Mary Portas Interview

27 September 2011

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Retail guru Mary Portas made her name overhauling the retail industry, teaching shopkeepers how to walk the best walk and talk the best talk to guarantee exceptional customer service and booming business. But after all these years dishing out the advice, can this doyenne of the high street cut the mustard in her own fashion venture?

Mary spotted a gap in the market - high street style that works for women, not girls. She is prepared to stake her professional reputation on designing, launching and most importantly, successfully selling her own fashion range exclusively aimed at this market. And she's doing it amidst one of the country's worst recessions for decades.

Starting from scratch, she's has designed her own line of clothing, and found a retailer willing to give her floor space, as well as hiring and training a team of sales staff. All whilst keeping an eye on the bottom line and making sure she is giving her potential customers the service she feels they so deserve.

But with so much stacked against Mary's reputation, and ever conscious that she will be scrutinized to make sure she practices what she has preached, she battles a rollercoaster of emotions that see her reach breaking point trying to make her dream become a viable reality. Will the former queen of shops become a successful Queen of Frocks?

 

What can we expect in this series?
What you can expect is a real insight into how I work. And into me probably, which is a bit scary if I am honest. Also into retail and how retail works, you'll get a real understanding about what it is like to open a fashion shop. And also some really great fun scenes where the interaction between me and some of the shop staff at House of Fraser, they are really quite magical. Trying to find my right sales staff and training them. At the heart of what I love doing is more than anything is connecting with people and developing people. There are some wonderful stories and some incredible characters that are just dreams for a TV show.

 

Why do this? Why risk your reputation by starting your own venture?
I know I am risking criticism by starting my own venture. But isn't that what life is about, if you don't make change or come to the edge or push boundaries? I am just one of those people that do that, I am already on to what my next idea is.  You either put your head above the parapet and some people have a little slap or some laugh with you and enjoy it with you. But if you don't out your head up there, how boring. And I am just not a safe person so you know, so what.

 And actually all the critics, all those that criticise you, I look at them and think do I really care? Do I really care? You've got to really like the people that criticise you. If you don't like them, what do you care?  It is only the people that you like that you surround yourself with anyway.

 

What was it like being constantly filmed - the good times and the bad times?
A good cameraman and director know that if you keep the cameras on all the time people forget that they are there - and that is when you get the best TV. I know I forgot and they got a lot of good TV on the back of that.  I am dreading it when it comes out but you've got to take it. They watched everything. Sometimes, occasionally you get quite emotional and you see the cameras are there and you think please stop, but they won't. And that was tough.

 

You did research and focus groups. Did any of it change your view? What did you learn from those women?
Actually I don't like doing research and focus groups. It's the thing I hate more than anything because truthfully, you ask someone what they want they want most of the time they don't know. It's really true. I have always believed in leading with a vision and encouraging people, and inspiring people and they follow you.  My business partner believes in a bit of research and made me do it and I hated every minute of it. It was the most hideous experience of my life. You had to go behind this wall and all these women are talking about you and they don't know you are behind the wall. It is so personal, so unbelievably personal and HORRIBLE.

 

Is it true you walked in?
I did walk in because I couldn't bear to listen to them blathering on any more, I really couldn't. Which is not what you are meant to do; they nearly had a heart failure. These poor women who had come for a free drink and a pair of shoes ended up with me wandering in on them. I mean, I love feedback, but I think if you ask before.... Look, there is a great analogy here: who'd have believed 15 years ago, ten years ago, that we would have so many coffee shops on our high street, that there would be the demand. That you would think to go out and spend £2 for a cup of coffee and maybe have two a day, spending nearly five quid a day, so maybe £25 a week on coffee. They'd say "I don't want that". But they did want that. But they didn't know they wanted it. If you show them, then they come. It's the fact that there is something urban and sexy about it. But you can't explain that you just have to give it. And they come and then you can ask ‘how was that coffee for you?' And then you start to listen to research, but not before. I don't anyway.

 

What are you most proud of about this project?
I am really proud of so much. I think it gets back to people all the time. I brought in a whole team of people. I saw a little spark in the characters and trained them and they have been phenomenal. I come on the shop floor see them with the customers guiding and explaining everything that I taught them about the cut and the size and where the fabric is from. And I feel really proud about them and what we have achieved together. That's been beautiful. I would hate it if they leave, it feels like a family.  You will see it all in the show.  I can make people able to style but I can't make a great character and that is what we are all drawn to isn't it?

