Magazine puts fashion business in spotlight
A city business, which dresses the children of high-profile clients such as Tyson Fury, has been named as one of the country’s most inspiring independents.
Designer Childrenswear was founded more than 30 years ago by husband and wife duo Brenda and Kevin Coade when they started selling children’s clothes on Newcastle Quayside. In 1984 they opened their first store in their home town of Sunderland in Olive Street.
It’ s since gone from strength to strength, dressing the children of millionaires and more and its strong online presence enabled it to continue to trade in lockdown.
Now it’s been named in the top 100 of inspiring independents by fashion industry bible Drapers. As the magazine couldn’t host its usual annual awards ceremony due to COVID-19, it decided to celebrate the resilience of the industry by compiling the list of inspiring independents as voted for by readers and the editorial team.
Dionne Evans, commerce director at Designer Children swear, said :“This year has been the hardest and most challenging for a lot of businesses and the fashion/retail industry is no different.
"We are so proud of how, as a team, we have pulled together and carried on through this ever-changing pandemic. Our business has seen a significant increase in customers browsing and shopping online via www. designer childrens wear. com. We are truly thankful for the skilled team that literally kept the business going throughout the lockdown period.”
As well as its online offering, the store has reopened.
The store moved to larger premises in Derwent Street last year, which is featured in the next series of Geordie Shore’s OG’s after Talia Oatway and Aaron Chalmers were filmed shopping there.
Dionne added: “Our stock buying no longer consists of trips to Milan, Paris or London, but is replaced with structured Zoom calls and conference based buying to view 2021 collections.”