18 WWW.THEFIELD.CO.UK
FashionWHERETOBUY
BELLAHOSKYNSCLOTHING
http://www.bellahoskyns.com- LAURACATHCART
http://www.lauracathcart.com
MILLER& DRAKE
http://www.milleranddrake.co.uk
of commissions, but we do have a lot of
stockwhichis readytosellimmediately.The
majorityofwhatwedois bespokebutsome
people love buying online, probably they
will haveseenit on myInstagram,which
seemstobemy largest marketing tool, as it
isformany.”
Last year, with the two Royal Wed-
dings,CathcartmadeninepiecesforHRH
PrinceHarry’sweddingtoMeghanMarkle
and 12 forPrincessEugenie’smarriage to
Jack Brooksbank.Unfortunately, shecan’t
tellmewhoherclientswerebutshedoes
tellmeshemadeanintricatepinkostrich
feather hat for Elizabeth Hurley for the
EpsomDerbylastyear,which hit the head-
linesinmosttabloids.
AnnabelTyrwhitt-DrakefoundedMiller
& Drakein2017.Sheis basednearEastMeon
inHampshire,ontheBereleighestate,and
herhusband,Tom,runsthefarm.Tyrwhitt-
Drake set up her fashion label when herthreedaughterswereallatschool.Shehad
startedtothinkaboutgoingbacktowork
andwasponderingwhattodo.Hersister-
in-law had suggested she should find a
productshefeltpassionateaboutandsellit.
Tyrwhitt-Drake thought about it, and as
a keen shotshewasalwaysa realfanof
tweedculottesasshefindsthembothflat-
teringandfeminineaswellas being warm
andpracticalinthefield.
Shetells me: “Ihad a pair I’dworn to
deathandI wanteda secondpairina dif-
ferenttweedandnobodywassellingthem...
I hada ‘ping’momentandthoughttomyself,
‘I know, I’ll design and sell ladies tweed
culottes.’It wasa needtodosomethingwhile
mychildrenwereatschoolandI thoughtif I
doit myself,I cankeep it as big or as small as
I want to really.”ASUCCESSFULBUSINESS
Shesays:“Ithasbeena biggersuccessthan
I hadhopedfor.Thefirstseasonwentreally
well. I speak in seasons purely because
I selltheculottesmainlyfromSeptemberto
December,somainlyintheshootingseason,
althoughI dosellthefedorasoutsidethe
shootingseason.Theculottesareverywell
madeandI alwaysgetreallygoodfeedback
ontheirquality.I amreally,reallypleasedto
havepaidoffmystart-upcosts,inthefirst
season,aslotsof peoplesaid,‘Oh, itwill
take years’, but I suppose as it was just me,outofmydiningroomandI’mnotgoingfor
globaldomination,it wasn’t too difficult to
keepmycostsdown.”
The waistcoats and culottes are made
in thenorth,andTyrwhitt-Drakegetsthe
tweedfroma millinScotland,sotheyare
very much British made, designed and
sourced.Shemodelledthe culottesonthe
pairshealreadyhad,tweakeda fewofthe
design features and selected four tweeds
thatshelikedandthatcovermosttastes.She
alsosellsdifferentcolouredfedoras,which
she embellishes with her trademark fur
pom-pomsandfeathers.Thesesellwelland
areoftenseenatracemeetsandpoint-to-
points,aswellasoutandaboutinLondon.
Modesttoa fault,Tyrwhitt-Draketellsme:
“I ama totalfishoutofthewaterinallofthis.
It’ssucha learningcurveandI havemade
mistakesalongtheway,whichis allpartand
parcelofrunningyourownbusiness.”
Sheusedtoworkasa PAintheCityand
tellsmeshehasnoretailorfashionback-
ground,normarketingorPRexperience,but
herbusinessis growingfastandsheis work-
ingonsomeexcitingnewitemstoaddtoher
collectionfortheforthcomingseason.
Allthreeoftheseruralfashionistasjoin
the ranks ofthe moststylish andinnova-
tivedesigners,livingfulltimeinthecountry.
Withthe cleveruseofInstagramandwell
thoughtoutwebsites,theirrelativeruraliso-
lation has proved no barrier to success.Above:Miller&Drake.Right:Miller&Drake’s
signatureculottes,tweedwaistcoatand fedora
featuring a trademark pom-pom