Caption: HIMI Lucy BramleyCredit Collect / metro.co.uk
Welcome back to How I Made It, Metro.co.uk’s weekly career journey series.
This week we’re talking with fashion brand founder Lucy Bramley, 30, from Liverpool. She owns Ruched and Ready, a brand aimed at women who want to embrace their curves, which launched in 2019.
Her sexy yet sophisticated night-out wear comes in sizes UK 8 – 20 (with a vision of adding more soon), because historically, it’s been hard to find a ‘fit for the club or bar that suits diverse body types.
‘As a woman with curves, I hated that there was never anything that made me feel confident whilst flattering my shape, and that’s why I created my brand so I love being able to keep creating styles that I know I’d feel confident in too,’ she says.
Here’s how she made her brand happen.
Hi Lucy. What made you want to set up a fashion brand?
I found that I would buy dresses or outfits and then they were either too short, poor quality and often only single lined which is unflattering.
I even found myself sometimes buying two of the exact same dress from brands because the length was too short and then I’d have a seamstress add length by cutting up and using the other dress to add length whilst still keeping it as a ‘mini’ dress but it just suited my figure better.
I got fed up of this and decided I wanted to be the change.
Why is it important there are more brands like yours in the plus size space?
I honestly feel there is a huge gap in the market for brands that actually understand a curvier body and women’s style and how we like to dress.
I am size 16 myself so I am able to fit all my samples on my own body shape and then I can see what works, what doesn’t flatter or what needs adapting and changing.
I know some brands will use mannequins to fit their plus size clothing and it doesn’t make sense as you can’t see how it moves or works for a curvier body.
There are so many women from a young age struggling with finding brands that cater to their body shape or feel let down by brands, and I remember what that’s like.
You’ll be ordering a size XL in a brand and then not even being able to get it over your arms and it knocks your confidence and makes you feel like you’re the problem when you’re not.
(Picture: Lucy Bramley)
Did you have to do any training to get here?
I graduated with a degree in PR and marketing. I mostly learnt on the job.
Did you ever work in another industry – what was career changing like if so?
Fashion has always been my biggest love and I’ve always worked in this industry, but I have done all different aspects.
During university, I worked in retail at Topshop in their Liverpool store, but I then interned for a major fashion designer in London and at a fashion PR agency.
Next, I worked at very.co.uk when I graduated, and got my first role in fashion marketing. I stayed there for five years before I decided to set up my own brand and take the plunge with Ruched & Ready.
What celebrities do you count as your clients?
I am really lucky that celebrities like Maya Jama, Samantha Faires and Emily Atack love my brand and regularly wear some of our styles.
That’s pretty cool! How did it come about?
The first celebrities wearing my designs was a total surprise!
Emily Atack’s stylist actually ordered three dresses from the website and I had no idea it was for a celeb or anyone famous. She wore it on her comedy show and then went out after. It was papped and ended up in some celebrity features, and then she tagged me on her stories, and I literally saw so many new followers and loads of interest on the website.
Maya Jama was another complete surprise and totally organic, as her stylist ordered it and then I heard later she was going to wear it on Aftersun for Love Island. I remember watching and waiting to see if she was going to walk out in one of the designs and then she didn’t, and I was so disappointed as I’d really got excited for her to wear it.
Luckily for a girls night out with friends she wore one of my dresses and then she tagged me on Instagram and it got picked up.
Maya Jama wearing the white ruched mini dress from Ruched and Ready (Picture: Getty Images for The Birley Clubs)
I do regularly reach out to celebrities and influencers too, and I’ve always seen really great feedback from those wearing my dresses.
Dressing celebrities is still such a really exciting part of having my brand, and I still get really excited when a stylist requests stuff from me to dress one of their celebrity clients.
An average day in the working life of Lucy Bramley
9am: I start my day when I wake up replying to emails and messages from oversea suppliers who are working ahead.
10am: I get ready around 10am and head for coffee before going into the office.
11am: There’s never a typical or average day as the owner of a brand, so you do end up prioritising whatever needs doing that day. So at this point I’ll be working on the most pressing task we have, which can be something planned such as organising a new collection or something completely unexpected such as needing to find a new supplier urgently.
(Picture: Lucy Bramley)
1pm: I’ll grab lunch but can often then be jumping onto the next thing on my to do as well as having design meetings, creating buy sheets for my new collections, trying on samples and looking at fabric swatches.
3pm: One thing I like to stay on top of myself is to check customer feedback as what they think of our designs and fit really matters.
7pm: I plan a lot of my social media activity in the day and schedule it for the evening so I know what I am posting that day and night. In my evening is when I I also reach out to influencers and content creators to discuss gifting and collaborating with them and reaching their audiences.
What do you love most about your job?
I think I love that every single day is different, and there’s always something changing in the fashion industry so it keeps it exciting.
For me, my main passion comes from designing my collections and listening to feedback from our customers on what they like and feel confident in, as well as researching the best trends and styles to flatter every figure.
What do you dislike the most?
I honestly do love all aspects and I’m not just saying that because it’s my own brand!
There are definitely still days when it’s hard to motivate yourself, or you have a job that you really don’t want to do but I wouldn’t say I ever dislike any part of Ruched & Ready – even packing orders and sorting logistics is still a part of my brand that I enjoy!
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
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