People shun my fashion label because of David, admits Samantha
SAMANTHA CAMERON has suggested that her fashion label could sell more clothes if her husband was more popular.
The fashion designer and wife of David Cameron said his political career had dented her sales.
“There are some people who don’t shop with us because of who my husband is,” she told The Telegraph’s
Women Mean Business Live event, when asked if her name came with baggage. “But I’m sure there are others who shop with us because they like me, or they like him.”
Mrs Cameron conceded that the Cameron name had helped her to get publicity in the early days “and probably raising money was a bit easier”.
She said her husband was a supportive presence as she launched her business, Cefinn, and had urged her not to give it up. The label has found fans among television news presenters, in- cluding the BBC’S Sophie Raworth.
Mrs Cameron said: “We are particularly popular with news presenters both here and in the US. I don’t know why – I think because they are bright colours and bright colours do well on telly.”
The designer said she was surprised by how many companies still have strict dress codes for their employees.
“I was definitely wearing smart trainers to work when I was working at
Smythson,” she said of her previous job at the luxury accessories firm.
“One thing I have been shocked by is that there are some industries – law, some firms in the City – where they still have unbelievably strict dress codes. We try in our business to cater for that woman who does have to look quite smart and classic, and then also the customer who wants to look a bit more feminine, a bit more creative, not quite so corporate.”
Discussing money, Mrs Cameron said: “I don’t really own a credit card or anything. I very rarely go into my overdraft.” But she was grateful to keep working at Smythson while she was living at No10. “You can make as much of the job of being the wife of the prime minister as you want to, but there’s nothing you’re obligated to do. So I think it was brilliant that I had a job and wasn’t stuck in that Westminster bubble. You get out and you get a bit of perspective on everything.”
Asked if she had any style advice for Boris Johnson’s girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, now she is regularly photographed, Mrs Cameron said it would be to choose clothes that are “crease-free”.