This week we speak to Pip Durell, Founder of With a fashion on how she embarked on this journey. WNU is all about simplicity – paired back, laid back, timeless, effortless – just like the woman who wears them. Our shirts are not about trends or fleeting style moments, but about a wardrobe essential in which to live a life.
Welcome to the weekly series ‘How I got my job as...
’ where we speak to some incredible wellness, fashion and beauty entrepreneurs and businesswomen both based in the UAE and globally to find out about their career paths that led them to where they are now; what their daily routines look like; the advice they’d give to those starting out; and the hurdles they’ve had to overcome. I loved History of Art – I was going to study it at university before I ended up going straight into work. I was the personal assistant to the Publisher of Vanity Fair – an incredible experience learning from the bottom up.
I was already in the industry, working as the Jewellery Editor at Tatler magazine and having previously been at Vogue I had seen a gap in the market for well made, accessibly priced, sustainable women’s shirts. Function meets elegance in clothing. The Art of Effortless: Modern Simplicity meets British Heritage.
Modern clothing for modern women, while tapping into the nostalgia of the country’s heritage. I am the CEO so I sign everything from a business aspect off – but also as Creative Director I am working on how we present the brand vision through product and imagery. I wake up at 6.
30 and get ready before I get my baby up at 7. My husband and I get her ready then walk the dog and head to work. Each day is different – I could be shooting new collections, working on business development, looking at our marketing strategy or going over product development with the production team.
Never a dull day. In the evenings I love to take a bath before bed and read – the perfect way to unwind – before an early bedtime, I am not a night owl! Get ready to work hard – nothing replaces graft and a willingness to learn. ‘If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
’ What is the worst that can happen? ‘Everything will work itself out.’ – I find things work themselves out when you work on them. I think currently it’s working out how to run the business while being a new mother.
It’s harder than I ever expected but both are so enriching in totally different ways, I feel so lucky. I don’t see a ceiling. Product expansion, geographical expansion.
.. the sky is the limit for With Nothing Underneath and the clothing we want to bring to our customers lifestyles.
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