Daily Mail

ISSA: DESIGNER QUIT BRAND

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WHEN a youthful Kate Middleton appeared on TV with her new fiancé Prince William on 16 November 2010, wearing this blue wrap dress by sleek womenswear brand Issa, it should have been the best day of founder Daniella Helayel’s life. the Brazilian- born designer, who started making dresses when she came to Britain in 2000 and built a cult celebrity following, said her company had been in ‘serious financial trouble’ — but Kate turned its fortunes around. the £400 garment sold out in five minutes and was reordered ‘countless’ times, with one New York department store buying 1,100. ‘We soon knew Kate was wearing Issa because the phones began ringing and didn’t stop,’ Daniella explains. ‘ It was bonkers.’ Kate had worn the label previously, buying dresses directly from Daniella’s studio, but the designer had no idea the dress would feature on such a momentous occasion. at its peak, the brand’s value boomed to £47 million. But the Duchess’s endorsemen­t also triggered its demise. ‘I didn’t have the money to finance production on that scale. the bank refused to give me credit and the factory was screaming for me to pay its bills,’ says Daniella.

Later that year, she sold 51 per cent of the business to close friend Camilla Fayed, daughter of egyptian magnate Mohamed al-Fayed. But relationsh­ips soured and in 2013 Daniella quit as creative director. Issa closed two years later.

Having cut all ties, Daniella did produce special £200 versions of her iconic dress for a United Nations moneyraise­r in 2016, then launched a new clothing line of her own, Dhela, in 2017.

FINANCIAL LOSSES: Issa ceased operating in December 2015, with final company accounts showing annual losses of more than £4.3 million.

OTHER WOES: In 2017, the department store House of Fraser bought what remained of the brand, taking it on as one of its in-house womenswear labels.

Yet 12 months later House of Fraser, too, is in dire straits. Having announced 6,000 job losses and the closure of 31 stores, it’s been bought by Sports Direct tycoon Mike ashley.

WHAT SHE SAID: ‘ I had a great business, which I’d built up on my own over a decade. to watch it evaporate was heartbreak­ing.’

 ?? Words: SARAH RAINEY Picture research: CLAIRE CISOTTI Pictures: PHOTOSHOT / REX/ SHUTTERSTO­CK / ALPHA PRESS ??
Words: SARAH RAINEY Picture research: CLAIRE CISOTTI Pictures: PHOTOSHOT / REX/ SHUTTERSTO­CK / ALPHA PRESS

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