This month, unLTD’s Ash Birch heads to city centre Japanese BBQ specialists Guyshi to grab lunch with Harriet Ecclestone, founder of the eponymous, award-winning, Sheffield-based responsible women’s clothing brand to discuss her journey into the, at times, surreal world of fashion…
Hi Harriet. If you can start by telling us a little bit about your brand?
A responsible womenswear designer is how I like to think of myself. I’m basically creating clothes that are timeless, meaningful and responsibly crafted. That literally means minimal waste clothes that are designed to last and are made with natural materials.
The whole process, from the design through to the production, and then how you go on to wear them is completely thought through and ethical, and with the wearer in mind.
Sounds great. Where do you source your materials from?
I’ve been able to work with a brilliant company that are based about an hour away from here. I predominantly use cotton as the main material for pieces and I know who’s grown the cotton, and from which part of the field in California it comes from.
It’s shipped over in its raw state, in huge quantities. From there, it’s then cleaned, spun, dyed, and woven within a really small radius, and then it arrives, and is finished at my studio in Kelham Island.
I make everything to order, so no garment goes unworn. There’s really minimal waste and any waste, or scrap fabrics, I make into greetings cards and scrunchies and things like that. They’re beautiful quality fabrics as well. The idea is that the garments are well produced and are going to last and last. At the end of the day, it’s cotton, so it will go back into the ground.
Do you make all the pieces yourself?
Yes, it’s a one-woman band. I’ve got a really good support network around me, who are there when I need them, but it’s mostly just me.
"The meaning really has a big impact on me. Overall, a lot of my pieces have that androgynous look because I am trying to empower women."
When did you launch the brand?
I launched in 2019, which was great timing, just before a global pandemic! That first year was a roller coaster.
What made you decide to start your own brand?
I was very fortunate. I was studying at university and I did a placement year, so I had a whole year working in the industry. I worked with Paul Smith, The Designer Company and All Saints. That made me realised that I wanted to have my own business.
I went back to uni for the final year and at the end of the year you have Graduate Fashion Week. I was selected to show my clothes on the catwalk and I got spotted by a fashion scout. We did a photo shoot and it was published in New York, and that was really cool. I went back to Paul Smith straight after graduating, and then a couple of months later, I applied for Midlands Fashion Awards, and again, I got spotted there by a fashion scout and I won in my category. She basically wanted to buy my next collection and I was like, I’ve been out of uni for four months!
It all happened so fast, but I kind of felt that because there was local press and I had the support of her, it kind of felt like a now or never moment. I left Paul Smith at Christmas and had some freelance work lined up as well, so all the pieces sort of fell into place.
That was the jump moment and I jumped. It’s been interesting and I’ve been working it out as I’ve gone along and five years later, I’m still here.
Have there been any standout moments over that five years?
Quickly after launching, I was selected for something called Global Talents, and went on a fully funded trip to Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Moscow. There were ten of us selected from around the world to show our collections at the event and there was amazing press there – that was incredible.
It was an amazing experience and I’m so grateful for it. It was a definite highlight, because I was interviewed by Vogue and Grazia. For all of us there, it was a brilliant learning experience.
It sounds amazing. Did you get your own catwalk show at The Fashion Week?
Yeah, I got a full catwalk and I was the first one of the 10 designers to go. We’d done rehearsals, but I’d not seen the space with people in it. What happens is, you have your 25 looks roll out and then you’re stood behind stage, just checking everything before the models go out.
When the final piece had gone out, the woman running it, with the stopwatch and everything else, looked at me and said, ‘right, it’s time to take a bow’. I was like, what? She was like, ‘Yeah, you can either walk out, do the whole loop or just smile and wave, but go, now!’ I went out, and obviously there were hundreds and hundreds of people there all looking at me, and all the lights and cameras flashing – it felt huge.
"The whole process, from the design through to the production, and then how you go on to wear them is completely thought through and ethical, and with the wearer in mind."
My head is thinking smile and wave, but my feet go, hell no, and I basically ran to the other exit – it wasn’t a good look, but I think the other nine were grateful that I’d gone first!
How did you get into fashion and making your own clothes?