 

Mary Queen of Frocks, (3x60) Tuesday 4th October, 9pm, Channel 4

 

These video clips are available as embed code for users to play on their own websites. Please see terms and conditions when taking embeds. All clips must include the appropriate transmission credit.

 

Mary Portas is sat in her shop - in an area of House of Fraser's flagship store on Oxford Street. The shop has recently opened and customers are milling about looking through the rails, trying things on and being waited on by Mary's bell-boys and stylists. Many are surprised to see Mary actually in the shop - but Mary is not a hands-off kind of person and wanders around making sure everything is exactly how she wants it.

The store is the culmination of months and months of hard work - and the realisation of a long held dream of Mary's. Throughout the process cameras have been filming Mary's every move for a new fly on the wall series Mary Queen of Frocks which starts on Channel 4 on October 4th. 

 

Mary, tell us about Mary Queen of Frocks, what will we see?
This is probably the first show I have done where it is me - not going into someone else's business but actually me opening my own. Which is quite nervy.  Quite worrying.  It is actually quite fly on the wall so you get a real insight into me, my working day, how I live and this massive project I undertake.

 

What are we doing here today?
This is my shop. Here we are. This is the culmination of the sweat and the tears and the year that it took to do this. It really is the most exciting thing to be sat here eventually because for so long it has been in my head. We've only been open a few weeks but I think we have become the number one department in their group already which is pretty phenomenal. But it is not easy.

 

You are very much about customer service. What made you want to make a fashion range for women and put yourself in the critic's firing line?
Well I have put myself right in the firing line because I am THE shop critic in the country. I am not sure there is anyone else who does what I do. So I have spent my whole career reviewing shops and writing about them, whether they have been bad. And normally it does come down to one thing which retailers are pretty crap at and that is service. So for me now to open up a shop, all those critics will be in, and in fact I have seen a lot of them in here; those people you obviously know are not my customer and are gagging to catch me out. And it is really funny when they see me actually in the shop. I don't think they expect me.

 So the risk for me and my reputation is very high because I have set a benchmark which I believe is about great retailing. And now I have opened up my own shop. I'm a bit mad on doing it but it has always been a dream and I've done it. I've tried my best to make it best retail practice. And that's not just about customer service; it is also about the environment, the vision, the energy and the service. It is even about the smell of the shop, the music being played, the product. It's the whole lot coming together in harmony.

 

So in this busy time you have been followed by a Channel 4 camera crew who have been filming your every move. Will we see you lose your cool on screen?
When you are trying to create the biggest thing that you have created; your own business, your own shop, in a new market that overtly has not been targeted before, that's horribly stressful.  And to top it all off you have a camera crew following you. So you've also got to think "Is my lipstick alright, is my hair ok?" And of course the camera crew don't give a monkey's whether my hair is out of place or my lipstick (it's only when I see myself on TV I think I'm going to kill that person when I next see them). It just adds to it. There were times when I lost my cool because there was just too much to do in such a short space of time. Of course I lost my cool. That is the way it is. I am passionate. It is an opportunity for people to see how I am and how I work, truly.

 

What made you want to create a range of clothing for women?
If you look at the high street today - it is really interesting because it's actually quite unique to this country - we are kind of obsessed with youth fashion. Most retail shops, in fact the majority, are aimed at the teen and the early twenties market. And if they are not they put teens or early twenty's in their ad campaigns because that is seen as sexy and modern - youthful. But actually I just think is a load of baloney. So what I just wanted to do was create a shop for women, putting women at the centre of fashion. Right back on the map.

What I have wanted to do is create a shop for women, there is only one rule. It is not for girls. Simple as that. Whatever age you decide to become a woman, want to feel like a woman, style like a woman and actually confidently feel like a woman and not try and chase being a yoof  [sic], as it were, then come into my shop.

 

What impact do you expect to have on women's fashion?
It is not so much about impact on women's fashion it is about impact, really, on making women feel good about being women.  I've created and developed the range that is edited for those women. Every piece I have chosen to go in the shop is about thinking for women's bodies and not young girls bodies.

