Tatty Devine's Harriet Vine shares the story behind the brand
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Tatty Devine, brilliantly quirky and independent handmade jewellery brand was set-up by Harriet Vine and Rosie Wolfenden over 12 years ago, quickly becoming a cult classic in British fashion.
Founded by the creative pair, whilst still at university, they initially began creating wrist cuffs made out of leather samples and selling them at market stalls. “We got a call from Vogue, which inspired our first collection and then we showed our first collection at London Fashion week,” explains Harriet.
With their first collection hailed a success, Tatty Devine opened their flagship boutique in London’s Brick Lane in 2000, followed by another store in Covent Garden as well as over 300 stockists selling their products around the world.
From inception, Harriet and Rose had developed a relationship with East London Small Business Centre. Harriet says: “Throughout the last twelve years we have grown and changed so much and we have been able to access help from ELSBC that has been a good fit with what we needed each stage; from grants, loans, forward planning and good advice.”
Then as the economy slowed in 2011 and consumer buying habits shifted, Harriet and Rosie returned to ELSBC and worked with their business advisor to restructure the finance of the business, increase their profit margins and safeguard jobs to ensure a continued growth.
“We’ve secured a bank loans and a small loan from ELSBC to help through this period of rapid growth. We have just re-launched our website and launched a precious metal range using classic Tatty iconography, which is currently stocked exclusively by Selfridges and our own boutiques.
Tatty Devine had an incredibly successful year, with sales growing by 34% and creating an additional six jobs.Being nominated for NatWest Women in Business Awards, The Telegraph Small Shops Awards and included in Britain’s top 100 jewellers has not stopped the pair.
“We have been invited to work on a number of high profile projects with Selfridges and are currently running a bespoke, live name necklace cutting studio on their ground floor and we are working on projects with Mary Portas, Colette and Tate,” adds Harriet.
The PR savy pair have embraced the power of social media, increasing their brand exposure both online and offline, leading to coverage in several high profile publications.
In January 2013, Tatty Devine were awarded MBEs in the Queen’s New Year Honours list for Services to Fashion.
Copyright © 2012 East London Small Business Centre Ltd.
