She may be the brains behind one of the UK’s most successful fashion brands – but Clare Hornby tried her hand at multiple businesses before striking gold with ME+EM.
It’s been a landmark week for the luxury womenswear brand, which was worn by Lady Victoria Starmer and Angela Rayner on their first day in Downing Street.
Since it was founded in 2009, ME+EM has also become a staple brand for royal women – including the Princess of Wales, Duchess of Edinburgh and Queen Camilla.
Over the weekend, Sophie Winkleman – wife of Frederick Windsor – was pictured wearing a white summer dress by the brand to attend Wimbledon.
Meanwhile, Lady Victoria Starmer attended the Coral-Eclipse races in Surrey wearing a £325 green floral ME+EM dress – after the £275 red frock she wore to arrive at 10 Downing Street sold out in 48 hours.
ME+EM founder Clare Hornby photographed in one of her stores. The brand has been worn by the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Edinburgh several times over the years
Pictured: Lady Victoria Starmer wore a ME+EM dress on Friday after her husband Sir Keir won the election by a landslide
That said, the recent royal and political endorsements are a far cry from Clare’s humble beginnings in business.
Here FEMAIL reveals how ME+EM went from a struggling pyjama business to a fashion brand reportedly worth £130m.
Young entrepreneurial spirit
Clare Hornby, 54, who now lives in Oxford, grew up making her own clothes out of Vogue patterns to fit her tall frame. Her mother worked as a teacher while her father became a managing director of a building company.
As a teenager, the mother of five – who later studied to become an advertising executive – sold second-hand Italian shoes at a market in Oldham and previously told The Times she would queue up at 6am to get a stall.
Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2019, Clare explained: ‘As a teenager in Oldham, Greater Manchester, I was always buying patterns and fabrics and loved the process of making something unique. Now you can buy something in Primark for a fiver, there’s no incentive to make your own.
‘At 14 I had a market stall selling factory seconds. I had lots of business ideas, but it wasn’t until my 30s that I had that lightbulb moment to create my own fashion business.’
When she married advertising agency founder Johnny Hornby in 2003, Clare became step-mother to his three teenage children – and the couple also went on to have two daughters of their own.
Sophie Winkleman wearing a white tiered summer dress by ME&EM at Wimbledon this weekend
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner wore a green suit and orange dress by ME+EM for her first days in Downing Street
In an interview with This is Money, Clare said she discovered her ‘love of luxury’, which eventually inspired her to create ME+EM, while working as a marketing trainee for Harrods.
She said: ‘You could shop on staff discounts, and I missed it when I left. Advertising taught me about the strategic positioning of brands, mapping the market.’
‘Doing something for herself’
Finding herself a mother-of-five, Clare said she wanted something of her to focus on and decided to set up her own fashion business.
She previously told Febe: ‘I’d become both a mum and a step-mum, and to keep all the wheels on the track, I needed to do something for myself. So I went for it.’
In 2007, Clare and her friend Emma Howarth set up ‘The Pyjama Room’ – remortgaging their homes and using £100,000 of savings to fund their business venture.
Speaking to The Marylebone Journal, Clare explained: ‘At that time, the loungewear revolution hadn’t really begun and PJs were relegated to the darkest, most distant corner of the department store.
‘The insight was that you spend a lot of time at home with your partner, you want to be comfortable but always end up hanging out looking scruffy, so we tried to elevate that.’
At the time, Clare said she had ‘no relevant experience’ in fashion and was told to ‘give up immediately’ by a fashion buyer she met on a research trip to New York.
Lady Victoria Starmer attended the Coral-Eclipse races in Surrey this weekend wearing a £325 green floral ME+EM dress
The Princess of Wales wore this pink shirt dress by ME+EM for a surprise appearance at Chelsea Flower Show last year
What’s more, Clare also told Febe how she ‘probably wouldn’t have started’ if she had known how challenging it would be and described a ‘soul-destroying moment’ where fabric suppliers refused to speak to her because her business was online-only.