What I hope in terms of impact is about the fashion and retail industry waking up and thinking ‘My god! We should be doing more of that. We're going to make stuff for women out there and target them instead of teenage girls.' It is a cultural thing I want to have an impact on. If you look at this market over 50% women are over 40 and yet our high street is absolutely inundated with teenage fashion. The other think I would like to influence that it can be sexy and modern. It does not have to be dry and boring.

 

Have the customers you've had in the shop surprised you in any way?
It is surprising meeting people, customers, face to face. What I love about my customers is that they tell me if they don't like it. And that is such a confident thing. We have a proper dialogue. The most surprising thing is the age range, from girls in their 20's to women in their late 60's. And they are all after one thing; make me feel confident, make me modern, and they want great service.

 

Mary's Top Style tips:

1.      Avoid dressing like a teenager. There is nothing worse than a woman who wants to dress like her daughter.

2.      Edit your trends. When a trend comes out work with it but if it doesn't suit you forget it.

3.      Work with your proportions. If you have chunky knees don't wear a skirt above the knee.

4.      Don't buy cheap crap. If you buy cheap you will look cheap in it. That doesn't mean you have to spend designer prices.

5.      Keep it low maintenance. Keep your wardrobe simple, so you can get dressed in ten minutes.

 

The clips on this page are available to use on your website. Click the chain logo in the top right hand corner of the video to access the embed code. Terms and conditions apply. See below.

 The following feature is available free for reproduction in full or in part.

Retail guru Mary Portas made her name overhauling the retail industry, teaching shopkeepers how to walk the best walk and talk the best talk to guarantee exceptional customer service and booming business. But after all these years dishing out the advice, can this doyenne of the high street cut the mustard in her own fashion venture?

Mary spotted a gap in the market - high street style that works for women, not girls. She is prepared to stake her professional reputation on designing, launching and most importantly, successfully selling her own fashion range exclusively aimed at this market. And she's doing it amidst one of the country's worst recessions for decades.

Starting from scratch, she's has designed her own line of clothing, and found a retailer willing to give her floor space, as well as hiring and training a team of sales staff. All whilst keeping an eye on the bottom line and making sure she is giving her potential customers the service she feels they so deserve.

But with so much stacked against Mary's reputation, and ever conscious that she will be scrutinized to make sure she practices what she has preached, she battles a rollercoaster of emotions that see her reach breaking point trying to make her dream become a viable reality. Will the former queen of shops become a successful Queen of Frocks?

 

What can we expect in this series?
What you can expect is a real insight into how I work. And into me probably, which is a bit scary if I am honest. Also into retail and how retail works, you'll get a real understanding about what it is like to open a fashion shop. And also some really great fun scenes where the interaction between me and some of the shop staff at House of Fraser, they are really quite magical. Trying to find my right sales staff and training them. At the heart of what I love doing is more than anything is connecting with people and developing people. There are some wonderful stories and some incredible characters that are just dreams for a TV show.

 

Why do this? Why risk your reputation by starting your own venture?
I know I am risking criticism by starting my own venture. But isn't that what life is about, if you don't make change or come to the edge or push boundaries? I am just one of those people that do that, I am already on to what my next idea is.  You either put your head above the parapet and some people have a little slap or some laugh with you and enjoy it with you. But if you don't out your head up there, how boring. And I am just not a safe person so you know, so what.

 And actually all the critics, all those that criticise you, I look at them and think do I really care? Do I really care? You've got to really like the people that criticise you. If you don't like them, what do you care?  It is only the people that you like that you surround yourself with anyway.

 

What was it like being constantly filmed - the good times and the bad times?
A good cameraman and director know that if you keep the cameras on all the time people forget that they are there - and that is when you get the best TV. I know I forgot and they got a lot of good TV on the back of that.  I am dreading it when it comes out but you've got to take it. They watched everything. Sometimes, occasionally you get quite emotional and you see the cameras are there and you think please stop, but they won't. And that was tough.

