DESIGNER KAREN MILLEN’S ADDRESS TO IMPRESS
There are few women in the UK who have not admired the pretty coats, dresses and jumpers displayed at their nearest Karen Millen shop. Founded in 1981 by Karen and her former partner Kevin Stanford with a loan of just £100, they began by making tailored shirts for friends – before opening their first shop in 1983 in Maidstone, Kent.
Subsequent shops opened in nearby Tunbridge Wells and Brighton but the company now has nearly 200 stores and concessions all over the world. But although the business bears her name, Karen has nothing to do with it now after the company was sold to an Icelandic retailer. It’s now owned by an international bank after the original buyer went bust following the financial crisis. Karen has faced her own financial problems. In March this year she was declared bankrupt in the High Court and faces losing her £3 million mansion in the Kentish countrywide.
But there were happier times. Between 1988 until 2000 Karen lived in this six-bedroom mansion in Wateringbury, Kent, which is now for sale.
The property’s master bedroom doubled as her cutting room while she developed her business.
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