Meet The Makers: The Sheffield womenswear designer with fashion in her blood
- 3 months ago
Our choice of clothes helps to define how we think of ourselves and how we think of others.
An outfit can suggest social status, political beliefs, a certain taste in music and even our mood on any given day - there’s always story
behind the clothes we wear.
It’s one of the reasons Harriet Eccleston, whose clothing brand goes by the same name, felt compelled to continue in a family tradition of tailors, drapers and milliners stretching back generations.
“It’s quite a personal thing,” she said. “The garments that you wear are one of the first things that people see about you and I guess (they) interpret your characteristics or your personality through your choice of clothing and that has always interested me - the emotion, the personality that clothes can bring out.”
Working out of her one room workshop in the Albyn Works, a former
factory building in Sheffield’s Kelham Island, Harriet creates
womenswear with sustainability and heritage at its core.
From ideation and fabric cutting all the way through to hand stitching buttons and packaging items, Harriet’s head, heart and hands are behind it all.
The finest British cottons and wools are taken and combined with a soft colour palette to create elegant garments with a classic versatility.
Yet the reason Harriet’s creations stand out is beyond their aesthetic.
Examine them more closely and you find storytelling and tradition woven into every piece.
The influence of Harriet’s ancestry is evident throughout her business.
“Fashion is in my blood, their stories are in my heart,” reads her website.
Scattered amid the fabric swatches and sketches on the work surfaces and pin boards of her workshop are black and white photos of a moustachioed man immaculately turned out regardless of the scene he appears in.
The man’s name is E.D. Soulsby and he’s Harriet’s great great
Grandfather.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Soulsby, owned and ran a menswear shop in the industrial heartlands of Northumbria.
“It was in the family for generations - everybody mucked in and was part of it.
“My granny spent a lot of time there until she was married and she told me a lot of stories.
“They specialised in quality menswear clothing and the idea was they were pieces that would last.”
An outfit can suggest social status, political beliefs, a certain taste in music and even our mood on any given day - there’s always story
behind the clothes we wear.
It’s one of the reasons Harriet Eccleston, whose clothing brand goes by the same name, felt compelled to continue in a family tradition of tailors, drapers and milliners stretching back generations.
“It’s quite a personal thing,” she said. “The garments that you wear are one of the first things that people see about you and I guess (they) interpret your characteristics or your personality through your choice of clothing and that has always interested me - the emotion, the personality that clothes can bring out.”
Working out of her one room workshop in the Albyn Works, a former
factory building in Sheffield’s Kelham Island, Harriet creates
womenswear with sustainability and heritage at its core.
From ideation and fabric cutting all the way through to hand stitching buttons and packaging items, Harriet’s head, heart and hands are behind it all.
The finest British cottons and wools are taken and combined with a soft colour palette to create elegant garments with a classic versatility.
Yet the reason Harriet’s creations stand out is beyond their aesthetic.
Examine them more closely and you find storytelling and tradition woven into every piece.
The influence of Harriet’s ancestry is evident throughout her business.
“Fashion is in my blood, their stories are in my heart,” reads her website.
Scattered amid the fabric swatches and sketches on the work surfaces and pin boards of her workshop are black and white photos of a moustachioed man immaculately turned out regardless of the scene he appears in.
The man’s name is E.D. Soulsby and he’s Harriet’s great great
Grandfather.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Soulsby, owned and ran a menswear shop in the industrial heartlands of Northumbria.
“It was in the family for generations - everybody mucked in and was part of it.
“My granny spent a lot of time there until she was married and she told me a lot of stories.
“They specialised in quality menswear clothing and the idea was they were pieces that would last.”