other publications. Most of the internet traffic comes from search engines and I hope to increase sales by optimising this further in the future.

What is the earning potential?

I do not make a great deal of money, I started the business for the love of it and I had the intention of keeping things small while I had a young family. Being on my own has meant that the need to keep things manageable has perhaps gone on a lot longer than I had originally hoped and I haven't been able to develop the business in the way I had wanted too. But there is still plenty of time for that and this September my middle daughter starts at school and the youngest can begin a few sessions at nursery, this will free up a lot of my day and hopefully give me some more energy so I'm currently working on a 3 year business plan to take cheekaboo on, add new ranges and enter into a long term marketing plan. I do have plans to add a second income to the household in the near future, just to help a little as the business builds up to a level where the earnings are more substantial. I have recently trained to Reiki Master and I am currently studying Holistic Massage. I have used Reiki at home on myself and my children for over 3 years and have found it has helped us all through some very difficult times. I hope to take a few clients a week, partly for the money but also because when you experience what Reiki can bring in to your life, it seems only natural to want to want to push the energy out to others as much as possible.

Is the job rewarding?

The job is extremely rewarding. Seeing a design through to completion, the production process, photo shoots and finally loading onto the website is all so exciting and although stressful, the feeling I get when an item starts to sell well and customers mail us with their comments, its lovely and makes all the hard work so worthwhile.

Do you think it is a job that fits in well with being a Mum?

I think this is a great job but whether it fits around being a Mum really is up to the individual. It is great running your own business and having control over lifestyle and hours etc but its quite all consuming and I think it only works if you are really passionate about fashion and clothing. For me, there is no other job I could love more so working my career around being a Mum has happened naturally, almost because it just had to and I simply could not imagine life without my work. It is hard for me to be objective about whether this is a job that fits well with being a mother, because it is hard for me to separate my love for both my roles, I love my life so I guess that means that for me it is all working and I hope that continues for us long into the future.

Any advice for a Mum or Dad wanting to start training?

The advice I would give anyone thinking about starting to train in childrens clothing design is to be absolutely sure that there is real passion for fabric, design and creativity. Everyone knows how competitive the fashion industry is, but if you are happy to work on a small, not particularly glamorous scale then that is a great start. Don't expect to make a great deal of money and make sure you have plenty of support to help with the children and just someone to talk things through with, bounce ideas off etc. Get in touch with your local college or university for advice and if you trained before having children and now want to get back into the profession, try going back to the institution you trained at and just have a chat with the course leader or lecturer. They are usually only too pleased to help ex-students and sometimes all you need is a bit of encouragement and practical help with contacts etc.

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Useful Links

www.learndirect-advice.co.uk/fashion

Fashion Short Courses from University of Westminster