When my brother and I were little, we’d always have art projects on the go, so I’ve never known not being creative. My mum’s a graphic designer, and my grandmothers on both sides were very creative, made all their clothes, had an absolute eye for precision, and they taught me to knit and to sew from being tiny.
I used to make little clothes for my Teddy’s and then if I was going away, my grandma would help me make an outfit, so I basically grew up sewing and making clothes. I didn’t really use patterns; I sort of got an idea and worked it out for myself.
Through school, I was into textiles. Then I was very fortunate to go to college and then to the University of Newcastle and Northumbria to study fashion, and it’s gone from there.
I’ve always been very technically minded. My dad’s a scientist but it was mainly my grandmothers who influenced my making clothes. I think this is why I’m so conscious of the responsibly crafted clothing side of things because it’s never been about fashion for me – it’s never been about the latest trends. It started as making things that made me feel nice and now I’m able to make clothes that have meaning and make other people feel emotions.
It definitely runs in the family then?
Yeah, definitely. My great, great grandfather actually had a menswear clothing shop in the late 1800s, early 1900s and I’ve just been really fascinated by that. That’s influenced a lot of my work today as well. Things like how clothes were produced in that time, or how if it wasn’t you making your clothes it was a family member or somebody a few doors down the street and then you treasure those clothes and pass them on and I think that’s definitely something that’s missing now.
What else influences your work?
The meaning really has a big impact on me. Overall, a lot of my pieces have that androgynous look because I am trying to empower women.
There are so many elements of women’s fashion that effectively take power away from women. For instance, the way shirts are done up is designed so that your maid does your shirts up. Pockets is another big one. It’s been said that during the time of the suffragette movement, the government dissuaded garment manufacturers from putting pockets in women’s clothing, so they couldn’t hide, or carry whatever they needed. Pockets are a big thing for me. Emily Davison, the suffragette, who was killed at the Epsom Darby, she went into the shop, owned by my great, great grandfather, nine months before the Darby happened to get her gloves dry cleaned. I’ve got the receipt of that transaction signed by my great great grandfather.
What are your plans for the brand?
I’m enjoying life in Sheffield. I love Sheffield; I love the heritage behind it and there’s real craftsmanship here. I’ve been in the Kelham studio about a year now, which is really nice.
I’ve got lots of events coming up this year. I’m going to be part of Selected Space, from 12th - 14th July, which is run by four Sheffield creatives and is set to be a stunning exhibition of amazing local crafts people, and I’m also slowly starting to work on unisex pieces, which is really exciting.
Where we ate:
One of the most popular culinary traditions in Japan, Yakiniku dining is a style of cooking bite-sized meat and vegetables on gridirons or griddles over a flame of wood charcoals.
Each table at Guyshi, which sits just next door to the newly refurbished Hallamshire Hotel, on West Street, has a built-in smokeless roaster and we popped along on a rainy Thursday lunchtime to sample what they had to offer.
Guyshi offers set menus starting from £55 as well as an a la carte menu, but as we’re after a lighter lunch while we discuss Harriet’s journey through the world of fashion, we opt for the lunch set menus.
The BBQ has limited vegan options, so I go for the Bento Box, picking out vegetable soba, edamame, pumpkin croquettes, salad and miso soup, while Harriet punts for the Yakiniku lunch set, which allows you two, three, or four BBQ items, alongside miso soup, salad and Japanese steamed rice.
Saving some room for the avocado and salmon maki we’ve (probably greedily) ordered, Harriet opts for the sliced sirloin steak and king prawns.
While we chat in the comfortable booth, the miso soup arrives and is a welcome hearty broth, set against the cold outside. The friendly and attentive staff (there was no sign of the robot waiter today, unless AI has improved pretty impressively while I wasn’t paying attention!) then set to lighting our BBQ in preparation for Harriet’s Yakiniku. Once the dishes arrive, Harriet wastes no time delicately cooking the steak and prawns, which adds a playful element of theatre to the meal.
The noodles and croquettes in the Bento Box are both delicious but the surprising highlight is the Japanese salad, which is coated in a zesty dressing.
At £12.99 per menu, which includes a drink, Guyshi is definitely a dinnertime treat, but one that’s well worth it.
