12:11pm Tuesday 17th November 2009
By Lucy Richardson
After years of hard slog, fashion designer to the stars Kate Fearnley feels she’s finally made it, she tells Lucy Richardson.
SHE used to sell handmade clothes to celebrities from the back of her car. Now Middlesbrough fashion designer Kate Fearnley is a star in her own right.
The 33-year-old – a hot favourite with tabloid starlets such as Katie Price – has just won Ultimate Young Fashion Entrepreneur at The Cosmopolitan Ultimate Women of the Year Awards 2009.
At a glittering award ceremony she was presented her accolade by television presenter Zoe Salmon, as celebrities flocked round eager to talk to the newly crowned designer.
It was strange to have the tables turned with people she had admired for so long recognising her, says Kate.
“I have been wearing Kate’s designs for over a year now and my only regret is that I didn’t discover her sooner. I’ve worn Kate Fearnley for everything from photoshoots and TV appearances to red-carpet events.
I love the style – sexy but elegant – perfect,” said Zoe Salmon.
Girls Aloud were among her first customers, soon followed by Coleen Rooney, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and the Hollyoaks cast.
Kate still works on her original made-to-measure designs seven days a week and they are just as likely to be seen on a Saturday night out in Newcastle as on the red carpet at a star-studded awards ceremony.
Now her sexy creations are stocked by Selfridges and Asos, as well as Psyche in Middlesbrough and her own boutique, which now employs seven staff.
Kate is originally from Newtonunder- Roseberry, near Stokesley, North Yorkshire. Her star has been twinkling for a few years, but now she has scooped a major award, she feels that she’s finally made it.
“It was very hard. I had no money so I made everything myself, got it in the back of the car, dragged it round the shops and sold what I could,” she says.
But when the smaller boutiques started to struggle, she was left with a massive financial hole in her business.
“Suddenly we hit a brick wall and with no payments coming in, I was at my lowest ebb.
There were times when I wondered if it was worth it but it spurred me on to open my own place and slowly we turned things around.
“It is a sacrifice. For the past two years, I’ve put my life on hold to make a success of this. There’s no time for men, kids or marriage but this is what I love doing and you have to put your passion and creativity into the business and not let anything stand in your way.”
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