 |
|
|
Latest News
Please find below the latest Bramley news and our most recent press releases.
If you would like to receive the Bramley news letter, including information on collection previews, exclusive discounts and information about the Bramley Sale please sign up to our mailing list.
YOU MAGAZINE ARTICLE
Why we’re redressing the Bratz generation
Click here to view the article
In our jeans and hoodie culture, there seems little scope for traditional childrenswear. But three fashion graduates have bucked the trend and discovered that today’s tweenies – and their mums – prefer peter pan collars to popster glitz.
Once upon a time, not to very long ago (call it 1987), there were three little girls who lived in far-flung corners of England. Victoria lived with her parents, Mr and Mrs White, at the post office and shop in a pretty little village called Cogenhoe in Northamptonshire. She was a beautiful child, with pink flushed cheeks and hair the colour of clotted cream. Each day she would sit in her bedroom above the village store, turning the wheel of her sewing machine and stitching new clothes for her dolls. At the same time, golden-locked Rebecca Pickering was making all sorts of creations from scraps of fabric in Chesterfield, Derbyshire and English rose Sarah Murphy spent her days playing shop in her Bristol bedroom. It was, it seems, destiny that Victoria, Rebecca –known as Becks- and Sarah were to meet one day. That day came when they arrived at the London College of Fashion in 1999 to pursue their childhood dreams. Today, that friendship has blossomed into a fledgling business that has its heart and soul in the childhoods they all enjoyed.
Their label, Bramley, launched last November with a mission to ‘halt the Britney-fixation of childrenswear’, laugh the girls in unison. It’s a delightful enterprise, peddling clothes that encapsulate everything that is charming about the English rural idyll of days gone by. Yet somehow the girls have managed to take the traditions and styles of yesteryear and make them relevant to today’s children. ‘It all started in out final year at college,’ explains Victoria, now 24. ‘I had always wanted to be a fashion designer, and for our final projects we had to research an existing business and develop a range that filled a gap in the market. I decided to create a collection called Tiny Toast, a junior range for the mail-order catalogue Toast. I spent a year researching the childrenswear market and discovered that, unless you had a lot of money to spend, there was nothing but vulgar pink midriff tops and sequined hipsters. I was horrified.’
Sarah and Becks both nod in agreement as their friend and business partner describes the pop-culture fashions of today’s tots. Though they are not mothers themselves, the feedback they got when they talked to women with young children was that they were desperate to find something a little more modest for their offspring, without taking out a second mortgage.
Victoria’s final project went on to win a prestigious national award at Graduate Fashion Week, meaning that she had access to a team of industry mentors who could advise on her career.
When they finished their four-year course, the trio all took jobs with prestigious fashion brands: Victoria works as an international licensing coordinator at Jaeger, Becks is a junior designer at East and Sarah is employed in the merchandising department at Thomas Pink. But while working their way up the corporate ladder, the three had been harbouring the dream of setting up their own business, and spent endless weekends and evenings laying the foundations for Bramley. ‘We based it on the work Victoria did for her final project,’ explains Sarah. ‘We’ve built on that and have come up with our own brand concept, and have worked together to create the designs, source the fabrics, make the patterns and the samples and then grow that into a viable business.’
It’s clear that these are not your typical fashion school graduates, who have ideas of grandeur, glamour and glory but little understanding of the commercial reality of producing and selling clothing.
Though there is clearly a surplus of creative vision within the trio, their conversations are littered with sensible terms like ‘spreadsheets’, ‘critical paths’, ‘profit analysis’ and other terms alien to many a creative type. And all this while they are still holding down full-time jobs.
‘We launched the range last autumn at the Country Living Christmas Fair in London, and really want to build awareness of the brand and generate some kind of cash flow before we dedicate ourselves full time to the business,’ says Becks, wisely.
‘Bramley is being sold through fairs, on our website and from mail-order catalogue, so we can reach as wide an audience as possible. It was important that we didn’t just sell to a niche customer in some corner of London. The key for us is that we are making really good-quality, traditional childrenswear that is functional, accessible and affordable. We’ve all ploughed our own money into this, and we are all working hard, mucking in together to make it work – but it’s not going to happen overnight.’
Judging by the initial reaction to Bramley, it won’t be long before they are all handing in their resignation letters. Customers have been clamouring for their spriggy floral cotton blouses trimmed with mother-of-pearl buttons, along with handknitted fair-isle merino cardigans and pin-tucked full skirts with lace trimmed underskirts. There are simple, apron-style pinafore dresses in a hotchpotch of fabrics, and hard-working cord trousers for boys, all of which have proved equally popular with parents and their very discriminating children.
‘You’d think that contemporary kids who play with Bratz dolls and iPods would reject what we’re doing. But when we did our photo shoot they turned up in branded hoodies, put on one of our spriggy blouses with their jeans and suddenly became charmingly girlie,’ says Becks. ‘We must be doing something right.’
Bramley clothing is available in sizes to fit ages three to ten, with prices ranging from £15 to £39. For further information, visit www.bramleybymail.com.
Report: Karen Kay Photographs: Andrew Hayes-Watkins |
BRAMLEY LAUNCH PRESS RELEASE
AWARD-WINNING BRAMLEY GIRLS LAUNCH CHILDRENSWEAR RANGE TO INSPIRE BRITNEY BACKLASH
Bramley, a children's life-style brand dedicated to preserving traditional childhood charm, has been launched by three graduates of the London College of fashion at Country Living Magazine's Christmas Fair. Victoria White, Rebecca Pickering and Sarah Murphy all 24, are confident that their exclusively designed range of traditionally inspired clothing for 3 to 10-year-olds, will prove irresistible to parents wanting to fight back against a flood of gimmicky garments on the high street. Indeed, the concept for the range, based on quality, classic design with a fresh modern twist, has already received a glowing endorsement from fashion industry experts, picking up the Strategic Marketing Award at world renowned Graduate Fashion Week last year. Victoria, Product and Marketing Director, whose plans helped her gain a first class honours degree from the college, said, "We like to think of our range as a Britney backlash. Our inspiration is to see children dressed as children and not popstars." "Bramley will appeal to those parents who want value for money, yet are fashion aware and want something different for their children." Victoria added, "But don't think our designs will be old fashioned and static. It's a passion of ours and we'll be continually searching for new ideas, updating time-honoured designs, which will add to the range and keep the collections looking fresh." The clothing, where possible made using natural fabrics, features some unique details which both parents and children will appreciate. For example the clothing has name tags is sold in drawstring plimsoll bags. The range also features vintage-styled toys and homeware. Clothing: 100% merino jumpers and cardigans, with matching accessories all sold in little suitcases. Pinafores, ditsy print blouses, skirts with petticoats and pyjamas for little girls. Corduroy trousers, casual shirts and pyjamas for little boys. Toys such as skipping ropes, skittles and hand-held writing slates with chalk pencils; Homeware such as restored Victorian school chairs, wooden sledges and hand-made miniature dressing screens.
For all press enquiries please contact Victoria White:
Email: victoria.white@bramleybymail.com |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
