Interviewing Annie Holt who founded Ethereal London. This brand ethically sources fabrics, follows sustainable practices that respect people and the environment, reduces waste, but all the while not compromising on design or attention to detail. 

Enjoy reading this interview!

Q.: The name of your brand Ethereal creates immediately an idea of lightness, but what’s really behind this name?  Exactly that, I chose the band name to epitomise what I am trying to achieve and the name has become our mantra to live by at Ethereal London. To be delicate; to carry yourself with care and love; to feel elegance and poise. This is how we hope our designs make you feel when you wear them. We aim to create beautiful clothes with passion and integrity. Our responsibly-sourced fabrics and garments balance graceful movement with fitted styles to flatter the figure, capturing the true essence of what it means to be ethereal. We know that ‘one size’ does not fit all. We want to empower and inspire you with a personal shopping experience that gives you more style choices and boosts your body confidence. We want to help you curate a timeless, sustainable wardrobe that’s made to last with clothes that you fall in love with.

Q.: When did you become interested in fashion? At a very young age I became interested in clothes and fashion, always wanting to pick my own outfits. My mum taught me how to use a sewing machine and we used to buy Vogue patterns and make dresses for me to wear, however the patterns were never quite how I wanted the final garment to look so we used to amend the patterns ourselves as we made it! As I got a little older I saw a programme about fashion design and buying and decided then that is what I wanted to do and from that point on I made all my choices around education with that end goal in mind.

Q.: How did you come across the inspiration for some of your favorire designs? I am constantly saving images and pictures of things I like, flowers, books, fabrics and looking at trends and shapes. I try to think about what will most flatter women’s bodies, real women with curves and make them feel their best and most feminine and then combine these with stunning colours and of course our floral prints.

Q.: How do you create a sustainable wardrobe? It is hard to be 100% sustainable however we can all do our part, by investing in pieces that you will love forever and that are made to last from higher quality fabrics rather than constantly spending small amounts on throw away fashion you will start to help slow down the life cycle of a garment and in turn make an impact on fashion waste and consumption. Sustainable brands and products will feel like a bigger investment at first however once you transition and you realise less is more in terms of number of items you need in your wardrobe you will end up spending less in the long run and gaining more pay per wear for these investment pieces, therefore saving you money.

Q.: Who is your clientele? I try to cater for all women, my core customer is between 30 – 50 however I truly believe that age is just a number these days and it is more of a mindset and how you want to look and feel. So I actually have customers ranging from 25 right up to 75. The thing these women have in common is a desire for a more affordable luxury product that empowers and inspires them to make the style choices to suit them as one style does not suit everyone.

Q.: If you could collaborate with an artist, fashion house or designer, who would you choose and why? This is a really difficult one as there are so many amazing creatives I would love to collaborate with, I recently collaborated with a photographer and turned her stunning floral photography into one of my prints. I would love to collaborate across product types so homewear, activewear and beauty bring the ethereal prints to life in different categories, every time we finalise a new print I can visualise it on so many different products and not just on clothing. I would also like to collaborate with a key and iconic store and celebrity to do an exclusive collection.

Q.: Best advice ever received. Don’t wait for things to be perfect, just start and perfect and learn as you go along. I have always been a huge perfectionist and it can become debilitating sometimes and stop you from doing things and moving forward so I really needed to hear this and it is something I constantly remind myself. It does play as a strength though when it comes to perfecting the fit and finish of each and every garment as this is where attention to detail and perfection is crucial to delivering to the brands esteemed quality.

Q.: When can we really define a garment as “timeless” ? When it becomes your go to piece season after season year after year, pieces that work with the rest of your wardrobe and that enhance your style but still feel modern after many years.

Q.: If your creations were a book or a piece of art, which one would they be? They would have to be some kind of floral installation, I love Rebecca Louise Law’s work and imagine a lot of my prints are like hanging flowers.

Q.: Three words to describe your brand: Feminine , elegant and understated ( I would add timeless too if I had four words!)

For more info visit www.ethereallondon.com