Emily Addington’s unique new range of lingerie not only looks retro, it’s made of recycled, vintage fabrics. Green AND gorgeously 50s – what’s not to love?
Inside a small coffee shop in Newcastle sat Emily. Wearing black cigarette jeans and pallid blouse she sipped her tea, whilst flicking through samples of material she had picked up on her way. Making the most of her down time, Emily set aside an hour of her busy life, to tell me how she hoped to bring back the feminine 50s.
‘I just love 50s fashion,” Emily gushed. “The clothes have so much style. The lingerie is my true love. I live, dote and dream old fashioned, 50s underwear designs.”
Emily began designing lingerie for a foundation degree at Newcastle College. With a love for pretty underwear and womanly designs, she hoped her lingerie would help her to stand out from the crowd amongst her fellow classmates who were all designing clothes. Choosing to combine her love of 50s underwear and her passion for green living, Emily knew she had a unique idea. “I decided to reuse vintage fabrics,” she explained. “By redesigning vintage dresses, blouses and linens I created unique and bespoke lingerie.”
Graduating in fashion design, Emily stumbled upon her next career move whilst shopping. “I came across a beautiful shop called Flirtatious Boutique around Christmas time in 2007,” she beamed. “I browsed the store and thought my designs would be perfect for its style and theme. So I approached the lady at the counter and to my surprise she agreed to let me work there one day a week in return for stocking my designs.”
Emily began by designing a few pieces of eco lingerie, but soon expanded her collection into swimwear. Her first sale soon followed. “It came after a fashion show, held in ‘As You Like It’ which has a stage in the middle of a restaurant, in Jesmond. Miss Newcastle modeled my lingerie and the next day an upper class gentleman came in to purchase the set for his wife. She had singled it out during the show. I was thrilled,” she said as she took a sip of her tea. “There were so many beautiful lingerie sets shown that night and yet he had came to the boutique specifically for the set I had created.”
It hasn’t always been so easy for Emily, but her gutsy approach and determination can be seen from the offset. She had no idea just how hard the course was going to be and squirms as she tells me of the late nights and long hours it took to get where she is today. “I am such a perfectionist; I can’t produce something that I am not completely happy with. I was always last to finish my pieces at college, but my marks always reflected my efforts which more than made up for it.”
Two years on, Emily has managed to achieve her dream of designing her own clothes. Setting up her own website, her pieces are creating a storm in the green world. Little Green Lingerie was set up just a year ago and allows shoppers to buy something made from vintage fabrics that have been given a second chance in life and created into something new and beautiful for all.
“My website is such a great way of advertising and selling my unique designs as I now have clients in America, all because of www.littlegreenlingerie.com. Without my website I would probably still be selling only a few pieces a month,” she joked.
But Emily is quite the entrepreneur. Continuing to design new pieces for her collection, she also stocks a small boutique in America. This has been a great move for her brand and is now starting to earn a living from something that she thought would only ever be a hobby.
“The boutique love my designs and I am now starting to see some profit from my sales which is great,” she said. Her latest venture is her most exciting. ”The thing I am most thrilled about at the moment is my business deal with an American Online Store called www.getgoretro.com.” ‘Get Go Retro’ is a big name in America and Emily hopes it will promote her designs and give her brand the extra push it needs to make it big in America. “If my pieces sell well for ‘Get Go Retro’ my business will fly, so I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed.”
This summer swimwear has really taken off and she even has a new stockist for this side of her business too. “Forluna are great, they sell vintage inspired swimwear and have a lovely website www.forluna.co.uk. I am so pleased to be working with them but one other collaboration I have been excited about this year is teaming up with FYI accessories for a photo shoot in Maften hall. We got some great pictures for my lingerie and it’s a great way to promote my line with the help of an already well know accessories company,” she said.
But when she is not designing her new pieces and packaging them up for America or her online customers, Emily is trading at wedding fairs and fashion shows to get her name known. “This year I plan to push hard,” she said, adding, “I want to get my brand known so that I can start stocking shops and boutiques across the UK. I am currently designing a line of swimwear for children, as many of my customers have requested matching bikinis for their little girls. I am also hoping to design some ethical boxer shorts for the men out there. A new spring/summer collection for Little Green Lingerie is nearly complete.”
Speaking of her ultimate dream it’s clear that Emily is very ambitious and never stops planning her next move. “In ten years’ time, I would love to have my own artists café. Selling my own designs and other local designers produce, I want to make a difference to the planet with eco friendly produce. ”
Emily has come a long way since she first began in 2001. It’s hard to believe she is only 24 years of age and that she has achieved so much. But she is ready to start taking hold of the reins and driving her business to worldwide success as eco friendly fashion is hard to come by. “I know I have done well to get my business to where it is at today but I want to put the 50s back into the noughties fashion and take the fashion world by storm. A girl can dream though, can’t she?”