Oxfordshire Limited Edition – August 2019

130 |OxfordshireLimitedEdition|August 2019

LimitedEdition’sHesterGraingercatchesupwithsomeofthedesignersatSaharaand

askedtheirviewsonconsciousfashion–clothingthatisbuilttolastalifetime

STAY FASHIONABLE

FOREVER

F

oundedinthe 1970 sbySuzy

Coppersmith-Heaven,Sahara

isafamily-runbusinessthat

hasbeencreatingclothing

forindependent,free-spirited

womenforover 40 years.

AgraduateoftheRoyalCollegeofArt,

Suzysoughttoreinvigorateherimagination

soshetravelledthroughoutSouthEastAsia

intheearly 1970 s,becomingdeeplyinspired

toworkwiththerichartandcultureofBali,

Indonesia.Whilethere,Suzymetanetwork

ofothercreatives,whowereallseekingto

developtheirinspirationalideaswiththe

abundanttalentsoflocalartists.Itwasvery

muchasharingandexchangingofideas,with

herethicalprinciplesofFairtradeformingthe

basisforthedeeply-rootedvaluesbywhich

Saharastillstandsfirmlybytoday.

Suzy’searlycollectionssoldout

immediatelytomanywell-knownfashion

storesacrossLondon,andshequickly

learnthowtobuildupstrongcommunity

workshopstofulfilthequantityofordersshe

wasreceiving.Herfirstretailstoreopenedin

CoventGardeninthemid- 1970 s,followed

soonbyMaryleboneandthenChelsea.

Severalbeautifulhistorictownswereadded,

wheremanySaharastoresstillremaintoday.

HavinggrownherbusinessfromBali,Suzy

wasintroducedtoMoroccointheearly 1990 s

andshesoonbasedherproductionwithin

palm-fringedMarrakech.Findinghercreative

placeinsidethesouksshesoughtoutweavers,

dyersandtailorsonthebackofabicycle.

FlankedbytheSaharadesertuponwhich

Suzyestablishedhernewlabel,shespent

thenext 20 yearsdevelopinghergarment

dyedcollectionswithafamily-runfactory.

Meanwhile,herclothesbecameiconically

popularamongherexpandinggroupof

faithfulcustomersbackintheUK.

Saharacollectionshavealsogrown–and

with 14 boutiquesandover 150 employees,

mostofwhomarewomen.Sahara’sfocusis

nowbackintheUK,whereover 60 percent

ofitscollectionsaremadeonhomesoil.As

proudsupportersofBritishmanufacturing,

“MadeinEngland”isimportanttoSuzyand

herfamily,inanefforttoensurethesurvival

andgrowthofBritishMadeinourever

globalisedsociety.

Saharacreatesclothesfortheindividual,

notthecrowd.Witheachpiececreatedusing

luxuriousnaturalfabricsandtraditional

techniques,theircollectionsprovidean

antidotetothecultureoffastfashion.Sahara

infusesBritishfashionwithconsidered

collectionstosuitavarietyofshapes,skin

tones,agesandpersonalstyles.Piecesare

designedtofeelluxurious,flatteringand

timeless.

Fosteringmeaningfulrelationships