A fashion entrepreneur has named her new business after her Clifton grandma to reflect the "beauty" found in council estate communities. FREDA, launched in late 2024, currently offers sweatshirts and tote bags in its range of products that aim to capture the "council estate aesthetic". Becky Whitfield, 34, says her brand aims to reflect urban life with a nod to the strong sense of community often found in areas like Clifton.
The company owner said: "It's been in the pipeline for quite a few years and I bit the bullet this year and just went for it". The company is named after Becky's grandma, Freda Bryan. Freda passed away in July 2020 at the age of 90 and lived in Clifton for most of her life on Rivergreen.
Becky, who grew up in the Barton Green area, described Freda as the "matriarch" of her family and said: "I was really close to my grandma, my dad was in the Royal Navy so he was away a lot and my grandma really helped to bring us up with my mum. "She was a very strong but very kind woman and when she passed away, it was quite a big hole in the family. She was the glue that kept everyone together.
She was really involved in the local community and gave a lot back through working in the community library". Having seen strong demand for the sweatshirts and tote bags, Becky is now thinking about the best way to expand the product range. The initial focus will be on producing T-shirts celebrating the history of Nottingham's lace industry, in which Becky's great-grandfather Art.
