Tamara Hill-Norton and her husband Simon, the founders of Sweaty Betty
Tamara Hill-Norton – the real-life Sweaty Betty – had been made redundant when she had a thought – ‘girls’s sportswear does not serve girls’. She had seen a spot out there.
Sportswear, sometimes, had beforehand been designed for males after which sized down and recoloured for girls – ‘pink it and shrink’ because it was identified to these within the indutry.
However what if there was a model that made girls’s sportswear, particularly for girls?
The thought Sweaty Betty was born. After six months of pulling collectively a marketing strategy and elevating cash, Tamara launched her first retailer in Notting Hill in 1998.
She had at all times been an entrepreneur at coronary heart and as a child, travelling all over the world along with her father within the Navy, she dreamed of operating her personal enterprise.
‘Whilst a child, I used to be identical to, “I don’t need to work for anybody else, I do know what I need to do, I need to run my very own enterprise!” I at all times had that streak in me,’ she mentioned in a background piece on the Sweaty Betty web site she would go on to construct into a world model.
After ending college she launched right into a vogue profession, initially as a shopping for assistant with start-up agency referred to as Knickerbox.
It was there she observed the hole out there that may be the inspiration behind her soon-to-be multi-million-pound companies.
However it will take a redundancy for her to have the time to develop the thought right into a strong plan, with the help of her administration advisor husband and enterprise co-founder Simon.
After launching the primary retailer in Notting Hill in 1998, their enterprise rapidly grew and in 2001 it was named the Sports activities Industries Federation ‘sports activities retailer of the yr’
By 2003 the model had expanded to 5 boutiques. And three years later the corporate was opening a concession in upmarket Selfridges and later in Harrods.
The agency continued to growth, regardless of the arrival of big-name rivals, and by 2016 the corporate had greater than 40 boutiques across the UK, six within the US, 4 concessions in main malls and a profitable UK and US on-line retailer.
It has since branched out into Asia, with 60 shops in complete throughout world and concessions in 99 Nordstrom shops within the US.
After launching the primary retailer in Notting Hill in 1998, their enterprise rapidly grew and in 2001 it was named the Sports activities Industries Federation ‘sports activities retailer of the yr’
And the model has constructed a loyal military of followers, together with A-Listers similar to Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon and UK names together with the Duchess of Cambridge’s sister, Pippa Middleton, each of whom have been noticed in Swetty Betty gear.
The enterprise wasn’t the one factor rising both. Again at dwelling, within the leafy west London suburb of Acton, Tamara and Simon’s household was increasing too.
The couple now have three kids, together with eldest Daisy, 21, who’s operating her personal vogue enterprise working in reworked denim.
Daisy repeatedly posts snaps in sun-soaked places all over the world and has even posed in Sweaty Betty gadgets along with her pals.
She additionally shares browsing footage in West Wittering in West Sussex, the place the household have a weekend dwelling.
Tamara advised the Telegraph in 2017: ‘On the weekend we get away to our home in West Wittering as a lot as potential.
‘We dwell a really energetic life-style, so we’ll usually do watersports or go for a run down the seashore.
‘I then wish to calm down at dwelling with meals from my husband’s wonderful vegetable backyard and a home-made Negroni.’
Their different kids are Honor, 18, who’s an artwork scholar, finding out in Brighton, and their youngest, Luke, 14.
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