Cath Kidston: I owe my fortune to ironing!

FROM rose-print mugs to polka dot tablecloths, her brand has gained her a legion of fans across the globe.

But Cath Kidston says she was criticised when she started out for ‘celebrating women doing chores’ – because she designed ironing board covers.

Miss Kidston, 59, said she ‘got a lot of stick’ for designing an ironing board cover which was her ‘best product’.

Speaking at the Oxford Union, the designer – whose brand is worth an estimated £50 million – said: ‘I got a lot of stick with people saying “are you celebrating women ironing?”. And I said, “well, actually, if I do my ironing I want it to be more pleasurable”.

‘The reason I designed the ironing board cover was I had a very small flat, and I had a grey ironing board on the back of the door. And I thought, why isn’t it covered in decoration? So that was my best product.’

Despite no longer being involved in the day-to- day business of the company she founded, the businesswoman – who set up her first shop in holland Park in 1993 – retains an 11 per cent stake.

The brand is so popular that 28 per cent of women in Britain own something from Cath Kidston, the company said last month.

Miss Kidston also revealed that she was behind a new design for Ikea.

She said: ‘They were amazing to work with, and they paid me so much money. But I wouldn’t let them use my name. So everyone thought they were ripping me off.’