 

You did research and focus groups. Did any of it change your view? What did you learn from those women?
Actually I don't like doing research and focus groups. It's the thing I hate more than anything because truthfully, you ask someone what they want they want most of the time they don't know. It's really true. I have always believed in leading with a vision and encouraging people, and inspiring people and they follow you.  My business partner believes in a bit of research and made me do it and I hated every minute of it. It was the most hideous experience of my life. You had to go behind this wall and all these women are talking about you and they don't know you are behind the wall. It is so personal, so unbelievably personal and HORRIBLE.

 

Is it true you walked in?
I did walk in because I couldn't bear to listen to them blathering on any more, I really couldn't. Which is not what you are meant to do; they nearly had a heart failure. These poor women who had come for a free drink and a pair of shoes ended up with me wandering in on them. I mean, I love feedback, but I think if you ask before.... Look, there is a great analogy here: who'd have believed 15 years ago, ten years ago, that we would have so many coffee shops on our high street, that there would be the demand. That you would think to go out and spend £2 for a cup of coffee and maybe have two a day, spending nearly five quid a day, so maybe £25 a week on coffee. They'd say "I don't want that". But they did want that. But they didn't know they wanted it. If you show them, then they come. It's the fact that there is something urban and sexy about it. But you can't explain that you just have to give it. And they come and then you can ask ‘how was that coffee for you?' And then you start to listen to research, but not before. I don't anyway.

 

What are you most proud of about this project?
I am really proud of so much. I think it gets back to people all the time. I brought in a whole team of people. I saw a little spark in the characters and trained them and they have been phenomenal. I come on the shop floor see them with the customers guiding and explaining everything that I taught them about the cut and the size and where the fabric is from. And I feel really proud about them and what we have achieved together. That's been beautiful. I would hate it if they leave, it feels like a family.  You will see it all in the show.  I can make people able to style but I can't make a great character and that is what we are all drawn to isn't it?

 

Mary Queen of Frocks, (3x60) Tuesday 4th October, 9pm, Channel 4

 

These video clips are available as embed code for users to play on their own websites. Please see terms and conditions when taking embeds. All clips must include the appropriate transmission credit.

 

Mary Portas is sat in her shop - in an area of House of Fraser's flagship store on Oxford Street. The shop has recently opened and customers are milling about looking through the rails, trying things on and being waited on by Mary's bell-boys and stylists. Many are surprised to see Mary actually in the shop - but Mary is not a hands-off kind of person and wanders around making sure everything is exactly how she wants it.

The store is the culmination of months and months of hard work - and the realisation of a long held dream of Mary's. Throughout the process cameras have been filming Mary's every move for a new fly on the wall series Mary Queen of Frocks which starts on Channel 4 on October 4th. 

 

Mary, tell us about Mary Queen of Frocks, what will we see?
This is probably the first show I have done where it is me - not going into someone else's business but actually me opening my own. Which is quite nervy.  Quite worrying.  It is actually quite fly on the wall so you get a real insight into me, my working day, how I live and this massive project I undertake.

 

What are we doing here today?
This is my shop. Here we are. This is the culmination of the sweat and the tears and the year that it took to do this. It really is the most exciting thing to be sat here eventually because for so long it has been in my head. We've only been open a few weeks but I think we have become the number one department in their group already which is pretty phenomenal. But it is not easy.

 

You are very much about customer service. What made you want to make a fashion range for women and put yourself in the critic's firing line?
Well I have put myself right in the firing line because I am THE shop critic in the country. I am not sure there is anyone else who does what I do. So I have spent my whole career reviewing shops and writing about them, whether they have been bad. And normally it does come down to one thing which retailers are pretty crap at and that is service. So for me now to open up a shop, all those critics will be in, and in fact I have seen a lot of them in here; those people you obviously know are not my customer and are gagging to catch me out. And it is really funny when they see me actually in the shop. I don't think they expect me.

 So the risk for me and my reputation is very high because I have set a benchmark which I believe is about great retailing. And now I have opened up my own shop. I'm a bit mad on doing it but it has always been a dream and I've done it. I've tried my best to make it best retail practice. And that's not just about customer service; it is also about the environment, the vision, the energy and the service. It is even about the smell of the shop, the music being played, the product. It's the whole lot coming together in harmony.

