I lost the £40m I made selling Karen Millen… but now I’m back in fashion

Fashion guru KAREN MILLEN made €46m from selling the business that bears her name in 2004. Then she lost it all. The 61-year-old tells Donna Ferguson how, in 2017, after years of court battles and financial bad luck, she lost all her wealth and family home. She now rents a cottage. But this summer she teamed up again with the company she founded to launch a new fashion collection, The Founder at Karen Millen.

What did your parents teach you about money?

To work hard for it. I was brought up in a working-class home where money was pretty tight. I remember feeling this hunger to be independent. From the age of 14, I did paper rounds and egg rounds and fruit picking – anything to get a bit of pocket money.

Was there a time in your life when you were paid silly money?

Some would say I was paid silly money when I sold my company in 2004 but it was the price offered. I got about £40-odd million myself and my ex [Kevin Stanford] and business partner got the same. Of course, it felt amazing. But it came at a time when, personally, things were quite difficult. My relationship with Kevin had come to an end, my career had come to an end and selling my business felt like giving my baby away. I wanted to celebrate, but deep down, I was hurting and felt very sad. I would wake up and think: What now?

What is your biggest money mistake?

Not taking my wealth into my own hands. I trusted others I felt were better qualified to take care of it. I didn’t get the right advice. Whether it was investments, putting money into offshore accounts, whatever it was… All of those decisions have cost me. From the time of the financial crash in 2008, there were issues going on with trying to hold on to everything. When I think about the money I spent on legal fees! I went bankrupt in 2017. Deciding to lie down and let it happen to me was the only way I could move on. I’ve never actually added up everything I lost. But I can say that I lost everything I received from selling my business. I ended up with nothing, except my pension – and that has been my saving grace.

Had it not been for my partner

Ben, I would have found it very hard to make ends meet. Adjusting was not only difficult for me but for my three children. Luckily they had left school by then, but we lost our family home – and, unlike me, my children had grown up knowing no other lifestyle. Thankfully, we’ve come through it stronger.

Your best money decision?

Resolving to move forward with a clean slate. It’s taken me a while to pick up the pieces but I’m going again. I’m doing a collection with my old company, Karen Millen, which launched earlier this year, called The Founder. I feel energised. I’m doing something I love, but I don’t have the headache of running the company.

Do you own property?

No. I’ve been renting a cottage in Kent [southeast England]. It was difficult for me to get a mortgage as a bankrupt older woman, and my partner lives overseas. I see renting as a complete waste of money. Coming from a big house was quite challenging and for a long time I lived out of boxes. After a while, I realised I didn’t need half of what I owned. I’d like to buy a home again. A home, for me, is one of the most important things to have and enjoy.