Donna Bramhall, Nottingham Trent University alumna and founder of craft brand, Spinster's Emporium, has secured her first retail order with luxury London department store, Liberty. Donna set up her business, which specialises in vintage fabrics, haberdashery, fancy yarns and vintage wallpapers, in March 2009 with support from Nottingham Trent University's enterprise development unit, The Hive. Previously selling through her website, Donna directly approached the buyers at Liberty to pitch her newly developed range of 'Haberdasher Me' DIY fashion kits, which include one-off vintage materials and step-by-step instructions on how to customise clothes. Impressed by the brand identity and unique products, Donna secured her first order from the store. To get the order ready for Liberty, Donna revamped the packaging, made cardboard boxes lined with vintage wallpaper for delivering the products and sewed 800 buttons on to card in 24 hours. Her kits, along with packs of vintage fabrics, vintage buttons and trimming, are now in store. Donna, who studied fashion knitwear design at Nottingham Trent University's School of Art and Design, said: "Liberty is a one of the most prestigious department stores in the world, and they are my first stockist! They told me that the Spinster's Emporium brand was really something they could believe in and customers would feel inspired and want to be part of it. They also said that I was filling a much needed gap in the craft market for the more trend focused crafter, so I'd now like to work with the buyers there to understand how my products can work even better for their customers." She is also following in the footsteps of previous Hive entrepreneur and founder of YoYo Textiles, Joanna Marshall, whose handmade silk neck ties designs were stocked at Liberty and worn by figures such as Prince Charles and David Beckham. Donna still receives regular support from The Hive and takes part in monthly mentoring sessions to keep her focused. She said: "I wouldn't be here without the support of the people I've met through The Hive's network. There is always someone there happy to help and answer any questions to get you to where you want to be." Sarah McNicol, Hive operations director, said: "Donna has established a fantastic, unique brand and having her products stocked at Liberty is great news for the business, which is already thriving through website sales. She has worked very hard to secure and deliver the order and we're sure that this is the start of bigger things to come for Donna and Spinster's Emporium." Talks with another major department store are now planned and Donna will be moving into a new studio in Nottingham, which will be open to the public from September. She added: "Once the studio is up and running I'll also be starting the Spinster's School of Stitchery, teaching people how to make all this lovely stuff for themselves!"
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