 

So in this busy time you have been followed by a Channel 4 camera crew who have been filming your every move. Will we see you lose your cool on screen?
When you are trying to create the biggest thing that you have created; your own business, your own shop, in a new market that overtly has not been targeted before, that's horribly stressful.  And to top it all off you have a camera crew following you. So you've also got to think "Is my lipstick alright, is my hair ok?" And of course the camera crew don't give a monkey's whether my hair is out of place or my lipstick (it's only when I see myself on TV I think I'm going to kill that person when I next see them). It just adds to it. There were times when I lost my cool because there was just too much to do in such a short space of time. Of course I lost my cool. That is the way it is. I am passionate. It is an opportunity for people to see how I am and how I work, truly.

 

What made you want to create a range of clothing for women?
If you look at the high street today - it is really interesting because it's actually quite unique to this country - we are kind of obsessed with youth fashion. Most retail shops, in fact the majority, are aimed at the teen and the early twenties market. And if they are not they put teens or early twenty's in their ad campaigns because that is seen as sexy and modern - youthful. But actually I just think is a load of baloney. So what I just wanted to do was create a shop for women, putting women at the centre of fashion. Right back on the map.

What I have wanted to do is create a shop for women, there is only one rule. It is not for girls. Simple as that. Whatever age you decide to become a woman, want to feel like a woman, style like a woman and actually confidently feel like a woman and not try and chase being a yoof  [sic], as it were, then come into my shop.

 

What impact do you expect to have on women's fashion?
It is not so much about impact on women's fashion it is about impact, really, on making women feel good about being women.  I've created and developed the range that is edited for those women. Every piece I have chosen to go in the shop is about thinking for women's bodies and not young girls bodies.

What I hope in terms of impact is about the fashion and retail industry waking up and thinking ‘My god! We should be doing more of that. We're going to make stuff for women out there and target them instead of teenage girls.' It is a cultural thing I want to have an impact on. If you look at this market over 50% women are over 40 and yet our high street is absolutely inundated with teenage fashion. The other think I would like to influence that it can be sexy and modern. It does not have to be dry and boring.

 

Have the customers you've had in the shop surprised you in any way?
It is surprising meeting people, customers, face to face. What I love about my customers is that they tell me if they don't like it. And that is such a confident thing. We have a proper dialogue. The most surprising thing is the age range, from girls in their 20's to women in their late 60's. And they are all after one thing; make me feel confident, make me modern, and they want great service.

 

Mary's Top Style tips:

1.      Avoid dressing like a teenager. There is nothing worse than a woman who wants to dress like her daughter.

2.      Edit your trends. When a trend comes out work with it but if it doesn't suit you forget it.

3.      Work with your proportions. If you have chunky knees don't wear a skirt above the knee.

4.      Don't buy cheap crap. If you buy cheap you will look cheap in it. That doesn't mean you have to spend designer prices.

5.      Keep it low maintenance. Keep your wardrobe simple, so you can get dressed in ten minutes.

 

The clips on this page are available to use on your website. Click the chain logo in the top right hand corner of the video to access the embed code. Terms and conditions apply. See below.

 The following feature is available free for reproduction in full or in part.

Retail guru Mary Portas made her name overhauling the retail industry, teaching shopkeepers how to walk the best walk and talk the best talk to guarantee exceptional customer service and booming business. But after all these years dishing out the advice, can this doyenne of the high street cut the mustard in her own fashion venture?

Mary spotted a gap in the market - high street style that works for women, not girls. She is prepared to stake her professional reputation on designing, launching and most importantly, successfully selling her own fashion range exclusively aimed at this market. And she's doing it amidst one of the country's worst recessions for decades.

Starting from scratch, she's has designed her own line of clothing, and found a retailer willing to give her floor space, as well as hiring and training a team of sales staff. All whilst keeping an eye on the bottom line and making sure she is giving her potential customers the service she feels they so deserve.

But with so much stacked against Mary's reputation, and ever conscious that she will be scrutinized to make sure she practices what she has preached, she battles a rollercoaster of emotions that see her reach breaking point trying to make her dream become a viable reality. Will the former queen of shops become a successful Queen of Frocks?

 

What can we expect in this series?
What you can expect is a real insight into how I work. And into me probably, which is a bit scary if I am honest. Also into retail and how retail works, you'll get a real understanding about what it is like to open a fashion shop. And also some really great fun scenes where the interaction between me and some of the shop staff at House of Fraser, they are really quite magical. Trying to find my right sales staff and training them. At the heart of what I love doing is more than anything is connecting with people and developing people. There are some wonderful stories and some incredible characters that are just dreams for a TV show.

