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Yvonne Ellen

Brand · Retailer · Home goods shop

I sometimes look back at where Yvonne Ellen started and I have to pinch myself. I’ve worked hard to grow the brand to where it is now and I’m so proud of everything I’ve achieved, alongside my team. Here’s how it started and how it’s going! My background With a passion for art ever since I can remember, I originally trained as a printed textile designer at Nottingham Trent University. After I graduated, I was working as a menswear designer. But a career in fashion isn’t for the faint-hearted and I found that I wasn’t passionate about it. I knew I needed to do something else. Yvonne Ellen all started with a vintage tea set. It was my best friend’s wedding and I was struggling with what to buy for a wedding gift. I wanted to give a gift that was both beautiful and unique, something super special which I just couldn’t find on the high street, no matter how hard I looked. I had a huge collection of absolutely stunning vintage bone china which I had collected over the years from various charity shops, market stalls and car boot sales (my passion!). I decided to upcycle some of it by hand-painting it to create the perfect gift. I got amazing feedback for it from friends and family and so I took the leap and started selling my designs online. I spent my days working at my full-time design job and by night I ran my online store - creating listings online, updating stock inventory and packaging orders. On the weekends I made more of my vintage stock and I had a stall at Spitalfields Market. Looking back, it was exhausting but I knew I was onto something good and I wanted to grind to make it happen!