My European experience made me realise that I didn’t want to settle for just anything... I wanted beauty, I wanted quality, and I wanted my customers to remember and cherish each of their own Penelope Red designs. I didn’t want to be another designer who uses far too much black, and insist that everything must be ripped. I wanted my designs to stand out from the crowd, and I knew that prints and colours was something I wanted to feature.
I admire and appreciate the silhouettes and finishes of antique and vintage clothing; so I use this to inspire a lot of my styling and details. Old movies, a love of 70’s and 60’s prints, and being inspired by Hollywood glamour have helped me develop my style.
I try to produce designs that will stand the test of time. I deliberately never follow the trends- I want to make my own! I want each customer to be wearing my designs time and time again, because they love it so much, and because it was made beautifully.
I have always enjoyed sewing, and I love the idea of a “NO Factory” policy. I still have garments, which I made in 2001, and I have worn them on numerous occasions, and they still look good. Do you have any factory made garments that you can do this with? I don’t!
Each design in the Penelope Red range is a unique hand tailored piece of clothing. All garments are designed, created and made by myself, and therefore only very small quantities of each design apply. There are no more than 10 copies per design, and a lot are one-offs. So you have the knowledge of knowing that you own an exclusive hand made garment for your very own!
I have noticed a lot of designers hardly ever wear their own product- I find this very strange! How do you expect your customers to have faith in your product, if you don’t?! I wear Penelope Red designs daily, so I know how each design fits. Is it comfortable to wear? What can you wear it with? Is it easy to wear, or do you have to keep fixing it? What do people say about it?