 

Why do this? Why risk your reputation by starting your own venture?
I know I am risking criticism by starting my own venture. But isn't that what life is about, if you don't make change or come to the edge or push boundaries? I am just one of those people that do that, I am already on to what my next idea is.  You either put your head above the parapet and some people have a little slap or some laugh with you and enjoy it with you. But if you don't out your head up there, how boring. And I am just not a safe person so you know, so what.

 And actually all the critics, all those that criticise you, I look at them and think do I really care? Do I really care? You've got to really like the people that criticise you. If you don't like them, what do you care?  It is only the people that you like that you surround yourself with anyway.

 

What was it like being constantly filmed - the good times and the bad times?
A good cameraman and director know that if you keep the cameras on all the time people forget that they are there - and that is when you get the best TV. I know I forgot and they got a lot of good TV on the back of that.  I am dreading it when it comes out but you've got to take it. They watched everything. Sometimes, occasionally you get quite emotional and you see the cameras are there and you think please stop, but they won't. And that was tough.

 

You did research and focus groups. Did any of it change your view? What did you learn from those women?
Actually I don't like doing research and focus groups. It's the thing I hate more than anything because truthfully, you ask someone what they want they want most of the time they don't know. It's really true. I have always believed in leading with a vision and encouraging people, and inspiring people and they follow you.  My business partner believes in a bit of research and made me do it and I hated every minute of it. It was the most hideous experience of my life. You had to go behind this wall and all these women are talking about you and they don't know you are behind the wall. It is so personal, so unbelievably personal and HORRIBLE.

 

Is it true you walked in?
I did walk in because I couldn't bear to listen to them blathering on any more, I really couldn't. Which is not what you are meant to do; they nearly had a heart failure. These poor women who had come for a free drink and a pair of shoes ended up with me wandering in on them. I mean, I love feedback, but I think if you ask before.... Look, there is a great analogy here: who'd have believed 15 years ago, ten years ago, that we would have so many coffee shops on our high street, that there would be the demand. That you would think to go out and spend £2 for a cup of coffee and maybe have two a day, spending nearly five quid a day, so maybe £25 a week on coffee. They'd say "I don't want that". But they did want that. But they didn't know they wanted it. If you show them, then they come. It's the fact that there is something urban and sexy about it. But you can't explain that you just have to give it. And they come and then you can ask ‘how was that coffee for you?' And then you start to listen to research, but not before. I don't anyway.

 

What are you most proud of about this project?
I am really proud of so much. I think it gets back to people all the time. I brought in a whole team of people. I saw a little spark in the characters and trained them and they have been phenomenal. I come on the shop floor see them with the customers guiding and explaining everything that I taught them about the cut and the size and where the fabric is from. And I feel really proud about them and what we have achieved together. That's been beautiful. I would hate it if they leave, it feels like a family.  You will see it all in the show.  I can make people able to style but I can't make a great character and that is what we are all drawn to isn't it?

 

Mary Queen of Frocks, (3x60) Tuesday 4th October, 9pm, Channel 4

 

These video clips are available as embed code for users to play on their own websites. Please see terms and conditions when taking embeds. All clips must include the appropriate transmission credit.

 

Mary Portas is sat in her shop - in an area of House of Fraser's flagship store on Oxford Street. The shop has recently opened and customers are milling about looking through the rails, trying things on and being waited on by Mary's bell-boys and stylists. Many are surprised to see Mary actually in the shop - but Mary is not a hands-off kind of person and wanders around making sure everything is exactly how she wants it.

The store is the culmination of months and months of hard work - and the realisation of a long held dream of Mary's. Throughout the process cameras have been filming Mary's every move for a new fly on the wall series Mary Queen of Frocks which starts on Channel 4 on October 4th. 

 

Mary, tell us about Mary Queen of Frocks, what will we see?
This is probably the first show I have done where it is me - not going into someone else's business but actually me opening my own. Which is quite nervy.  Quite worrying.  It is actually quite fly on the wall so you get a real insight into me, my working day, how I live and this massive project I undertake.

