Ten Minutes with Emma Howarth of ME&EM

As the Spring/Summer Collection launched at ME&EM, we caught up with the company co-founder, Emma Howarth, to talk about the collection and what inspires the founders of this popular loungewear brand.

ME&EM started to take shape when... Clare Hornby and I were on a family holiday in Majorca and started to talk about setting up a business together. We realised that there was a gap in the market for loungewear.

Originally, we planned... to buy brands in but, in the end, we decided to manufacture the clothes ourselves as we couldn't find any brands that delivered the vision we had for chic, stylish yet comfortable clothing.

We start the collection with... women's bodies - all the lumps and bumps and how we can design clothes that flatter all body types. Cut is all important, whether you want to disguise the wobbly bits or make the body look longer.

Fabric is the next part of the jigsaw... it must be luxurious and easy to wear whilst being practical. We source the fabric from Italy and the clothes are made up in Portugal, China and Nepal. And then finally, the collection must be modular and easy to work with existing items in your wardrobe.

Recently, we decided to... complete the ME&EM experience by buying in a few carefully selected brands that makes shopping easier for our customers. These complement our brand, such as LA Made Tshirts, Monica Vinader jewellery, Converse trainers, Pretty Ballerinas pumps, MiH jeans, Falke tights and knitwear from Madeleine Thompson.

At the moment ... we are finalising the A/W collection, which has some exciting new styles, great new fabrics combining cashmere and jersey, and some key looks more focused around elegant work wear. We are also going to offer our customers a wider range of sizes and more dresses.

Despite the recession ... there has been huge growth in the loungewear business/easy day clothing market, providing it is both stylish and comfortable.

We decided to rebrand from Pyjama Room to ME&EM ... as we wanted to extend the concept of comfortable luxury beyond pyjamas and the clothes you wear at home. We have a collection of versatile and wearable clothes for everyday. The ME&EM collection means you can dress in effortless chic 24/7.

Being named as a Brand of Tomorrow by the Walpole Awards ... has been great for brand awareness, but has also given us access to some real expertise with people that understand luxury brands. We have been mentored by Annoushka Ducas, founder of Links of London and more recently Annoushka Jewellery and Martin Bartle founder of 270degree marketing and ex Net-A-Porter.

Ronit Zilkha has really helped us punch above our weight ... Ronit has a brilliant eye for detail and gives advice on cut and styling. She definitely adds finesse to the collection. She is also working on a range of knitwear for kids.

We were lucky enough to use Emilia Fox ... as the model when we launched. Emilia is a friend of Venetia Dearden, the photographer who worked on our catalogues. We were thrilled to work with Emilia and her face certainly helped put us on the map. Sophie Summer has modelled the Spring/Summer 10 collection. She came second in Britain's Next Top Model.

We were originally looking for an office, but ... the shop on Connaught Street caught our eye and it's just opposite the Jimmy Choo Couture store as well. We have an office in the basement so it's great to have the shop and showroom where we can meet our customers.

The best bit so far is ... when customers come back for the eighth or ninth time. It's then we realise we must be getting it right. That's hugely rewarding. Hearing customers' stories is always fun and brings the business to life.

What's hot from S/S10 ... The cashmere New York Hoody is flying out; it looks so good on different body shapes and the Easy Day dress is consistently one of our best sellers.

My favourite piece from S/S10 ... the jersey maxi dress is a god send. It has a great cut and covers up my ankles! Clare loves the towelling shift dress.

My favourite sites ... are not wildly exciting but Amazon.com and Ocado.com consistently get it right from a customer perspective. Mr & Mrs Smith feeds my desire for sneaky luxury weekends away to keep me sane.

22 April 2010