Meet the graduate who runs a fashion label with her mum

22 year-old Lettie Pattinson works with her mum Sally uniquely designing and selling one-off faux-fur bomber jackets for their clothing line, The Design Studio. The mother/daughter duo have drawn the attention of big names too – Kanye West is an admirer and Suki Waterhouse owns one of their bombers.

Mother and daughter

After graduating with a degree in Media Production from Liverpool John Moores Lettie couldn’t think of anything better than working with her mum, who she describes as her best friend. Lettie told The Tab “Having an amazing talented Mum as a fashion designer is the coolest thing. Everything she makes is incredible. I wanted the world to see her designs. That’s why I set up an Instagram account, so I could share and sell the garments she was making.

“Together we combined both of our skills and passions.” Media graduate Lettie and textile lecturer Sally both design in the business. While Sally makes every single item, Lettie deals with social media, marketing and generally communicating with customers. Lettie said: “Me and my mum have a wonderful relationship, we are best friends. I have leant so much from her. We have a good balance, we know when to help and give advice and when to step back and give each other space.”

On where she shops on a daily basis, Lettie said “I’m not someone who will walk into Topshop or any high street shops really. I cannot stand the prices and neither can my mum. 95 percent of the time, my clothes are made by my mother. Our unique selling point is that our bomber jackets are a one-off. It is so hard to find anything in the fashion world where something is truly unique and truly yours. That’s what we offer.”

The girls use faux-fur because “it’s ethical, timeless and really cool. It has all kinds of  amazing colours and patterns.”

Lettie told us the one celebrity she would love to see TDS on would be Beyoncé.

“We have had so many amazing customers from all over the world who have worn TDS. One bomber got sent to a floor in the Trump Tower in New York. Another customer from London was in LA at Soho House and walked into a lift with Kanye West. He told her that her bomber was fresh and took down our details.”

Lettie says she’s “still waiting on that email, Yeezy.”

Suki Waterhouse took to Instagram to share her TDS bomber.

Some of Lettie’s highlights for the company have been being featured in America’s Teen Vogue, Elle and ASOS magazine. One of their collections sold out in 10 minutes online after being on the Top 15 Instagrams to Follow worldwide.

Lettie said: “We have created our own brand and I love it. If I weren’t doing what I do now, I would probably be in London working for free, interning with a company I probably wasn’t that passionate about. When you have your own business, all your time and effort is put into it. I love what I do.”

You can follow The Design Studio Hawarden on Instagram: @thedesignstudiohawarden.