 

What are we doing here today?
This is my shop. Here we are. This is the culmination of the sweat and the tears and the year that it took to do this. It really is the most exciting thing to be sat here eventually because for so long it has been in my head. We've only been open a few weeks but I think we have become the number one department in their group already which is pretty phenomenal. But it is not easy.

 

You are very much about customer service. What made you want to make a fashion range for women and put yourself in the critic's firing line?
Well I have put myself right in the firing line because I am THE shop critic in the country. I am not sure there is anyone else who does what I do. So I have spent my whole career reviewing shops and writing about them, whether they have been bad. And normally it does come down to one thing which retailers are pretty crap at and that is service. So for me now to open up a shop, all those critics will be in, and in fact I have seen a lot of them in here; those people you obviously know are not my customer and are gagging to catch me out. And it is really funny when they see me actually in the shop. I don't think they expect me.

 So the risk for me and my reputation is very high because I have set a benchmark which I believe is about great retailing. And now I have opened up my own shop. I'm a bit mad on doing it but it has always been a dream and I've done it. I've tried my best to make it best retail practice. And that's not just about customer service; it is also about the environment, the vision, the energy and the service. It is even about the smell of the shop, the music being played, the product. It's the whole lot coming together in harmony.

 

So in this busy time you have been followed by a Channel 4 camera crew who have been filming your every move. Will we see you lose your cool on screen?
When you are trying to create the biggest thing that you have created; your own business, your own shop, in a new market that overtly has not been targeted before, that's horribly stressful.  And to top it all off you have a camera crew following you. So you've also got to think "Is my lipstick alright, is my hair ok?" And of course the camera crew don't give a monkey's whether my hair is out of place or my lipstick (it's only when I see myself on TV I think I'm going to kill that person when I next see them). It just adds to it. There were times when I lost my cool because there was just too much to do in such a short space of time. Of course I lost my cool. That is the way it is. I am passionate. It is an opportunity for people to see how I am and how I work, truly.

 

What made you want to create a range of clothing for women?
If you look at the high street today - it is really interesting because it's actually quite unique to this country - we are kind of obsessed with youth fashion. Most retail shops, in fact the majority, are aimed at the teen and the early twenties market. And if they are not they put teens or early twenty's in their ad campaigns because that is seen as sexy and modern - youthful. But actually I just think is a load of baloney. So what I just wanted to do was create a shop for women, putting women at the centre of fashion. Right back on the map.

What I have wanted to do is create a shop for women, there is only one rule. It is not for girls. Simple as that. Whatever age you decide to become a woman, want to feel like a woman, style like a woman and actually confidently feel like a woman and not try and chase being a yoof  [sic], as it were, then come into my shop.

 

What impact do you expect to have on women's fashion?
It is not so much about impact on women's fashion it is about impact, really, on making women feel good about being women.  I've created and developed the range that is edited for those women. Every piece I have chosen to go in the shop is about thinking for women's bodies and not young girls bodies.

What I hope in terms of impact is about the fashion and retail industry waking up and thinking ‘My god! We should be doing more of that. We're going to make stuff for women out there and target them instead of teenage girls.' It is a cultural thing I want to have an impact on. If you look at this market over 50% women are over 40 and yet our high street is absolutely inundated with teenage fashion. The other think I would like to influence that it can be sexy and modern. It does not have to be dry and boring.

 

Have the customers you've had in the shop surprised you in any way?
It is surprising meeting people, customers, face to face. What I love about my customers is that they tell me if they don't like it. And that is such a confident thing. We have a proper dialogue. The most surprising thing is the age range, from girls in their 20's to women in their late 60's. And they are all after one thing; make me feel confident, make me modern, and they want great service.

 

Mary's Top Style tips:

1.      Avoid dressing like a teenager. There is nothing worse than a woman who wants to dress like her daughter.

2.      Edit your trends. When a trend comes out work with it but if it doesn't suit you forget it.

3.      Work with your proportions. If you have chunky knees don't wear a skirt above the knee.

4.      Don't buy cheap crap. If you buy cheap you will look cheap in it. That doesn't mean you have to spend designer prices.

5.      Keep it low maintenance. Keep your wardrobe simple, so you can get dressed in ten minutes.