BL-24 - Flipbook - Page 68
ENTREPRENEURS
Lady Laura Cathcart’s 2024 summer millinery collection
HATS
ON!
By Laura Cathcart
Lady Laura Cathcart is a British
couturier milliner known for her
bespoke hats and headpieces
for weddings, racing, and other
special occasions. A leading
society milliner, she also creates
ready-to-wear collections and has
collaborated with high-end fashion
brands like Emilia Wickstead and
Amanda Wakeley.
W
hen people think of British
entrepreneurs, they don’t
usually think of a couture
milliner working in the depths of
Shropshire, surrounded by wallmounted hats, mannequins, Cecil
Beaton sketches and a small black pug
curled up in front of a 昀椀re.
Artisan fashion entrepreneurs are
an endangered species. Survival in
the current economic climate has
become increasingly dif昀椀cult, and
many famous brands have failed.
So how have I survived, when even
Coco Chanel, whose career journey
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ISSUE 24
from milliner to fashion icon is an
inspiration to me, eventually gave up
on millinery?
I have never chosen the route of thirdparty funding. I believe that if you
create a truly original and timeless
brand, hand-crafted couture products
that emotionally connect to your
clients, then you have a chance of
success.
Collaboration is a better path. I have
recently worked with leading fashion
designer Emilia Wickstead on several
of her recent London Fashion Week