ME+EM rebrand
Looking back on their first business, Clare said it was ‘too narrow a concept’, which is what led the friends to rebrand to ME+EM.
The rebrand allowed the co-founders to expand into knitwear, outwear and occasionwear. In 2012, Emma stepped down from the business and now works for the agency Dog, Cat & Mouse.
Speaking to Femail, Clare later explained: ‘We later rebranded ourselves as Me + Em offering designer-quality basics for busy women.
‘Our wide-legged roll-top palazzo trousers from that first collection are still bestsellers.’
In 2015, the Princess of Wales took the brand into the mainstream when the royal was pictured wearing a blue-and-white striped top while playing with toddler Prince George at her husband’s polo match.
Pictured: The Princess of Wales wore a blue-and-white striped top by ME+EM to attend Prince William’s polo match in July 2015
Pictured: The Duchess of Edinburgh seen wearing a floral ME+EM dress for the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in Belfast
Duchess of Sussex stands with former Sentebale Chairman Johnny Hornby (who is married to ME+EM founder Clare Hornby) during the Sentebale Polo 2018
The royal has since gone on to wear ME+EM on several occasions – including a pink shirt dress for a surprise visit to the Chelsea Flower Show last year.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Clare confirmed that the Princess’ endorsement always has the biggest impact on their sales.
The founder said: ‘There isn’t anyone like her. In terms of global appeal, nothing comes close. And quite rightly. She is amazing. So stoic, and therefore, we respect her.’
However, this isn’t the only connection Clare has to the Royal Family – as her husband Johnny previously served as a trustee for Prince Harry’s charity Sentebale for 11 years until July 2023.
His departure prompted Harry to pay tribute to his ‘leadership and vision’ and ‘dedication, partnership and friendship’. Describing Hornby’s commitment to the children and young people of southern Africa as ‘incredible’, Harry and the charity’s co-founder, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, thanked him for enabling Sentebale to ‘deliver holistic support to thousands in Lesotho and Botswana’.
Johnny’s departure came after it was reported he was the one who encouraged Jeremy Clarkson to issue a public apology to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for a column he wrote about the Duchess in The Sun, in which he pointed out that he hated the former actress on ‘a cellular level’.
Cracking America
In March 2022, it was reported that ME+EM had been valued at over £130m – having brought in new investors to break into the North American market.
Pictured: ME+EM’s shop front in Marylebone. The brand has now opened stores on Madison Avenue in New York and the Hamptons
In July 2022, company had hired former Marks & Spencer clothing boss Maurice Helfgott (pictured) to increase their online presence in the US
Four months later, the Evening Standard reported that the company had hired former Marks & Spencer clothing boss Maurice Helfgott to increase their online presence in the US.
Maurice said at the time: ‘I first met Clare 15 years ago and it’s been inspiring to see her bring a unique, driven approach that really understands what millions of women want from a luxury fashion brand.’
At the time, ME+EM had already had boutiques in Boston and Madison Avenue in New York. Since then, they’ve also gone on to open a shop in the Hamptons.
Speaking to Glossy, Clare said: ‘We like you to bring in your dog, bring in your kid and bring in your partner, and we like you to dwell.
‘As a result, our stores form communities, all by themselves.’
The founder said in a statement in May this year: ‘We’ve already seen strong U.S. demand through our e-commerce operations and we hope that the new campaign and new U.S. stores are going to amplify interest from discerning American shoppers – it’s an exciting time for us.’
Clare has also spoken in several interviews about the brand’s ‘three Fs’ principles and how they want everything they produce to be ‘flattering, functional and [last] forever’.
Speaking to Marie Claire, Clare previously said the ‘work/life’ balance is ‘every mother’s biggest dilemma’ and said she struggles with ‘mum guilt’.
She added: ‘It’s every mother’s biggest dilemma. It’s actually not about a work/life balance, but a constant feeling of guilt. I worry about my kids not getting enough of my time, and equally, my employees too.’
#Lady #Victoria #Starmers #MEEM #election #dress #sells #latest #coup #130M #brand #run #motheroffive #started #selling #secondhand #shoes #Oldham #market
