Anya Hindmarch Explained

Honorific Prefix:Dame
Anya Hindmarch
Birth Name:Anya Susannah Hindmarch
Birth Date: df=yes 7 May 1968
Birth Place:Maldon, Essex, England
Occupation:Founder & CEO, Anya Hindmarch
Boards:Board of Trade
Children:2 (+ 3 stepchildren)
Awards:Brand of the Year, Accessory Designer British Fashion Awards

Dame Anya Susannah Hindmarch, (;[1] born 7 May 1968[2]) is an English fashion accessories designer who founded an eponymous company, of which she is CEO. Hindmarch published her first book, If In Doubt Wash Your Hair in May 2021, a Sunday Times bestseller.[3]

Alongside running her accessories brand, Hindmarch holds several other roles – she is emeritus trustee of both the Royal Academy of Arts[4] and the Design Museum [5] and a trustee of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.[6] In 2019, she became a Greenpeace ambassador.[7] She was appointed a trustee of the Tate in 2022 [8] and is a non-executive director of Tate Enterprises Ltd.[9] In September 2023, she was made an advisor to the Board of Trade.[10]

Early life

Hindmarch was born to entrepreneurial parents, Michael (a plastics company owner) and Susan (Cooper) Hindmarch. She attended New Hall School, an independent school in Chelmsford, Essex.[11] In 1986, she went to Florence to study Italian for a year.[12]

Career

Hindmarch launched her label in 1987, when she was 19, inspired by a drawstring leather duffel bag many fashionable Italian women carried. Although the UK economy was in a recession, she was inspired by Margaret Thatcher's entrepreneurial ideas,[13] Hindmarch borrowed some money to import some bags to England, and sold 500 through the fashion magazine Harpers and Queen.[11] [14] [12]

She initially had bags manufactured in Italy, but when the factory started selling bags of her design directly to retailers,[15] she started having her own bags made in Hackney. By 1992 her bags were sold at luxury stores in London, New York, Japan, France and Italy.[12]

In 1993, she opened a small retail shop in Walton Street.[11] From the beginning, high quality materials and workmanship were central, representing a design philosophy which was, and remains "British, humorous and personalised."[14]

In 2001, Hindmarch launched her "Be A Bag" line, a service by which a bag is personalised with a customer's photograph, initially to support a breast cancer awareness group, but subsequently to benefit other charitable causes.[11]

In 2007, Hindmarch launched a limited-edition tote bag with the words "I'm NOT A Plastic bag", using her influence to make it fashionable not to use plastic bags.[16] The canvas totes sold for £5 and were selected by Vanity Fair to be included in their "Oscars" goodie bags.[17]

In 2008, she launched a limited edition handbag for US retailer Target.[18] In the same year, Hindmarch collaborated with Selfridges to design a collection of Christmas hampers.[19]

In 2009, her company opened a bespoke workshop at its Pont Street store in London. By that time, the company was headquartered in Battersea, in the converted stable block of a former brewery.[20]

In 2013, Hindmarch opened its New York flagship store on Madison Avenue that sold both manufactured and bespoke bags.[21]

In 2021, Hindmarch launched the Village,[22] her brand’s retail development on London’s Pont Street in Chelsea, comprising four permanent stores, the brand's 'Anya Cafe' and a space which hosts rotating concepts including the Ice Cream Project[23] during the summer and Anya's Grotto at Christmastime.[24]

Business details

In 2006, the company took on outside investors, and was valued at $38 million.[20] By 2009, she had 51 stores worldwide with an estimated sales of £20 million. In 2020, The Daily Telegraph reported that Hindmarch had regained a joint ownership of the company after returning to lead a turnaround.[25]

Awards and honours

Previous appointments

Hindmarch was on the Promote London Board for the Mayor of London from 2009 until 2011,[34] a non-executive director from the British Fashion Council from 2010 until 2020,[41] was a UK trade ambassador from 2011 until 2016[42] and a Birthday Honours Committee member from 2013 until 2019.

