18. Kate Sheridan
“I’m very nosy. I always want to know who my customers are, where they work and what they’re doing”
I have known Kate Sheridan for years, as many Clapton dwellers do, because of her beautiful store and workshop on Lower Clapton Road. You may have come across her leather goods via Toast, a like-minded brand that has championed her for many years. I’ve been trying to pin Kate down for an interview since I started The Worshipful 3.5 years ago and finally, on an incredibly blustery spring day, I succeeded.
Kate grew up in a farmhouse, with two donkeys, near Saffron Walden. Her mother had a clothing shop in the eighties and her father made clothes, too. It’s not difficult to see how she come to work in the industry she does: “I was in that world - I used to go to trade shows with my parents. My dad had a van with his clothes in the back and he’d go out selling. He used to drive around all the local villages and I would go out with him and guard the van in school holidays”.
Kate also helped out in their garment factory in Sudbury, and remembers her parents’ faces falling when she eventually informed them that she wanted to go and study footwear and accessories at Cordwainers (now part of University of the Arts London). “I was really quite crap at sewing and Sheila, our teacher, would say, Come in! I'm here early - come on love, get on the machine”. Kate credits the brilliant makers teaching there at the time with setting her off on the right path: “I'm a maker. I'm not really an illustrator. I just like to get bits of leather and fiddle around with them”. Proving that there is hope for those of us that cannot draw.
In her second year, Kate won a work placement at Patrick Cox – “I was put to work on reception, because that's what a work placement was in the early 90s. I absolutely loved it at the company, and I got on well with all of them”. There Kate remained throughout the rest of her degree. After she graduated, she ended up in the PR office, which, while it wasn’t her favourite department, set her in good stead for when she eventually set up on her own.
After Patrick Cox, she went to work with shoe designer Johnny Moke at World's End: “It was quiet there and he had a basement full of all these amazing materials. I found this old glass beaded curtain that he had brought back from Morocco, so I started making accessories out of pony skin with lots of these beads on and things, with hand whipped stitch - very of its time. But Vogue loved it, and so it went into Vogue and it started me thinking, I can do this on my own.”
After a while Kate did just that and started making jewellery, before moving on to handbags: “around 2000 I moved into a flat with a girl called Helen, who was at Central Saint Martins doing print design. We had this idea to do printed leather accessories which was quite innovative at the time. We used Helen’s prints on my bags and we called it Sheridan and Minns. We did that for a couple of years and launched it at Fashion Week - it was really successful. We had all the international buyers coming to our tent at the Natural History Museum. Lots of the key Japanese stores bought us. It was really exciting”.
After a while Helen & Kate realised it was time to head off in separate directions and pursue other things, after which Kate Sheridan the brand was born. Approximately 23 years later, with no outside investment, she has two stores, one in Clapton that opened in 2014 and the other in Victoria Park which opened in 2022. She has multiple stockists globally and a very healthy e-commerce business, so Kate understandably feels as though she and the brand are in a good place. All of her production is either done in-house or in factories close by – everything is made in the UK. “I've worked hard. But I've let things bimble along [organically], without pushing it too much. We've got to the stage now where I've got a lovely team of amazing women. And it's in a really nice shape considering the economic climate - I'm quite happy”. All of this despite Brexit, which hit the business hard and is a continuing source of frustration, with endless paperwork to be completed.
Kate’s daughters are grown up now and even work for her in the shops at the weekend. But when she first started out, she managed with minimal childcare “I used to drag my kids everywhere, to trade shows and sometimes to the market [Kate had a regular stall on Broadway Market in Hackney until a couple of years ago]. And we used to do lots of swaps with the mums from school. I would have their kids; they would have mine. But sometimes you just gave them a cardboard box and some colouring pens to keep them busy.
“But they did do some unfortunate things – [one daughter] cut her fringe once when I was writing an email…. And then the other had a sequin poo in her nappy. She was crawling around in my friend's studio. I was like, oh dear”. Kate also credits her husband, friends and two brilliant childminders with keeping everything afloat “if I hadn't had these people in my life, all of this would never have existed” at which point she gestures around the workshop and towards the store upstairs.
When designing, Kate and the team first analyse how the previous collection has performed, choosing which pieces to carry forward before brainstorming new ideas: “sometimes we have a piece that didn't do as well as we had hoped, but we love it and so we’re determined to push it forward. Occasionally it takes a while for people to “get” something. Like our Louis Coat - it took around four seasons, but it's such a good coat, and now it really sells. We just kept pushing it”.
Like all designers in this industry, Kate is always thrilled when she sees people wearing her pieces. But she loves being on the shop floor or at trade shows, because more than anything else she’s a people person: “I'm very nosy. I always want to know who my customers are, where they work and what they're doing”.
Kate swims several times a week, usually at the lido, occasionally at the ponds on Hampstead Heath “… I went yesterday and if I was a little less lazy, I'd go there more. Honestly, I was pumped last night. I was like a Duracell bunny. It's an effort, but my husband swims as well, so we encourage each other and that really helps”.
I put Kate on the spot and asked her which of her most recent pieces have captured her heart the most: “my favourite pieces from AW24 are the Edie dress (see it in action on Kate, below). I love this as the fabric is so special and now has longer sleeves, tweaked from the short-sleeved version – why did it take us so long? Also the pocket lock bag – I love this - it’s a mish mash of the core elements of all KS pieces merged into one. And the tortellini bag which is playful and fun – I love a pasta theme and this one follows on from our much-loved ravioli tote". Find them in store from August.
I asked how her work inspires Kate’s personal style: “I'd say it's the other way around. I think my personal style is always influencing our work and the style of the brand… I have a loyal customer base and we do want to give them what they want, but essentially, I create things that I want to wear”. She is her own muse!
I’m always interested to hear which other independent businesswomen or women creatives people are into. Kate’s recommendations are as follows:
“Katherine Tulloh is a truly unique artist and I am lucky enough to have several of her pieces. Her recent show “For the Ravers” was just excellent”.
Set designer Scarlet Winter: “I’ve known Scarlet since she was a teenager and I’ve been fortunate enough to collaborate with her - she created the props for a couple of my look books and I’ve had the joy of creating dreamy Christmas windows with her”.
Lucie Crago of Howl: “She and I met moons ago at Spitalfields (she worked with Clara Francis, one half of the brilliant O Pioneers, another brand I adore). Howl is all made by Lucie herself, with a nod to the utilitarian. I love it and have quite a few pieces in my wardrobe”.
“I also adore Zoe Lee’s shoes. She makes beautiful pieces that are like no other. We met years ago at London Fashion Week, and she was the person who put me in touch with Toast”.
And finally, to dream projects. When I asked her if she has anything she wants to work on in the future Kate answered without hesitation: “shoes, shoes, shoes! I would love to do it, eventually. At some point I would definitely like to do footwear”.
I have absolutely no doubt she’ll nail it, too.
Visit Kate and her lovely team at the stores on Lower Clapton Road or in Victoria Park Village in London. Shop via her website here and find her on Instagram here.