Personal life

In 1996, she married James Seymour, a widower with three children, and he joined the company soon after as its finance director.[43] [15] They then had two children together.[44]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: A Conversation with: Anya Hindmarch – 'The Future of Luxury: Sustainability and Retail'. YouTube. December 14, 2021. 4 August 2022.
  2. Web site: Anya Hindmarch . Debrett's . 23 July 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110717185624/http://www.debretts.com/people/people-of-today/people-of-today-search-results.aspx?personId=19047 . 17 July 2011 .
  3. Web site: If In Doubt, Wash Your Hair: A Manual for Life . 2023-12-19 . Goodreads . en.
  4. Web site: The Royal Academy Trust Royal Academy of Arts . 2023-12-19 . www.royalacademy.org.uk . en.
  5. Web site: Trustees . 2023-12-19 . Design Museum . en.
  6. Web site: Who we are . 2023-12-19 . The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity . en.
  7. Web site: Ocean Ambassadors . 2023-12-19 . Greenpeace International . en.
  8. Web site: Five New Trustees Appointed to Tate – Press Release . 2023-12-19 . Tate . en-GB.
  9. Web site: TATE ENTERPRISES LTD people. 2023-12-19 . find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk . en.
  10. Web site: 2023-09-20 . Government unveils new Board of Trade with UK's top CEOs . 2023-12-19 . GOV.UK . en.
  11. Web site: Anya Hindmarch MBE: Honorary Doctor of Arts, 2011. Anglia Ruskin University. 30 December 2012. 30 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160330140853/http://www.anglia.ac.uk/graduation-and-beyond/honorary-award-holders2/anya-hindmarch. dead.
  12. News: Style Makers; Anya Hindmarch, Handbag Designer. Waite, Teresa L.. The New York Times. 1 March 1992. 12 March 2008.
  13. News: Anya Hindmarch: Dave's got a brand new bag lady. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/news/anya-hindmarch-daves-got-a-brand-new-bag-lady-777531.html . 7 May 2022 . subscription . live. The Independent. 3 February 2008. 12 March 2008 . London . Cole . Moreton.
  14. News: People who steal ideas are creeps. My life in fashion: Anya Hindmarch. The Times. 20 February 2008. 12 March 2008 . London. Philippe. Naughton.
  15. [Justine Picardie]
  16. News: UK – Magazine – It's in the bag, darling. 25 April 2007 . BBC.
  17. Web site: I'm Not an Ethical Plastic Bag. treehugger.com. 28 April 2007. 12 March 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080323010310/http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/04/i_am_not_an_eth.php. 23 March 2008 . live.
  18. Max Padilla for the Los Angeles Times. 8 October 2008. Anya Hindmarch brings a low-priced handbag collection to Target
  19. Leisa Barnett for Vogue UK. 24 Sept. 2008 Happy Hampers
  20. Kate Reardon, The Queen of Cozy Cool, vanityfair.com. September 2009.
  21. Jill Sieracki, Anya Hindmarch's Cheeky-Chic Handbags, gotham-magazine.com. 25 November 2013.
  22. Web site: Anya Hindmarch Launches Not One New Store, but an Entire Village . .
  23. Web site: Anya Hindmarch's answer to the heatwave? Baked Bean ice cream . 18 July 2022 .
  24. Web site: Anya's Grotto | Things to do in London . 2 November 2022 .
  25. News: Anya Hindmarch bags half her fashion business back . The Daily Telegraph . 18 January 2020 . Telegraph Media Group Limited . 18 January 2020 . Uttley . Hannah .
  26. Web site: Glamour award . 19 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150802051715/http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/news/celebrity/2015/02/03/glamour-women-of-the-year-awards-2015 . 2 August 2015 . dead .
  27. Web site: British Fashion Award Winners 2007 . 27 November 2007 .
  28. Web site: LFW: Elle Style Awards . 13 February 2008 .
  29. Natasha Cowan for The Daily Telegraph. 2 June 2009 Anya Hindmarch awarded MBE at Buckingham Palace
  30. Web site: Anya Hindmarch . 26 August 2011 .
  31. Web site: British Fashion Council .
  32. Web site: Seasoned Travellers . 11 May 2010 .
  33. Web site: Anya Hindmarch – ARU . 2023-02-08 . aru.ac.uk . en.
  34. News: Handbag queen named businesswoman of the year . London . The Guardian . Josephine . Moulds . 19 April 2012.
  35. Web site: Anya Hindmarch – Accessory Designer of the Year – British Fashion Awards 2014 . . 2 December 2014 .
  36. Web site: And the Fashion Futures Award Winners Are . 22 May 2015 .
  37. Web site: Elle Style Awards 2016: Winners List . 24 February 2016 .
  38. Web site: Anya Hindmarch and Burberry among winners at Walpole British Luxury Awards . 15 November 2016 .
  39. Web site: Graduation 2017: Our Honorary Graduands | University of Essex .
  40. Web site: Anya Hindmarch | BoF 500 | the People Shaping the Global Fashion Industry . 6 April 2021 .
  41. Web site: Anya Hindmarch Joins British Fashion Council. 17 June 2024.
  42. Web site: The rise and rise of Anya Hindmarch . 17 November 2016. standard.co.uk. 17 June 2024.
  43. News: Anya Hindmarch: bag lady with a £20m empire. https://web.archive.org/web/20160328105540/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/5178887/Anya-Hindmarch-bag-lady-with-a-20m-empire.html. dead. 28 March 2016. The Daily Telegraph. 18 Apr 2009 . London . Roya . Nikkhah.
  44. News: Anya Hindmarch and her stepdaughter on instant love and family loyalties . Powell . Rosalind. 16 June 2024.

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